With their spirit and affection, horses aren't made to be carriage-pulling machines. And yet, throughout America, they're forced to do so everyday. They go on busy streets, breathing in exhaust fumes from cars, damaging their lungs. Their legs aren't used to constantly walking on hard surfaces like concrete, leaving them with permanent leg issues. The horses have to pull no matter what the weather, or how tired they are. Some of them collapse in the scorching heat in the summer, dead. At times, impatient drivers collide with the carriage or the horse. The busy streets of a city shouldn't have slow-moving carriages. It put the horse and the carriage riders in danger. The life these horses lead are hard, they work seven days a week, no matter what, and at night, they stand in cramped stalls too small to turn around or lie down in. Sadly, horses aren't protected under the Animal Welfare Act, and most humane authorities don't have time to look after the horses drawing carriages. It isn't that when the horse gets too exhausted to pull the carriage any further that it's retired to a nice field, but instead the horse is killed and used for meat fed to dogs or zoo animals. The horses shouldn't be forced into such a lifestyle. It's cruel and demeaning, and it needs to stop. Along with signing for your support, please boycott riding horse-drawn carriages.
