Say, How Does One Become a Carriage Horse Driver?

The New Yorker asked this question in 2006, following the particularly grisly death of a carriage horse. The horse, Spotty, had gotten spooked before galloping into a station wagon on Ninth Avenue at 50th Street. Ironically, this tragedy happened near the site of the old American Horse Exchange. The writer, Lauren Collins, acknowledged that the sight of a dead horse on a New York City avenue evoked a throwback to the brutish era of Boss Tweed. Anyway, Ms. Collins set out to determine what a prospective carriage driver needs to do to acquire a license. A home-study course was said to be required, although Ms. Collins didn't find evidence of any such course. A money order in the amount of $25 came in handy, though...
Read "From Here to There: Municipal Velvet." Published January 16, 2006.