It is quite clear by now to any rational observer that there was never any reason to ban the New York Carriage Horses from the city, there has never been any evidence that the horses are abused, or suffer in any way from working and living in New York City. There is no longer any doubt that here was never any justification for the cruel, unjust and continuing persecution of the carriage drivers and medallion holders.

In all of this year (and last) there was not a single official allegation of abuse or cruelty or neglect lodged or proven against a single carriage driver, according to the New York City Police Department, which monitors the well-being of the more than 200 carriage horses at the behest and direction of a hostile mayor and city government that would dearly love a reason to justify their outrageous persecution of the carriage trade.

A former carriage driver named Eva Hughes told me on one of my first visits to the carriage stables in New York that the horses were sparking a new social awakening about animals, a new narrative for our work with them and their survival. She was prophetic.

In my book Talking To Animals, out next Spring from Simon and Schuster, there is a long chapter about the New York Carriage Horses, I wrote about them for nearly two years before the disturbing, and often dishonest effort by the animal rights movement to destroy the work and lives of the horses and drivers failed so spectacularly.

As famed horse trainer Buck Brannaman wrote of the carriage horses, they are among the luckiest horses in the world.

The book calls for a new and wiser understanding of animals than we currently seem to have, and includes stories of my own efforts to communicate with animals and listen to them. The carriage horses are, to me, the heart of the argument. The horses could always have told us they were content and well cared for, if we only knew how to listen. Thankfully, some people did:

Here is a short excerpt from that chapter:  “Our western culture has forgotten the long and precious history that people and animals have. If the horses leave, they will take the wind and rain with them. And much of the magic…

 When someone asks me what the carriage horse controversy is truly about I say it isn’t about real estate or animal welfare or traffic safety. It’s about an attitude of the heart. The animals need us. Their most elemental right is the right to survive on the earth, and our most elemental task is to understand them well enough to know how to make that happen. If we ask them, they will tell us.”

Talking To Animals: How We Can Understand Them And They Can Understand Us, will be published next May. It can be pre-ordered now through Battenkill Books, my local independent bookstore. People who order the book through Battenkill will receive a signed and personalized book, a free tote-bag in support of independent bookstores, and also a chance to win a potholder or a Maria-designed Bedlam Farm tote-bag.

Battenkill takes credit cards and Paypal, and they are almost shockingly nice.You can pre-order here.