Leonor Quadrosi (equine studies student) testifies opposing ban

Leonor Quadrosi.

Okay.

So I am a student of equine studies program soon to graduate.

I have been working with horses for over 10 years and riding for almost 20.

I am in opposition of this bill.

This is biomechanically an easier job for a horse to perform than that of being ridden.

And this is one of the most regulated industries for horses anywhere in the world.

In fact, telling some of my professors and classmates, the amount of regulations that horses are made to follow here is one that actually shocks a lot of people because they don't believe that there are so many rules here that horses have to follow.

And I strongly believe that the bill presented today is the first step in severing a human-animal bond that has existed for thousands of years.

These are domesticated horses.

They are not ones that can easily just go into a pipeline of not working anymore.

And this will lead to the discontinuation of these certain breeds, such as drafts and standard breds, that were created to do this type of work, although it is much easier of the work they were originally created to do back when the industry began.

This is a very painfully vague bill, and we don't have any guarantee that once these horses leave the city that they will be able to continue the proper care that they have been over the watchful eye of in New York City.

And, you know, while a lot of the people sitting here today mean well, once they are out,

Out of their eyes, there is no way that we will be able to tell what's going on with these horses.

And I have been a part of an independent study for my degree program, talking exactly about the social license to operate urban stables and had the task of laying out

exactly how to ensure good welfare for horses that exist inside the city.

And it is possible, and not only possible, but the surrounding community can be a part of this as well, where not only do we have respect for the horses in the park, where we don't have e-bikes and other things running all around them, causing spooking accidents that have increased.

I ask that this is not the bill that is supported, rather the other one that has been...

Introduced by Councilman Gennaro, so that we do not go further away from the natural world than we already have, and that we remember that we do share this world with other species and not just ourselves.

New York City does not have to only be for people, but can coexist with horses as well as the other animals that exist here.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Thank you both.

So a couple of housekeeping things.

One is that if people, we have a ton more people to testify, so several hours worth of testimony.

If you want to submit testimony, you can.

You have up to 72 hours after the end of this hearing to do so, and you can do it at testimony.nyc, testimony at council, sorry, .nyc.gov, gov.

We look at every single, we've actually had people submit testimony already earlier this week, knowing that there was a hearing today.

Every single piece of testimony is going to be looked at and reviewed and put into a report.

So I just want to let folks know that's an option.

Oh, also, if there is anybody here that still wants to testify and has not filled out one of these cards, please see one of the sergeants and do so.

Okay.

So now I'm going to call Joel Bartlett, Drew McCormick, Emily Erodis, Deborah Thomas,

Nicolene von Fink.

Three people.

So I'm going to give you three more.

Well, let's see.

Let's see.

Okay, just state your name for the record, please.