I used to drive carriages in Chicago. the 18 degree rule was imposed by Animal Control for the safety of the horses. They also were not allowed to work if it was too warm though I forget the actual cut off. You could also get sent home if your horse had a sore or appeared to be limping. (though nobody I worked with would ever leave the barn under those conditions.) I can't speak for the horses in New York but I can tell you the labor laws in Chicago are stricter for animals than they are for people. A horse must have water available every hour, rest 15 minutes for every hour worked and work no more than six hours in a single day. Also it wasn't a law but our stable gave the horses a week off in the countryside out of every month. One time Sid Vicious (yep that's his real name) didn't want to be caught to go back to the city from the farm for a couple of Thursdays in a row so by the time he came back to work he was so fatted up on grass he barely fit between the shafts. More than one person accused us of working a pregnant mare... OK that was way more than you asked. See what happens when you get me started?

I'm pretty sure that's Sidney there and if you click through to "additional carriage photos" you can see Hansel (the grey) and Sunny, who I got to work with on stage at the Lyric Opera in Elisir d'Amore.

More than one person accused us of working a pregnant mare...

:: sigh ::

This is why more people ought to attend county fairs and such... Then they might know to check the "undercarriage" as it were and realize that Sid is not a mare at all!

argh. at seatac. plane is late. phone keeps logging me out of b.org. may have to sleep in ohare. or run very fast. boo.

I'm so glad I asked! What a cool job.

ooh. but i just got my first class upgrade! and there are six of us running for the indy flight. bad news is, its in the other concourse. i hate that run. have done it too many times.

sounds like you're on your way to Indy meara but if you (or anybody) ever get stuck at O'Hare be sure to check out the Gaslight Lounge in the Hilton. It's like a bar out of time.

We just got a visit from a pair of mounted police. Scruffy looking horses, a bay and a paint, but very cute. The officers were ticketing cars illegally parked in the handicapped spaces. Yay!

It was with great skepticism that I clicked on the link for LOLchairs. But click I did and than I laughed. A lot. I guess you can LOL anything.

I am home, in St. Joseph, which is about 40 miles north of Kansas City. My sister picked me up at noon because the weather was supposed to be shitty, a "wintry mix."

Well. I don't know if you alll have the slightest knowledge of MIdwest weather right now, but it. was. AWFUL. Yeah, it was a "wintery mix" -- from SATAN. Huge ice pellets started coming down about 5 minutes into our trip home, the highway turned into an icy mess, and it was snowing a leetle farther north. It was a freakin' whiteout half the drive -- couldn't see the highway, lights, nothing.

A semi TWO CARS in front of us jackknifed across the highway to avoid CarInFrontOfUS#1, which spun into the median. It was so damned scary. SEMI. Jacknifed. Across the whole icy highway. ONE CAR AWAY. 50 feet from disaster.

I am home and I am safe and it is STILL SNOWING. Like, 6 inches since noon.