Watch out the fire cracker is lit!! And the horse can't even enjoy a yummy piece of cherry pie cause he's all restraint by the dark age bridle! New York IS a danger for horses and the people who ride with one!! Good one Dan!!

Posted by: Carla | May 29, 2008 09:56 AM

Excellent, Dan! The horse's expression is priceless.

Do I get any extra points for spotting your little alien dude?

Posted by: Mike Quinoa | May 29, 2008 01:14 PM

Great message. Well done.

When we were in Charleston SC last week, there were two guys on bikes who had carriage type seats attatched - in other words, they were the horses!!

My boyfriend and I went on a ride that they offered - we saw the old historic downtown Chalreston, it was incredibly fun and the guy who pulled our carriage was really strong and a great bike rider.

No horse involved, and it was really smooth and fun going down the back streets of the city. No carbon emissions, even!

I hope PETA gives these guys a shout out, an alternative to horse drawn carriages!!!

Posted by: Maya, CVT | May 29, 2008 06:14 PM

Laziness is destroying our society. And the cartoon captures those passengers quite well. Central Park long path is only 2 miles. Can't they walk? Take a pedicab.

Posted by: Roxanne Delgado | May 29, 2008 11:49 PM

The bill to ban the brutal horse and carriage industry in NYC, is being held up by the decidedly animal unfriendly Christine Quinn. I'd like to see speaker Quinn pulling the fat tourist family around the city for an entire day, in the heat, on the asphalt, with no water, while taxi cabs and other drivers blare their horns at her. Even then, she is too stupid and out of touch to understand the inherent cruelty of this virtually unregulated industry.

Posted by: Valerie | May 30, 2008 12:47 PM

And when the horse is retired from his day job what then? Off to the beautiful country home he deserves. No, off to the transport truck for a one way trip to a mexican slaughter house.

Posted by: joanna | May 30, 2008 01:13 PM

Excellent Dan! It's got all the makings of horse HELL- and isn't the driver Amish? Lord, that poor horse when tubby gets on board!

Posted by: lynda downie | May 30, 2008 11:29 PM

Four years ago, I lived in New York City. After work, as a horselover, I daily visited the working horses and fed them carrots. I made a lot of friends! Their ears went up when they saw me coming. I also knew most of the drivers. Most of them were sympathetic to me and a few, I must say, even loved their horse. I was only hoping to hit the megamillions or something so that I could adopt 7201, 7504, 7608 and so forth - to give them at least a deserved retirement. Some hores are stronger than others, so I picked the weaker ones. I remember often thinking that it is just unbelievable that people just "don't care". X-mas time was the worst. You could see tourists lining up and it was of course big money time for these drivers. These horses looked utterly exhausted. A reason to wear a "I do not love NY!" t-shirt. Once in awhile, I met compassionate tourists or locals. This to end on a hopeful note. But truth of the matter is that all this is happening in a city where the current major has a daughter who supposedly is a jumper - a horselover... Well, where is she?

Posted by: Luc | June 2, 2008 06:47 AM

Actually horses do better with work and structure. And if properly cared for, a horse can be in work well into their senior years and thrive - my gorgeous 25 year old mare is a great example. But it's a partnership, and after a lifetime of good work, every horse deserves a proper retirement in a nice green pasture with other horses.

Posted by: Pinkbike | June 13, 2008 05:15 AM

Carriage horses should be replaced with giant Wii stations and extra large screens;one would pay to sit in a carriage facing one of those screens-they'd choose the type of horse and scenery they want to see and it would be practically the same thing.
Since there would be no labor to take care of any real horses, maybe it would save some money.

Posted by: Lina | June 22, 2008 04:17 PM

When horse riding was the only method of transportation hundreds or thousands of years ago the dangers were few. Now with the advent of cars, ect. there is little or no need for horse carages. Now of days there are many dangers to both animal and passangers unlike a few dangers in the past. Also there was less animal abuse in the past than now.

Posted by: WA Ford | August 7, 2008 11:59 PM