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 the Christmas movies are to be believed. Of course, Christmas movies do tend to leave out the poop, so that probably helps. Plus, the main characters usually don't have to worry about any horses panicking and making a run for it when a densely populated, loud city is, in fact, crowded and loud. But, as NBC New York reports, that's exactly what happened last Thursday. Again. 

Okay, so technically, the NBC New York article doesn't mention any poop, only a horse trying to make its escape while strapped to a tourist carriage, but horses poop. It's just what they do. Same as you and me. But a horse really did take off from Central Park and run down Sixth Avenue with the carriage still in tow, smashing into multiple cars in the process. Thankfully, it doesn't appear that anyone was in the carriage when the horse made its break, and there are no injuries to report — only a little property damage.

According to the carriage drivers' union, a passing delivery vehicle most likely spooked the horse, causing it to panic and run off before the carriage driver could stop it. In a statement, the union said that allowing the horse to escape "falls far short of our standards." TWU Local 100 (the union that represents the carriage driver) Administrative Vice President Alexander Kemp also issued a statement, saying, "The union notified the Health Department, which is the lead regulatory agency in terms of city oversight, when this incident happened on Thursday. The union is now evaluating what internal actions will be taken regarding this individual driver."

Should the carriage driver have made sure the horsey brake was on? Sure. The people whose cars were smashed probably didn't love having to call their insurance agents and explain that their car was attacked by a horse. But this also isn't the first time a horse has run off in the middle of the city, and it's going to keep happening as long as the tourist carriage companies are allowed to operate in Manhattan. Because horses don't belong in the most densely populated cities in the country.

As Edita Birnkrant, executive director of the animal advocacy group New Yorkers for Clean, Livable, and Safe Streets, put it in a statement to NBC New York, "These violent incidents keep happening because forcing horses attached to carriages into chaotic city streets is fundamentally incompatible with their nature."

Now, 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 aren't majestic is just straight-up lying to you. But they're also incredibly skittish and, somehow, even more fragile. A dense city full of people and cars is the last place you should take a horse, and there's no getting around that. Delivery trucks are going to make noise. Cars are going to backfire. People are going to sneeze. And horses strapped to tourist carriages are going to freak out when they get spooked by unexpected sounds, because that's just how their brains are wired.

Of course, the head of the carriage drivers' union disagrees, telling NBC New York, "It's time to turn the page and come together to improve even further the good care the horses currently receive while also protecting carriage-driver jobs that enable an overwhelmingly immigrant workforce to put food on the table and take care of their families."