NYC carriage horses -- where do they go?
Elizabeth Forel
NYC carriage horses -- where do they go?An average of 70 horses "leave" the business every year, and most don't find good homes
Some of you know that I have been involved with the carriage horse issue for decades - having started the first ban campaign in 2006 under the subcommittee Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages. I’ve written numerous articles and op-eds in major publications, including on One Green Planet and the Dodo, which I link from this website. It is not updated but kept up for reference. At the recent NYC Council hearing on Intro 943, the bill that would end the carriage horse business in NYC, the Transit Workers Union and carriage drivers continued to warn everyone that the horses would go to slaughter if the business were ended. This is disingenuous and hypocritical. Many of the horses who passed through this industry have gone on to auction when no longer wanted. They get ill, old, or can’t handle the stress of NYC. Owners send the unwanted horses to auction or launder them through Amish farms - waiting until their 4-digit hoof number grows off. But if the horse went to auction - directly or eventually- it is the owner who is responsible - the ones who “love” their horses so much — the horses don’t trot there of their own volition.
Kill Pen Yet - no one - no council members or anyone who testified - challenged this lie, which continued many times from the union and drivers. I had not been asked to provide testimony at the beginning when I could have addressed this issue based on my research. I had already submitted online testimony addressing this and other issues. Most council members left by noon. I injured my knee early in the day when an overzealous person pushed me aside as we were going into City Hall, and I fell. In pain, I waited until my friend Susan Wagner/Equine Advocates testified at about 4 pm, and we left together. Unfortunately, most of the Council were long gone and did not hear Susan testify about the three NYC carriage horses she has had at her sanctuary and what bad shape they were in. The most famous, Bobby II Freedom, was one day away from being returned to the kill pen when I was notified of a horse with a 4-digit number on his hoof at the New Holland auction. It was June 25, 2010.
Bobby II Freedom WHERE DO ALL THE HORSES GO?For years, we’d been hearing the industry and others like Mayor Bloomberg saying the horses would go to slaughter if they did not have a job pulling carriages — as if they lasted forever. They say this with a lack of understanding of the real situation - and people believed this lie. I was troubled by what the late Peggy Parker had said many years before about the average horse lasting between 3 1/2 to 4 years in this business. But I could not find backup to substantiate this claim. Peggy headed up the Carriage Horse Action Committee in the late 80s and early 90s. 70 HORSES DISAPPEAR EACH YEAR: 7 1/2 YEAR STUDYDetermined to get a better handle on where all of these horses go, I decided to do major research. For 7 1/2 years, beginning in late 2005, I requested horse lists from the Department of Health (DoH) and transferred them to a spreadsheet - following each horse to determine when they were no longer listed. At the end of my study, I learned that 529 horses had gone through the business in 7 1/2 years - replaced by 516 new horses— averaging about 70 horses leaving the business each year. The Administrative Code is written in such a way to favor horses being bought and sold within NYC, which is most likely to another carriage driver. Records are not required if a horse is sold outside NYC, which means mostly to Amish farmers or the auctions. The owner must simply notify the DoH that the horse is no longer in the system. § 17-329 Disposition of licensed horse. The department shall be notified of the transfer of ownership or other disposition of a licensed horse within ten days thereafter. Such notice shall include the date of disposition and, if sold in New York City, the name and address of the buyer or other transferee and such other information as the commissioner may prescribe. A horse shall not be sold or disposed of except in a humane manner. To be clear, I am not saying that all of these horses went to the auctions and then into the slaughter pipeline. A few may have gotten good homes. Some, like Bobby II Freedom, were rescued. But because of the way the law is written and how carelessly these horses are tossed aside, many of them most likely were purchased by kill buyers. Although this study was completed in 2013, I believe it is not only still accurate, but probably worse since the business is mosly self regulating. The ASPCA shut down their Humane Law Enforcement division in 2013, and it has been up to the DoH to oversee the business. Judging by their testimony at the Intro 943 hearing on July 15th, it leaves a lot to be desired. But that is a subject for another discussion. Leave it at — the DoH should not be overseeing anything that concerns animal welfare.
New Holland auction PRODUCT?!I am reminded of actor Danny Glover, who supported the carriage trade, and while in one of the stables in 2014, he was quoted in a NY Daily News article as saying “I think people need to come by to see the product themselves.” That sentence inadvertently revealed how the industry truly views these horses—as mere disposable merchandise and commercial utilities rather than living, sentient creatures. The carriage horse trade is a business - not a sanctuary. These horses are merely “product” to be replaced by a newer and fresher model. As of this date, I understand a lot of work is being done behind the scenes. Many reputable equine rescues are involved, and money is being raised. I believe that these horses will finally be saved. It’s way past time to end this inhumane, unsafe, and antiquated business.
These are two articles written for One Green Planet about 2014-2015 Where do all the NYC Carriage Horses Go? What Happens to NYC Carriage Horses When They’re ‘Retired’
© 2026 Elizabeth Forel
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