Carriage Horse Collapses On Hot Day In New York City Causing Widespread Outrage

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A crowd gathered at 45th & 9th in New York City on Wednesday when they saw a carriage horse collapse in the street during rush hour.

What they saw next was heartbreaking.

The carriage driver was yelling “Get up! Get up!” as he smacked the horse with the reins to try and get him to stand up. Kelvin Gonzalez and several other people intervened and told the man to stop hitting the horse and to offer him water. “I told him, ‘Yo, stop whipping him, give him some water. That’s a horse, not a machine,’” Gonzalez told The New York Post.

“It’s really sad, man. You can tell that horse was not taken care of. You can tell he was exploiting that horse. The horse was hungry, he was thirsty. You can tell the horse collapsed from the thirst.”

Warning: Distressing video.

It was 87 degrees that day and the horse refused to get up, even with the driver yelling and pulling at him. He eventually rolled on his side and put his head on the hot asphalt.

NYPD was called to help.

Mounted officers arrived and doused the horse with ice and water to lower his body temperature. A pillow was placed under his head as he recovered. The horse was down on the hot pavement for over an hour before he was able to stand on his own.

He was loaded into a trailer and brought to a nearby stable where he was examined by a veterinarian.

According to the Transport Workers Union, who represents carriage drivers, the 14-year-old bay horse is named Ryder. They claim he collapsed from a neurological disease, EPM, caused from eating possum droppings.

NBC New York reporter, Melissa Colorado, tweeted “He’s the most famous horse 🐴 in NYC – but for the wrong reasons.
Ryder is the sick horse who collapsed yesterday in midtown, prompting outrage from animal rights activists.
We paid Ryder a visit today at the Transport Workers Union stable to see how he’s doing.”

Ryder was seen eating hay in the stable and standing on his own. However, many people commented on how skinny he was.

NY Class, fighting to end carriage horse abuse, posted, “ABUSE: Ryder, the horse who collapsed in Midtown, is in a desperate state right now, stuck inside a stable with his abusers and no real vet care. @NYPDPaws needs to investigate now – we believe animal cruelty laws have been violated. Release Ryder to a waiting sanctuary!”

In a statement released by NYPD, they said, “The NYPD takes the health and well-being of our four-legged friends in New York City very seriously, and are glad that our trained equestrian officers were able to assist.”

The disturbing incident has even more people calling for an immediate ban on horse-drawn carriages in NYC. Animal advocates have been pushing for a ban for years. Proposed legislation, Intro 573, would replace horse-drawn carriages with electric carriages.

NYCLASS tweeted, “The world is watching.”

Sign the petition below that calls for a ban on carriage horses in New York City.

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