NYC Carriage Horses:
•Do not work in temperatures below 19°F, above 89°F or 80°F with high humidity, harsh storms, or in poor air quality, and they are blanketed while standing on the hackline when it’s 40°F or below, or when it’s 55°F or below in wet weather.
•Are visited by equine vets every other week and they're required to receive *at least* two veterinary exams per year which include routine vaccinations, and de-wormer to be licensed. The horses receive regular teeth floating, hoof trimmings, and new shoes coated with borium or drilltek to prevent slipping every 4-6 weeks. They have year round access to three continuous flow water troughs with heated pipes at Central Park and carry buckets for water/oats under their carriage at work.
•Have extremely low cortisol (stress hormone) levels while on the job or in their stall. The horses are all breeds bred and built for pulling work who benefit physically and mentally from their job routine. They have very easy, lightweight work on carriages human beings are even capable of pulling. The horses primarily work inside Central Park and have around a 99% safety rating with traffic related accidents occurring *extremely* rarely. A long list of equine veterinarians, professionals, and organizations are supportive of this industry.
Care & Regulations
•Receive a *minimum* of 5 weeks vacation on pastures per year. They can only be out for work a *maximum* of 9 hours per 24 hour period, which includes a *minimum* of 15 minutes rest per 2 hours of work and their time traveling to/from the stables/park. The horses are not permitted to work if they are ill, injured, beyond 26 or below 5 years of age.
•All live in stables originally built as stables. They have large box stalls that allow them to easily turn around and lay down in, 24/7 stablemen that frequently muck their stalls and routinely provide them with clean water/hay, and grooming.
•Receive routine carriage inspections, have their regulations enforced by five city agencies, a union safety committee & shop stewards internally, and are only driven by licensed & trained carriage drivers. These horses have more regulations than any other horse carriage industry in the country.