Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages

Sandra Reynolds, Esq.. - January 30, 2009      

My name is Sandra Reynolds. I am an attorney, and I reside in New Jersey where I founded the Animal Law Committee of the New Jersey State Bar Association in 2001 and now serve as president of a local group working to protect the rights of animals.   

I am a longtime supporter of the Coalition to Ban Horse Drawn Carriages. I come here today to speak for many friends, relatives, and colleagues who reside in New York City as well as in New Jersey and who, along with me, support a ban on the carriage trade in New York City.    

For over 20 years, my family has owned horses and I am very familiar with their flight response - the rapidity with which they will panic and flee when frightened.  In all of the animal kingdom, equines evolved as a species with one of the most highly developed flight responses to any frightening sight or noise.     

The rapidity with which they bolt when frightened has not been altered over time. Training can only go so far to modify this response. Ten years ago my daughter was thrown by a HIGHLY TRAINED horse that was suddenly frightened, and she suffered a SKULL FRACTURE AND BRAIN INJURY (a concussion).     

You all know as well as I do that most of the tragic accidents involving  urban carriage horses are due to the horse's panicking, fleeing, and colliding with vehicles and buildings with disastrous consequences.     

Their presence on congested city streets endangers the pubic safety every day.     

Street noises and traffic pose the greatest danger of all to the horses.     

And the fact is...that the horses' working environment CANNOT BE MADE SAFER as long as they are on congested city streets. You can add to this the fact that they live as many as FOUR miles from the park.    

It is impossible to remove the danger from such a commute.     

The dangers are ever-present. Not only to the horses—but to pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorists.    

I support a FULL BAN on horse-drawn carriages.