Runaway Carriage reminds us once again that horses don’t belong in New York City

A winter ride through New York City’s Central Park in a horse-drawn carriage might be as romantic as it gets, at least if you believe the Christmas movies. Of course, Christmas movies tend to leave out the poop, so that probably helps. Furthermore, the main characters usually don’t have to worry about horses panicking and running out, when in fact a densely populated, noisy city is busy and noisy. But, as NBC New York reportsthat’s exactly what happened last Thursday. Again.

Okay, technically the NBC New York article doesn’t mention poop, just a horse trying to escape while tied to a tourist carriage, but horses poop. It’s just what they do. The same as you and me. But a horse really did leave Central Park and race down Sixth Avenue with the carriage still in tow, crashing into several cars. Fortunately, it appears no one was in the carriage when the horse broke, and no injuries are reported – just some property damage.

According to the coachmen’s union, a passing van most likely startled the horse, causing it to panic and run away before the coachman could stop it. In a statement, the union said allowing the horse to escape was “far below our standards.” Administrative Vice President Alexander Kemp of TWU Local 100 (the union representing the carrier) also issued a statement, saying, “The union notified the Department of Health, the primary regulatory agency for city oversight, when this incident occurred Thursday. The union is now evaluating what internal actions will be taken regarding this individual driver.”

As Edita Birnkrant, executive director of the animal rights group New Yorkers for Clean, Livable, and Safe Streets, put it in a statement to NBC New York: “These violent incidents continue to occur because forcing horses tied to carriages onto chaotic city streets is fundamentally incompatible with their nature.”

Don’t get me wrong, horses are great. I don’t think I’ve ever turned down an offer to ride a horse, and anyone who tells you they’re not majestic is just lying to you. But they are also incredibly skittish and somehow even more vulnerable. A densely populated city full of people and cars is the last place you should take a horse, and there’s no way around it. Vans will make noise. Cars are going to have the opposite effect. People start sneezing. And horses tied to tourist carriages will panic if they are startled by unexpected noises, because that’s just how their brains are wired.

Of course, the head of the coachmen’s union disagrees. He told NBC New York: “It is time to turn the page and come together to further improve the quality care horses currently receive while protecting the jobs of horse-drawn carriage drivers, which allow a predominantly immigrant workforce to put food on the table and care for their families.”