A last ride in a NYC horse elevator

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@2DogsFarm I remember the Lincoln Park stable. I think they had a ramp but it was no 5 stories tall ! They had an indoor arena space ground floor.

My mother used to take me to the playground in the park and I would disappear down the bridle path ! We lived in a Lincoln Park area 2 flat.

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If you’re thinking of Coach Horse - later the dinner theater Noble Horse - yes, after renovation it had a ramp to stalls on the upper level.

My Dad & Aunt rode livery horses in Lincoln Park the 1920s, probably from that same stable.
Not saying you’re their generation :wink:
I grew up in the 'burbs, took (Huntseat) lessons there in the 50s-60s
My Grandma lived in an apt on an upper floor, Lake Shore Dr, just West of Lincoln Park & I’d watch the riders on the bridle paths there.

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That was pretty interesting. I’d hate to think of something going wrong with the elevator while there was a horse in it.

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I saw that special!

It’s wild what humans can convince horses to do. Not always for their benefit unfortunately, but imagine trying to load your average happy hacker into an elevator… multiple times!

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I would imagine it wasn’t a very smooth ride on that elevator. I wonder how they conditioned the horses to be OK with it. I don’t want to imagine being in that confined space with a panicked horse.

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Seeing as the video showed the mechanics of the elevator - exposed electrical components and huge arcs… I don’t think “safety” was the priority :joy:🫣

I hate being in a big, solid trailer with a horse, with escape routes and parking brakes on. An elevator? No thank you!

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It probably wasn’t as bad as you think. My father worked in Chicago area where there was a ramp/steps the horses had to go up and down. It never sounded like it was a huge deal. The horses went up and down by themselves.

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My sister helped my neighbor bring her horse to NYC for a photo shoot and they had to go up in an freight elevator. The owner kept his head in a bucket of grain and he was fine. Arabian.

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I worked there for a few summers/winter seasons when it was a dinner theater. It was an…experience…but, I do remember the ramp vividly. Most nights we’d turn the horses out in the arena. They’d carefully walk down the ramp, and the next morning, they’d walk/jog right back up the ramp and into their stalls for breakfast.

Good cardio for the humans walking up and down that ramp, too.

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I was not an eyewitness, but I’ve heard the story of a pony mom who was enraged when her pony got measured at what she thought was the wrong size many years ago when the then-AHSA office was still in downtown New York City.

The story goes that she put the pony in the horse trailer, drove it into the city, unloaded it on the sidewalk, led it into the building, and took it up in the elevator to the AHSA office and told them to measure the pony again right there in front of her.

Knowing that pony mom even a little bit, I have no trouble believing that the story was true. Lol.

I have a friend who has a saintly mini that she takes to assisted living facilities, hospitals, etc. and I’m pretty sure the mini has ridden in people elevators. She never trained him for this; I don’t remember what his background was before she got him. But he’s never pooped or peed in a building. He always waits until he’s outside.