The NYC horses in festooned harness and street carriages were quite the sight. But I couldn't ignore the controversy that surrounds the horses working in Central Park. Many people feel this should end and there is proposed legislation to ban it.

Though the horses I saw were in good weight, and appeared calm and obedient, a closer investigation of their living conditions was concerning.

Horses are allowed to work 9 hours a day, 7 days a week on pavement. When they are stabled at night, the average stall size is only 8x10 feet, small when you consider most are draft crosses. There is no turn out in the city, although each horse gets a mandatory 5 weeks off in pasture a year. 

The stall size explained the smell coming off the horses.  I officially love the smell of horses, (as most of us do), but this was different; They smelled decidedly like urine...from several blocks away. Their hooves, as you can see in the lower photo have their working id number dremeled into the outside of the hoof.

 I can't say what the right answer is regarding ending the tradition in NYC. The horses themselves are often wastage from the standard bred racing industry and many people argue that they would wind up at auction and ultimately go to slaughter if not purchased by the carriage drivers.

Maybe the tradition could continue if stable and working conditions were improved. Less hours on the street, some turnout and much larger stalls would be a start. It was special to see beautiful horses right in the middle of NYC.

Nov. 6th, 2015   Ancient Horsemen exhibits in the Natural History Museum, NYC

Below are photos from exhibits of horse equipment from several ancient Asian cultures including Tibetan, Turkmen Uzbeck, and Yakut Peoples, (a tribal pastoral group in Siberia). All of these groups had snaffle bits and ornate iron stirrups and saddle fixtures. Horses were the primary vehicles used for herding livestock, defending territory, and launching raids on neighboring groups. All three societies lacked iron horse shoe technology. They rode their horses barefoot for centuries which raises a lot of questions. Such as, what was the environment like? The horses' diet? Was there hoof protection either in leather or cloth? How well and how long were horses able to work? And what was their genetic make up? They must have had satisfactory success as working animals barefoot. What could we learn from this?