Jamie Baldanza (documentarian) testifies on spooking experience
Jamie Baldanza, documentarian and sanctuary founder, testifies about her personal experience being thrown from a spooked horse in NYC, describes trigger stacking, and criticizes Councilmember Gennaro's lack of equine behavior knowledge.
Hello.
Okay.
Hi, my name is Jamie Baldanza.
I'm a documentarian focused on wild horses and equine welfare, founder of a New Jersey horse sanctuary, and co-founder of the Coalition for Responsible Carriage Horse Retirement, and a former New Yorker.
I urge the council to pass Romantia's Law.
The hardest lesson horses have ever taught me is that just because you love them doesn't mean you understand them.
When I was 18, I moved to New York and rode often at Claremont Stables near Central Park and a stable in Brooklyn.
Riding the same streets as the carriage horses, I understood why so many people saw them as part of the city's magic.
I loved that magic too.
Then I started to see the other side, the small stalls, little freedom to move, limited social contact, and lives shaped around the demands of the city instead of the needs of a horse.
But what stayed with me the most happened at the park entrance.
One day, the horse I was riding spooked at an umbrella.
He bolted and I was thrown.
Lying there with serious injuries, my first thought was not about myself.
It was about if Bingo reached traffic, he or someone else could get seriously injured or die.
Despite people pleading with me not to move, I got up and ran after him.
That moment changed the course of my life, and it led me to spend years rescuing horses and studying their behavior firsthand.
And as I evolved as a horsewoman and gained better understanding,
of their behavior, I should have recognized the signs.
Bingo was already uneasy.
It was a classic example of trigger stacking.
His stress has been building long before the umbrella.
By then, he had already absorbed the sirens, crowds, traffic, and constant stimulation of New York City until he reached his threshold.
And for Council Member Gennaro, who's no longer here, and as a self-proclaimed equestrian for 60 years, I am shocked he doesn't know basic equine behavior.
He certainly has had the time to learn.
Please pass Ramach's law.
Thank you.
Thank you.
We have the gentleman in the end here.