Every one of you is invited to a movie being released at 9 p.m. tonight, it will be narrated by Liam Neeson. It is called “Save NYC Carriage Horses.”
The human consciousness is a fascinating thing.
You might look at this photograph and see a peaceful, iconic and timeless thing – the big and beautiful carriage horses, eating their oats, sharing the food with the hardy pigeons of New York, waiting for rides as they have done for more than 150 years. The horses might look healthy to you, contented and at ease. You might think these are lucky animals, they are safe and protected. You might think the city is so fortunate, to have kept these animals in our midst, where they have been for hundreds of years.
Or you might see the image differently, as some do. It might be a portrait of abuse. Overworked, exhausted and depressed animals, pulling “torture wagons” in the heat and cold. Unable to graze freely in open pastures, standing in the open air all day, unable to socialize at will with other horses, moving about dangerously on crowded streets, confined in “cells” and “chained” to their carriages, worked by callous, greedy and abusive human beings.
The horses, as often happens with animals, are caught between these two images, these different ways of looking at the world. Every human being sees the world in a different way, a blessing and a curse.
We all bring different things to the table when it comes to animals, we see what we need to see, they are mirrors, reflections of our own lives, our joys, fears, histories, emotional lives, hopes and disappointments. I don’t tell other people what to see, but I’m sure it is clear what I see. The campaign against the carriage horses has been cruel, invasive and ill-informed. It is, in some ways, a frightening abuse of political power and extremist ideology.
The campaign to ban them has been a manipulation both of reality and truth. The 300 people working in the carriage trade have done nothing wrong. They have broken no laws, committed no crimes, violated no regulations. By every account, they treat their horses well. Yet they have been attacked for years, their livelihood and way of life is threatened. The horses, among the safest animals in the world, face banishment to rescue farms and slaughterhouses.
The horses need to stay where they are, they are a part of the soul and heritage of New York City, they are well-cared for and much loved by many people. I am happy to be a part of the movement to save these horses and to keep animals in our world.
Tonight, we will get another view of the horses, award-winning independent filmmaker Mary Haverstick is presenting a film “Save NYC Horse Carriages,” to be premiered at 6 p.m. tonight at the Kraine Theater in Manhattan and then released online on You Tube. The film is being narrated by Liam Neeson who has taken up the struggle to save the carriage horses and keep them in New York City.
I have to say I’m tempted to get on a train and go to the premiere (the public is invited), it’s supposed to be quite wonderful. You can check it out and make up your own mind about what the images of the carriage horses mean to you.