Last month, a carriage horse in New York City died near Central Park. Just a few days ago, I came across another news article of another carriage horse collapsing along with a video. This recurring news sparked great concern to me because I never truly thought about the effects on horses caused by pulling carriages. Yes, the experience of riding on a horse carriage is like a fairy tale. And yes, it is romantic when newlyweds ride off in carriages. BUT NO, it is not okay to satisfy these fantasies of people by causing pain and danger to horses. It is absolutely heartbreaking to know the abuses that carriage horses face and to see them collapse in the middle of the street. These horses not only face harsh temperatures, either freezing cold or burning hot, some face abuses from their drivers such as being whipped. Conditions like these are the cause of carriage horses collapsing and even dying. When we see horses pulling heavy carriages up steep hills and in absolute poor weather conditions, we need to realize how painful and tiring it is for them.
News reports about carriage horses falling in the middle of the streets and dying have made me recognize the brutality of carriage industries. An increasing number of international cities like Paris, Toronto, and Beijing have already banned carriage horses which should also be done around the world to free these innocent animals from being attached to carriages.
