Interview with Donny Moss of Blinders

The idyllic image of horses clip-clopping through Central Park is often fodder for romantic comedies and has even been used in posters promoting tourism in New York City. But look a little closer and it’s easy to see that these horses’ lives are far from the fantasy. Often overworked, abused, and traumatized by the frenetic conditions of life in the Big Apple, carriage horses lead a painful and joyless existence. Donny Moss, an animal-loving New Yorker, got tired of turning a blind eye and decided to do something about it. His 50-minute Genesis Award-nominated film, Blinders, delves into the often overlooked, but heartbreaking lives of Central Park carriage horses. VN catches up with Donny before the ceremony to learn more about his first foray into filmmaking.

VegNews: Where did the idea for Blinders come from?
Donny Moss: I had been walking by the horse-drawn carriages along Central Park South for 20 years, and the sight of the carriage horses made me uncomfortable, but I sort of turned the other way and kept going. And then I heard about this horrible accident where a horse spooked and ran along 9th Avenue into traffic and got killed. Then I saw protesters in the street and I thought this would be a really interesting subject for a documentary.

VN: What were some of the challenges and rewards of making this film?
DM: Getting a movie that people perceive to be about animal rights shown is very difficult, because people don’t want to watch animals suffering. One of the best things for me is when non-animal people have come to see Blinders, they have said that this forced them, for the first time, to consider humane treatment of animals. So I think people will walk out of this movie thinking about animals, especially animals in entertainment, in a different light.

VN: Congratulations on your Genesis Award nomination! Tell us a little bit about this.
DM: I submitted Blinders for a Genesis award, knowing that the other people submitting applications would be CNN and PBS and National Geographic—so you can imagine how excited I was when I received the letter saying that I had been nominated in the TV documentary category. I haven’t been before and I’m just thrilled to be able to go. Even if Blinders doesn’t win, this is a tremendous honor and it also helps raise awareness of the issue.

VN: Tell us a little bit about Alec Baldwin’s involvement with the film.
DM: He’s been fighting on behalf of the carriage horses since at least the late ‘80s, if not earlier, and he has appeared at City Hall and testified, which is why I gave him the DVD, with the hope that he would be amenable to a screening, and sure enough he said he would do it. He couldn’t have been any more gracious and his heart’s just in the right place.

VN: How can people obtain copies of the film? And what can they do to help?
DM: Copies are $15 from our website. There’s also a “What You Can Do” section, which gives instructions on how to send a letter to the mayor or the city council speaker, or if you’re a New York City resident, how to contact your City Council Member.

VN: Are you vegan?
DM: I am. As I was making the movie my awareness of animal suffering—not just for entertainment, but in the clothing industry and in the food industry—was growing as I was starting to be exposed to more people and other issues. I’ve decided to abstain from consuming animals, in a large part as a result of making this movie and being exposed to the plight of animals.