This is whats in store for Big Apple carriage horses if the city bans the industry this week
They’re being put out to pasture.The Big Apple’s nearly 160 carriage horses could soon trade the concrete jungle for sprawling green pastures and a lifetime of leisure if the city votes to ban the tourist industry Thursday.Romanch’s Law — which the City Council pledged to pass — would free the steeds from working ever again, but stops short of laying out exactly where the horses will spend their retirement.Such a plan for the “humane disposition of carriage horses” will only be crafted if the bill is passed as the City Council has pledged to do.But animal advocates promise that the working steeds can look forward to a future of fun, frolicking and relaxation at sanctuaries across the country rather than spending 12 hours per day toting tourists and 2,000-pound carriages around Central Park.“I have seen so many horses come alive in sanctuary after coming out of working careers their whole lives.
They’ve always been spoken to and never heard or even asked to have an opinion,” said Allison Bowling, the executive director of Red Feather Equine Sanctuary in North Carolina.“Watching them get to express themselves and realize that they are able to make their own decisions and choose their own friends and experience what true safety and security means — it’s really powerful and it’s extremely important.”Red Feather is a member of The Carriage Horse Retirement Coalition, a network of equine rescues working to place the city’s roughly 160 carriage horses into retirement homes when the industry phases out in June 2028, per the proposed legislation.Horse sanctuaries are very similar to senior living communities, Bowling explained, with opportunities abound and the freedom for the steeds to spend their days the way they like.Some of her rescue’s 45 stallions eagerly take advantage of trail walks, pond swimming and toys, while others just want to spend the day lounging in the field with their friends.The animals who love human touch are recrui...