lives

[sbtorpey]

As we were walking home up 9th Ave last night, a horse-drawn carriage rushed past us down 9th. The horse was running full-out, many times faster than I've ever seen a horse pulling one of those things go, and the driver was straining to try to get the horse back under control. "Something sure scared that horse," I said. The carriage blew through

Comments

[fanlain]

Even reading your post, I felt the same. After the first paragraph, I was just thinking well what happened about the horse? Now I'm curious how it made it from 9th to 50th without getting injured, killed, or under control in that many blocks when really I should be thinking about Darfur...I think it's because there's more events happening in the first paragraph whereas the second has mostly numbers to describe events...the personal narrative is always more powerful.

The horse probably made it from 9th to 50th faster than a taxi shark. That somewhow deserves an award, but I don't understand why the horse had to be put to death over it? I'm curious what did scare him in the first place?

[whiskeypants]

it's entirely possible the horse was badly injured enough that euthanasia was the only course.

[rebbyribs]

I don't understand why the horse had to be put to death over it?

The horse crashed into a car. It was probably so injured that putting it down was the most merciful thing to do.

last run

[sbtorpey]

Sorry: I gave you unclear Manhattan-specific geography. It was running down 9th Avenue the whole time, and so only made it a few blocks after we saw it; I don't know where it started running. I think we were waiting to cross 53rd Street when it passed us, so it must have hit the car only seconds after it passed out of view, down where 9th Ave crosses 50th Street.

I assume the collision with the car left the horse so badly hurt that euthanasia was just the recommended medical response, not a punishment. But maybe not.

I wonder why it felt the need to run like that too. Was I even right to assume it was scared?

Even a direct witness of an event has so little idea what's really happening.

horses

[fanlain]

Was I even right to assume it was scared?

Probably. Horses are prey animals. If something funny happens, their instictive reaction is that something is about to eat them, and they often run.

Horses can be scared by many things. Some get worried about their own shadow. Some get upset about plastic bags blowing about. Recently, I had trouble leading Waldo because we were walking by another horse that he didn't like. (He didn't take off running, he just started acting oddly.)

The first thing they told me when I started lessons was that not to wrap a rope around my hand, because the horse could take off suddenly if something bothered him. In the filming of LotRs, they were very concerned about the scene where a horse drags Faramir into Gondor, because if the horse got upset, the actor would be in trouble. (They'd rigged a quick-release, but worried anyway.)

You'd think that a carriage horse in New York City would have seen it all and not care, but...they are unpredictable.

Re: horses

[anemone]

That was me.

Re: That was me

[sbtorpey]

Thanks. It was the mention of Waldo that gave it away.