Since we first published a report on the abuses that have historically been inherent to this industry, we have received numerous communications from a wide spectrum of people.

Individuals call or write to complain about what they see as a life of drudgery for these horses and instances of abuse, and and animal rights' organizations call for an out all ban on the practice.

Carriage operators state that this may have been the case five years ago, but this just is not the case now, particularly in New York City.

What are their lives really like?

The carriage horse industry has been banned in many major European cities.

The reasons vary, but the most common are heavy traffic causing horses to spend hours breathing in heavy exhaust fumes, poor stabling, lack of veterinarian care, lack of proper hoof care, and the abysmal lives generally that the horses suffered which city officials felt they could not control no matter how regulated the trade was, and of course from the steady stream of complaints from concerned citizens and tourists.

In the cities where the industry still exists, initial research has revealed what we feel is one important trend that has not caught on in the United States. That is carriages are pulled by a team of two horses instead of one.