Queens High Schoolers Clear Up Questions on Horse Carriage Riding

NEW YORK CITY — Tatiana Eder’s students kept asking about proper animal care after hearing about a carriage horse's death on the news last month.

Eder, who teaches equine and animal ethics classes at Bowne High School, thought the best way to answer those questions was by taking them directly to a city stable.

“They’ve read the outside perspective, what other people have said, but now we get to see the behind-the-scenes,” Eder told Patch. “They're getting to truly understand what happened to that horse, how that situation happened, and how we can prevent it.”

About 30 students from Bowne High School in Flushing visited the 618 W 52nd Street stable to observe how veterinarians and horse carriage drivers take care of the horses that walk carriages in Central Park.

The field trip comes after a carriage horse made headlines after he collapsed in the middle of the street in August and later died through euthanasia. Animal rights organizations are calling for a ban on horse carriages in New York City and asking they be switched to electric carriages.

Bowne High School has the largest agricultural program in the state, offering agricultural classes to over 600 students housing animals like miniature horses and goats.

Ryder’s death struck a chord with some of the students who strive to become veterinarians in the future, but others are convinced the stables are providing proper care for the horses.

“Horse carriage riding is okay as long as they have constant vet checks and they’re not malnourished,” said Aniyah Findlay, a junior at the school. “As long as they're healthy and safe and not put in harm’s way by these carriage rides, horse riding should not be banned.”

The students heard from the stable’s veterinarian and carriage drivers how they treat the horses when they’re sick and the steps they take to ensure horses’ safety if it’s too hot or cold outside.

The Transportation Workers Union is, for the most part, against the piece looking to switch the horses with electric carriages.

“They think horses can be replaced with machines. What we're doing here is promoting animal welfare and cherishing the animals, and not saying that they can just be replaced by machines,” said Christina Hansen, chief steward for the Transport Workers Union Local 100 and a horse carriage driver. “They’re not the same. That’s what makes animals special, it’s the bond we have with people and animals.”