Carriage horses need a lot more than a five-week “vacation” every year (“A Needed Neigh-Cation,” June 26).
The window-dressing legislation passed in 2010 did not provide carriage horses with necessary daily turnout to pasture, which requires up to 1.5 acres per horse and cannot be accommodated by NYC stables.
As social herd animals and not machines, horses need to interact with their own species, to graze, run, buck, roll, play, scratch, stretch and engage in mutual grooming.
They have none of this for 47 weeks of the year. Humane? I think not. Snow job on the public? Absolutely.
These horses have no voice and no choice and are exploited for monetary gain.
Elizabeth Forel, President, Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages, Manhattan