Eva Yusef-Salaam (equine-assisted psychotherapist) testifies supporting ban

Eva Yusef-Salaam.

Yes, I got it.

Thank you very much for this hearing.

I'm speaking in support of 0943.

I am a New Yorker, born and raised in Brooklyn, currently in District 2.

I've been a trauma therapist for 40 years.

Twenty of those years, I have been an equine-assisted psychotherapist, meaning that I incorporate horses in psychotherapy with clients.

Primarily, that work has been with combat veterans.

In this work, I have seen firsthand how horses depend on their senses and their ability to flee perceived danger to stay safe and regulated.

We work with a herd of horses at liberty, meaning no halters, no lead lines, no harnesses, or any other means of control or domination.

And in all these years, we have had no injuries to people, no injuries to horses, none.

Horses survive by using their senses to detect danger.

Their nearly 360-degree vision, highly sensitive hearing, and acute sense of smell are adaptations that allow them to identify potential threats and to react quickly.

In Manhattan, those same senses are constantly bombarded by sirens, jackhammers, buses,

Motorcycles, dense crowds, exhaust fumes, flashing lights, and nonstop unpredictable movement.

A horse pulling a carriage cannot move freely away from what it perceives as a threat.

This conflict between instinct and environment creates an inherent safety risk that no amount of training can eliminate.

It's a public safety concern, and protecting the public is one of the City Council's core responsibilities.

Horse-drawn carriages belonged to a different era of New York City's history.

Today, we know far more about equine behavior, welfare, and public safety than we did a century ago.

We cannot train away millions of years of evolution, and we should not ask horses to ignore instincts that have kept their species alive.

The question before the city council is not whether some horses can be trained to tolerate parts of this work or whether better regulations can reduce the risk to horses and citizens.

The question is whether New York City is an appropriate place to ask horses to do work their biology is not built to withstand, while also putting pedestrians, drivers, cyclists, joggers, and the horses at risk.

Thank you so much.

Thank you so much.

Next, state your name and then give testimony.

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