BLINDERS, Know the Truth Behind the Tradition

“Through our entire history, we have become accustomed to pushing [animals] around in ways dictated by our own wants and needs without much regard for theirs.” ~ Stanley Schmidt, Physicist & Author

“The life of a carriage horse on New York City streets is extremely difficult and life threatening, and the ASPCA has long believed that carriage horses were never meant to live and work in today’s urban setting.” ~ American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA)

BLINDERS is a powerful documentary about the day-to-day reality of life as a carriage horse in New York City. Filmmaker and director Donny Moss weaves hours and hours of historical film footage with interviews of politicians, veterinarians, animal welfare experts, carriage drivers, tourists, residents, and eyewitnesses that shed a bright light on the dangers, risks, abuses, inhumane treatment, and poor care of carriage horses. They highlight the deeply entrenched politics behind the industry and the dark and inhumane side of this unregulated, tax-free, cash-only tourist-driven business.

The film exposes the everyday hardships that 220 city carriage horses experience and how they live miserable lives working more than nine hours a day, seven days a week, pulling a carriage that weighs hundreds of pounds, on busy streets in heavy traffic, hooves pounding on hard pavement, alarmed by loud frightening noises, deprived of fresh, clean drinking water, breathing heavy toxic exhaust fumes, working in extreme heat and cold impacting their respiration, and finally resting at night in deplorable housing conditions with little room to physically move. BLINDERS leaves us with no doubt that NYC streets is no place for horses.

This must-see film is for anyone who cares about the lives and fate of these beautiful animals—turned indentured servants. If you are considering taking a carriage horse ride in NYC or any city, you will want to think again. Seeing this film will shine a whole new light on this dark, cruel industry for horses.

Film Length: 50 Minutes

Film Premier: 2008

Watch the Film

• Watch on the Blinders Website

• Rent, stream or buy the film on Amazon

More About Why A Ban is Needed

Read the Top 16 Reasons NYC Should Ban Horse Drawn Carriages

Read how Horse Drawn Carriages are Cruel and Inhumane

NYCLASS on Cruel and Inhumane Horse Drawn Carriages

Updates to Issues and Actions Concerning NYC’s Carriage Horses

More about the Bill to Ban Horse Drawn Carriages in NYC

Read PETA on The Cruelty of Horse Drawn Carriages

Read HSUS President, Wayne Pacelle, on Why It’s So Important to Move Into A Safer, More Humane World

Many go to slaughterhouses, read Where Do All the NYC Horses Go?

Legislation Introduced

On December 11, 2007, Council Member Tony Avella introduced a bill at City Hall to ban horse-drawn carriages from NYC. The ASPCA joined a coalition of citizens, animal advocacy groups, and local businesses to lobby City Hall in support of this bill. Today a newer version of that bill has been introduced in the New York state legislature, called the Avella/Rosenthall Bill – S667 / A997 that would prohibit the operation of horse-drawn carriages in NYC.

Horse Lovers Demand NYC Council Retire Carriage Horses, by Jane Velez-Mitchell

Instead of a Carriage Horse Ride, Consider These Activities That Don’t Hurt Horses:

• Take a walk
• Ride a bike
• Ice skate
• Take a pedicab tour
• Take a Hop On, Hop Off Tour
• Take a boat tour
• Visit a sanctuary
• Have a picnic

What You Can Do

1. Don’t support this industry. Don’t take carriage horse rides.
2. Support a ban. Add your name to the NYCLASS PETITION calling for ban on horse-drawn carriages in NYC. Read and sign the petition
   Petition: Horses do not belong in a congested, urban setting where they constantly breathe exhaust while dodging dangerous traffic. The horses live their lives confined to the shafts of their carriage and the shafts of their tiny stable stalls, with no access to green pastures. I love NY but seeing such an inhumane industry continue to operate here disappoints me. I support retiring the horse-drawn carriages and replacing them with humane, sustainable electric vintage-replica tour cars proposed in the NYC Council bill, Intro 86A.
3. If you live in NYC, call your New York City Council Members and ask them to ban horse-drawn carriages. Here is the script you can use.  Call all of your Council Member to support Avella/Rosenthall Bill – S667/A997 in the state legislature that would prohibit the operation of horse-drawn carriages in NYC. Call them, don’t e-mail them, e-mails get deleted. Many are not aware of the constant disrespect for the law displayed by the carriage drivers who profess to “love their horses.” Here’s a complete list of NYC Council Members and contact info.
   1. Visit the District Office of your Council Member. Tell them that you are a constituent and want the CM to support the Avella/Rosenthall Bill – S667/A997 in the state legislature. Ask for a meeting. Bring a hand written letter to the Council Member – this will go a long way.
   2. Call your Council Member every week if they are undecided to remind them that you would like them to support Intro 573. Don’t be shy. They represent you.
4. If you live outside New York City, please contact members of the Transportation Committee. Please call every person on this list. You can spread it out over several days. CALL THESE COUNCIL MEMBERS ON THE TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE:
   1. James Vacca – 718-931-1721
   2. Deborah Rose – 718-556-7370
   3. David G. Greenfield – 718-853-2704
   4. Antonio Reynoso – 718-963-3141
   5. Daniel Garodnick – 212-818-0580
   6. Jimmy Van Bramer – 718-383-9566
   7. Carlos Menchaca – 718-439-9012
   8. Stephen Levin 718-875-5200
5. Write letters to the Editor (See list and tips) to educate the public about animal rights
6. Write and call the Mayor of NYC, State Senators and Congressmen – asking for a ban
7. Visit the Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages to learn more. “Like” their Facebook page
8. Visit Horses Without Carriages International for more about the plight of carriage horses worldwide
9. Report animal abuse and horse abuse in NYC, here’s how
10. See the list of accidents involving horse-drawn carriages and here in the past 10 years
11. Share on social media to help raise awareness about carriage horse abuse so laws can be passed to ban carriage horses.

Cities That Have Banned Horse-Drawn Carriages

• Beijing, China
• Bilozi, MS
• Broadway at the Beach, SC
• Camden, NJ
• Deerfield Beach, FL
• Key West, FL
• Kenneth City, FL
• Las Vegas, NV
• London, England
• Oxford, England
• Palm Beach, FL
• Panama City Beach, FL
• Paris, France
• Pompano Beach, FL
• Reno, NV
• Santa Fe, NM
• Toronto, Canada,
• Treasure Island, FL

Major Concerns, Threats and Dangers for Horses

1. Traffic Accidents – Horses spook easily from sudden and loud noises, barking dogs, sirens and street noise. Afraid, they bolt and run down city streets, colliding into obstacles and causing accidents where both people and horse get injured. Many carriage horses have been severely injured and had to be euthanized or have died on city streets. See more about accidents
2. Overworked & Exhausted – Horses work long 9+ hour shifts in the loud city streets on hard pavement and suffer from exhaustion, and collapse from fatigue
3. Heat Stroke – Horses suffer from heat exhaustion and heat stroke in warm weather and summer months and cannot recover from the constant exposure to heat rising off the pavement and the hot air temperature
4. Breathing Toxic Car Fumes – For 9-10 hours a day horses are breathing toxic nose-to-tailpipe polluting car exhaust fumes that suffocate them and cause respiratory distress and disease, they cannot get enough oxygen and are deprived of breathing clean, fresh air
5. Dangerous Weather Conditions – Horses are forced to work in all kinds of harsh, extreme and dangerous weather conditions – snow, sleet, rain, heat, freezing cold where they should not be working at all and causes increased danger and risk
6. Extreme Dehydration – Carriage horses often don’t get enough fresh water, and many get only dirty contaminated water, and suffer from mild to extreme dehydration causing collapse
7. Constant Pounding on Hard Pavement – The constant walking and trotting on cement and asphalt causes concussive injury to horses’ legs and feet, which are designed to walk on soft surfaces like dirt or grass. Over time, the constant concussive injury makes them lame, arthritic, causes pain and suffering, and they can become unable to even walk
8. Subjected to Massive Street Dangers – Horses have stepped on electric plates and died, there are constant loud ambulances and sirens, racing police cars, drivers running red lights, people noise, dogs barking, fireworks – all posing severe dangers for horses and the carriages
9. Horse Stables are Dangerous, Inadequate and Hazardous – The horses are stabled in multi-level barns that are fire hazards. Horse stalls should always be on ground level, where horses could more easily escape. After long days, they must walk up multi-stories to their stalls. Worse is the stalls are too small for horses to lie down, rest, stretch out and recover
10. Drivers Aren’t Paying Attention – Drivers are on cellphones, reading newspapers, making illegal turns, and not driving in the streets by the law, but completely illegally

Quotes From the Film

“There were more than 30 accidents in the past few years alone — and those are just the known accidents reported by the public.”

“In 2016, a horse named Juliette collapsed in Central Park, and the driver beat the horse to get up. But Juliette never got up, she died on the street from exhaustion and fatigue.” ~ Animal Welfare Expert

“These horses are competing with fire engines, police cars, taxis, buses, bicycles, pedestrians — they don’t watch out for the horses.”

“The horses in NYC are worse off now in the 21^st Century than they were 100 years ago.” ~ Animal Welfare Expert

“There are few cities where horses die of heat stroke and literally bake to death – New York City is one of the worst. A horse went down near Central Park and was dying. The driver didn’t want to call the veterinarian.” ~ Witness

“These carriage operators and drivers desensitize themselves to horse abuse because that’s how they make a living.” Animal Welfare Expert

“Many carriage horses have pre-existing lameness, then they are put onto pavement and hard cement, causing concussive injury, constantly. It’s very cruel.” ~ Veterinarian

“Many horses that are lame are pulling carriages. Working a lame horse is illegal and inhumane.” ~ Veterinarian

“One of the major hazards that horses face in the summertime, is the intense heat coming off the pavement – the horses are subject to too much intense heat and high humidity during summer months.” ~ Veterinarian

“There’s no consideration for the conditions they are forced to endure — no shade, going out in blizzards, snowstorms, it’s such a radical notion to see live animals in the streets of NYC, they just don’t belong there! Let alone in a blizzard!”

“Tradition is a really lame excuse for cruelty. Bullfighting was a tradition that was extremely cruel.” – Animal Welfare Expert

“Horses that no longer can earn a living for their owners are thrown out, they are trashed – they are sold to slaughterhouses and slaughtered for meat for Japan.”

“It’s not unusual for horses to spook in the city. This poor horse was so badly injured, he was later euthanized. This was the deciding factor that NYC residents decided to go for a ban.” ~ Accident Witnesses

“The carriage industry denies the horses any daily turn-out or pasture time to graze, roll and socialize freely on grass, which is needed daily for horses to live healthy lives.” ~ Veterinarians

“These are prey animals not predator animals, this means they have to be free of any loud noises and stimulus, because it will spook them.” ~ Veterinarian

“Horses are nervous animals and should be in quieter places. The city is too busy, the horses get too freaked out and distracted with cars.”

“When the horses are going home, they run them along 9^th Avenue before the Lincoln Tunnel – and a carriage driver went through a yellow light and killed the horse and injured many people.” ~ Resident

“If you think of the horses, they are on an 8-hour shift with exhaust and fumes from buses and cabs, and have to struggle to get enough clean air. They have trouble with their breathing.” ~ Veterinarian

“If you see a horse who is frothing and kicking, he can be in serious respiratory distress. He’s not getting enough oxygen, he’s in distress.” ~ Veterinarian

“A carriage horse spooked and died running into a tree on Friday because of a street musician.” ~ Witness

“Horses need deep sleep where they stretch out all four legs out, but they don’t have this adequate space to do this in NYC. They are in little prison cells. With very poor ventilation.” ~ Veterinarian

“You see these horses running on the streets of NYC, the driver is using the horse like a chariot race. They were trying to skip to get through the lights, that’s what the game is.” ~ PETA

“These horses are beasts of burden and have just a horrible life.” ~ Animal Welfare Advocate

“They look depressed, they don’t have a good life, and it shows in their faces.”

“I was horrified by what I saw when I went into the stables, they were dirty, had filthy bedding, and the stalls were too small (very sub standard).”

“There’s no safety device in the carriage. The horse has absolutely no protection at all.”

“The horses stop and start constantly, puts immense stress on horses, doing it for 8-hours a day.”

“The horses are only watered out of a communal tub, which is an enormous source of disease transmission and humans can toss in pollutants while no one is looking. This is a horse veterinary nightmare!” ~ Veterinarian

“Many people that take carriage rides think this is all ok. But many of these horses are emaciated, you can see their ribs, they aren’t in good condition.” ~ Veterinarian

“Most of the horse stables are in multi-story buildings, they must walk up ramps to get to their stalls after they work, plus there’s a huge fire risk. The horses could not be evacuated during a fire. Horses should be on the ground level, in order to escape.”

“In 2000, 21 horses were burned to death in a Brooklyn stable—they were all trapped in their stalls in a multi-level building and couldn’t escape.”

“Legally they can be harnessed for a carriage 10 hours a day, then being subjected to a small “tie stall” or small “box stall. They have no space to stretch out or move around in these stalls.”

“Horses are herd animals, they love to socialize with other horses. They should be out everyday and be able to socialize, and be physical running, and be playful, with grass to graze on. But these horses never get this chance.” ~ Horse sanctuary owner

“When you come down to it, the horses are suffering.”

“A carriage horse working these streets is cruelty to animals, period. New York City has animal cruelty laws, but they are not abiding by them with these carriage horses.” ~ PETA

“The carriage horse operator and driver and groom, there’s enormous variation how the horses are treated between them, some are kind but some are very rough.”

“In my professional opinion, these horses are money-making commodities and they are treated as such.”

“The horses rarely urinate, which means they are dehydrated and under-watered. If it urinated a lot it would smell and the drivers fear the City will complain.” ~ Veterinarian

“The horse carriage industry is a private industry, and they should take care of cleaning up after themselves.” ~ Resident

“Drivers are on cellphones, making U-Turns, talking to passengers facing backwards, reading magazines and newspapers, not paying any attention at all. The city gives drivers without any drivers license, a carriage horse license!”

“A carriage horse driver hit me with a whip 7 times because he was breaking the law, and I  called the ASPCA. He hit me numerous times!” ~  Resident

“The ASPCA is charged with monitoring the carriage horses in NYC. They are responsible for responding to cruelty complaints. But there is only one officer. They are understaffed, they don’t have the required resources.”

“The industry is so politically connected, that it seems impossible to ban the industry. ~ Veterinarian

“There should be a humane respite after retirement. The bottom line is these operators/drivers want to squeeze the last buck out of them that they can, so after all the years of hard labor and making money off them, they sell them for slaughter.”

“For each one that gets saved, there are probably 100 that gets slaughtered.”

“Most horses that have been worked for years and finally grow old are sold at auctions for SLAUGHTER! There are only a few organizations who rescue these poor animals from their deaths.”

“This industry has no place in modern-day New York, it will take the death of a person, because the death of a horse doesn’t seem to do it.”

Articles About Horse Carriages in NYC

Driver Pushed Carriage Horse to Collapse in the Streets: Witness, New York Post, 2016

Brooklyn Stable Fire Kills 21 Horses Trapped in Stalls, New York Times, 2000

Mean Streets of NYC are No Place for a Horse, NewsDay.com, 2006

NYC’s Handling of Carriage Horse Death Raises Many Questions, The DODO

Audit Faults City on Care of Carriage Horses, New York Times, 2007

Doc Reveals Dark Side of Iconic Carriage Rides, The Globe & Mail, 2008, updated 2009

Film Credits

Film Director, Editor, Producer: Donny Moss

2007 McMoss Productions

All Photos represented are Courtesy of BLINDERS, http://www.blindersthemovie.com, and Donny Moss

Film Appearances

• Tony Avella, City Council Member
• Ingrid Newkirk, PETA
• Jackie Vergeno, PETA
• Marian Probst, The Fund for Animals
• Sherry Ramsey, Humane Society of the U.S.
• Chris Berry, Equine Protection Network
• Vicky Berry, Central New England Equine Rescue
• Holly Cheever, Veterinarian
• Andrew Lang, Veterinarian
• Elizabeth Forel, Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages
• Catherine Gore, Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages
• Dustin Shroff, Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages
• Jill Wetiz, Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages
• Marilyn Galfin, Animal Rights Activist

“The thinking person must oppose all cruel customs no matter how rooted in tradition and surrounded by a halo. When we have a choice, we must avoid bringing torment and injury into the lives of another.” ~ Albert Schweitzer, Philosopher