The Top Hat family has 20 plus years of experience operating horse & carriages in Central Park. We have been proudly servicing rides since 2000.
Over the years we have owned and operated many different horses. Today Silver is our lead horse. He is a smart and charming horse who loves to be around people. During our time together working in the park, Silver is well taken care of under our supervision and like all the other Central Park horses Silver is also protected by strict New York City regulations. When Silver is off duty, he rests in a continuous hours stable with a comfy and roomy stall where he gets all the attention and care he needs. In addition, Silver, like all of the other Central Park horses, gets a biannual veterinary exam and five weeks' vacation in the country.
Top Hat NY Horse & Carriage is the only company whose horses are adorned in a top hat so elegance & class starts from the top of the horses head through Your Central Park Adventure! Top Hat NY & Silver hope to see you and to take you through Central Park soon!
About the Central Park Carriage Horses
They are Loved
The Central Park carriage horses are loved. They receive excellent care and treatment. Many of the carriage drivers and stable hands are immigrants raised on farms in their home countries, or first[1]generation Americans who learned their trade from their parents. They have a unique bond with these magnificent animals, which were bred for centuries to work with people. The NYC horse-carriage workers are wholeheartedly committed to animal welfare.
The Regulations
Each horse gets at least 5 weeks of vacation on a farm every year. They are subject to some of the most extensive horse regulations in the country, and are overseen by 5 city agencies, including the Department of Health and the NYPD Mounted Police Unit. Carriage horses can’t work in extreme heat or cold. They can’t work more than nine hours per day. They must have stalls large enough to turn around and lie down comfortably. They are examined by veterinarians at least four times year: two regularly scheduled exams, and exams before and after their vacations. RESCUED More than 100,000 horses are slaughtered in the United States every year. These horses didn’t have anyone capable or willing to take care of them. Many of the Central Park horses were put up for sale by their previous owners at horse auctions – where they teetered on the edge of a death sentence. The Central Park horse carriage owners and drivers rescued these horses from a horrible fate and have given them a purposeful, happy life. These are domesticated animals that want to interact with people, and they spread joy to tourists from around the world, as well as to everyday New Yorkers.
They are Healthy
Carriage horses live long, healthy lives. Every equine veterinarian who has examined the NYC carriage horses has remarked on their good health and care. The American Veterinary Medical Association, the American Association of Equine Practitioners, and the New York State Veterinary Medical Society have all endorsed horse carriage rides in New York City. Carriage horses are not stressed by the city. The overwhelming majority of rides are in bucolic Central Park. A study of cortisol levels in NYC carriage horses by Dr. Joe Bertone of Western University concluded they have exceptionally low levels of this stress hormone while working in the city, and they appear to be more stressed while vacationing on the farm.
The Politics
There are 68 licensed carriages and more than 100 horses in three stables on the West Side of Manhattan. Each carriage owner essentially is a “mom-and pop” business. They support hundreds of blue-collar jobs. The horse-carriage folks have been subject to harmful lies and allegations that they abuse their horses. One group in particular stands out: NYCLASS. NYCLASS was founded by the real-estate industry and is funded by the real-estate industry. Why? There are three stables on the West Side of Manhattan and that land now is very valuable. Developers would love to get their hands on these properties to build skyscrapers with high-priced apartments and commercial space. NYCLASS is a smokescreen for an insidious land grab that would put hundreds of blue-collar workers out of work. SAFE Not a single horse has been killed in a traffic accident in the last 15 years - and new regulations enacted in recent years have increased safety further. The city banned cars from Central Park in 2018. More than 2,100 pedestrians, meanwhile, were killed by cars and trucks in the city.