A new video showing a carriage horse on the ground is further igniting the debate over the future of carriage horses in New York City. Ida Siegal reports.
A horse pulling a carriage along a street in midtown Manhattan collapsed in the middle of the road Wednesday, video showed, as the footage of the steed on its side restarted the heated debate over the future of carriage horses in New York City.
The horse was pulling the carriage up Ninth Avenue when it suddenly fell to the ground, witnesses said.
"I heard this thud and it sounded like almost like a car. But when I turned my head it was this poor horse in the middle of Ninth Avenue," said Christian Parker.
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Another witness, Kelvin Gonzalez, said that after the horse went down, the man driving the carriage started to hit the animal with a small whip, hoping to get it back on its feet.
"He started whipping and saying 'Get up, get up. Like bro, don’t whip your horse, he obviously needs some water he, looked dehydrated," Gonzalez said.
The driver had no choice but to let the horse lay there, while the NYPD doused it with water and ice — assuming it had suffered from heat exhaustion. The horse, named Ryder, stayed resting on the hot pavement for some time, but eventually got back up on its own.
Police took the horse back to the stable, where Ryder was seen eating hay while waiting for the veterinarian. The union that represents horse carriage drivers said that the vet ultimately made a preliminary diagnosis of EPM, or Equine Protozoal Myeloencephalitis — a neurological infection caused by possum droppings.
"The neurological effects of the EPM caused the horse to stumble and fall as the carriage driver is trying to change lanes and turn here on 45th street on the way home," said Chirstina Hansen, a spokesperson for the carriage drivers' union. "And once he was down, he had difficulty getting up again from the neurological symptoms of EPM."
Hansen said they are waiting for the results of a blood test to confirm the diagnosis. She said that horses are not allowed out on especially hot and humid days, like Tuesday or other days during the heat wave. But Hansen said Wednesday was safe and Ryder was not over heated or dehydrated.
"They were hosing the horse down as a precaution, but they checked all of his vitals he had good temperature, good color in his gums and everything like that," said Hansen.
Advocates have called for horse and carriage rides to be banned in the city. The city council is considering that legislation now.
"We’re calling on the City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, the mayor — they’re aiding and abetting this egregious animal abuse," said Edita Birnkrant, of NYCLASS, an animal rights group.
The union said Ryder will be resting and not working in the short term, and more than likely retire in the long term. Many horses with EPM are forced to retire because they are so prone to tripping and falling.
