My fav part is Nas of course <3. "With the cherry in the mid-dle"lol…I love the way he raps that some reason.

http://www.jennifer-rocha.com

How can anyone form a credible opinion without having FACTS?

Vashtie’s article smacks of “truthiness.”

FACT- Only THREE carriage horses have died as a result of traffic incidents in 30 years- and in all three fatal accidents, the drivers of the MOTOR vehicles that hit the carriages were at fault. No other horse-related sport or endeavor can match this safety record.

FACT- There have been NO human fatalities and only one serious injury connected with riding in carriages. Three horses have died as a result of motor vehicle collisions and seven others have died while working as carriage horses.= average of one horse death pere every 10 years. Being a carriage horse is probably one of the safest jobs a horse can have. By way of contrast 750 TB race horses died during races or shortly afterward or while actively training at the track last year ALONE– 750 in one year.

FACT- A recent report revealed that NYC’s streets were saffer in 2011 than they have been at any other time. The only other years it was as safe to travel in NYC were during years BEFORE motor vehicles were introduced- back when there were tens of thousands of horses and horse-drawn vehicles in the city.

FACT- Carriage driving is not cruel. Carriage drivers have not been cited for cruelty or neglect of their horses.

FACT- NYC Carriage horses are among the most regulated in the country. Each carriage horse owner/ driver needs 4 different licesces to operate- one for himself/ herself, one for each horse used, one for each carriage and one for the stable or stall area. All of this paperwork is subject to inspection at any time authorities. Three different agencies have authority over the carriage trade.

Fact- The NYC carriage horses DO NOT work “At least nine hours” a day. THEY work nine hours a day or LESS. They cannot, bu law work one minute LONGER than 9 hours a day. And this included their trip back an forth to their STABLES.

FACT- Stables that ARE buildings originally built as STABLES not tenements. They walk up inclined ramps with safety strips to make sure they do not slip. They have free choice hay and water in their stalls equiped with an automatic watering system- they have fresh water whenever thay desire at the touch of a nose. They have a misting and fan cooling system for hot weather and fire sprinklers for safety.

FACT- The stalls are large enough for the horses to turn around and LIE, not l”ay,” down in. Horses don’t lay, hens do.

FACT- The horses and their DRIVERS do not work when temps fall below 18 F or climb above 89F – 89 F is hardly “blistering heat” at least not where I live. And remember, whatever the weather, if the carriage horses are out in it so are the carriage drivers.

FACT- Carriages weigh much less than cars, buses and trucks that travel NYC’s streets. There are ONLY 68 of them operating at any one time. Most are built of metal, wood and or fiberglass and have solid rubber “tiers” on their wheels. Pray tell, how do 68 such carriages cause “hundreds of thousands of dollars damage” to NYC’s infrastructure in just one year.

FACT- Traffic congestion is caused by the hundreds of thousands of motor vehicles in the city NOT 68 carriages operating in or near Central Park most of the time. Want less traffic? Limit the number of motor vehicles allowed in the city. More carriages, fewer cars.

When will the twisted stats, misrepresentations, false allegations and outright LIES stop!!!

Here are the real facts: there has NEVER been a carriage horse driver cited for abuse of a carriage horse. There has NEVER been a citation for mistreatment, cruelty, etc. Three horses have died in traffic accidents while on duty in over 30 years; seven other horses have died while working in over 30 years. That’s 10 horses in over 30 years! I am in no way minimizing the death of any horse, but that is a remarkable record. There is no other riding discipline that can come close to that number.

There have been no human deaths in any of the accidents and only one carriage driver has been injured.

The drivers must present ALL the paperwork upon demand by an ASPCA agent or city inspector. The ASPCA performs, on average, about 180 hackline inspections every year (about once every other day, where they check all paperwork, plus the horses). That’s not counting stable inspections and individual horse inspections. And that’s not counting inspections by the city inspectors.

The New York City carriage horses are some of the most regulated animals in this country. The fact there has never been a citation for mistreatment or cruelty, even with an awful lot of folks looking for it, speaks volumes.

There are very few diseases a person can get from a horse.

As for traffic, on December 29, 2011, Mayor Bloomberg, Transportation Commissioner Sadik-Khan, and Police Commissioner Kelly announced an all-time record low in traffic fatalities in 2011 –http://tinyurl.com/bpwrb3b

If you don’t think the carriage horses bring an economic benefit to the city, then you really need to take an Economics 101 class.

And this: “Not only that, but New York City has to pay to hundreds of thousands of dollars annually to monitor the horses and repair damages left by the carriages” is flat out ludicrous.

Facts are such pesky little things, aren’t they?