If the horse looks that thin in pictures, what does he look like in real life? Isn’t the camera supposed to add weight? Good lord, that horse looks like something pulled off a hoarder’s place. 
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Poor baby. Someone go nab him and we’ll stash him at my house.
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Don’t forget about Yonkers. The Standardbred track goes pretty much year around.
My guess is he was pulled out for a photo op. Look at how fresh the shavings are. Most of these horses live in standing stalls when they are not working. And yes, now that I’m paying attention to it, the hay looks poor. I doubt they know anything about a refeeding program.
His feet are a train wreck - look at his hinds. Dear lord, get this horse out of there.
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That poor horse could use an upgrade on his hay/amount of shavings on a cement floor, plus needs a good trim.
Looks like he’s worked hard all his life.
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I live close enough to NYC that (except during the pandemic) I go to the city at least once a season, and I’ve never seen a carriage horse like this before. I’m not disputing the evidence, and occasionally there have been accidents/falls. But all of the ones I’ve seen looked more like this, not like that poor animal.
I’m pretty shocked, because I thought their conditions were closely monitored. Who the hell would get in a carriage with a horse that looked like that? And 90F is a ridiculously high temperature limit for a heavy horse in harness in a city.
I have many questions.
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They do not live in standing stalls.
I’ve visited the hack line in Central Park many times, taken several carriage rides, and even walked through some of the stable buildings. The horses all have box stalls and are looked after by full time, 24/7 barn staff. I’m shocked at the condition of this horse as I’ve always seen the horses in great weight and shape. I’m also confused by this photo and the temporary stall situation? Very strange.
Everything about this horse and incident feels very strange and suspicious as it’s so far outside the norm from what I’ve seen firsthand of the NYC Carriage horses and their care. I’ve been an staunch advocate for them over the years and will continue to do so, but this is indefensible. I hope Ryder finds himself a soft landing somewhere and whoever let him get to this state is dealt with.
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Just came to post this. What were they thinking?
He’s not fit for that. And I say that as someone who supports the carriage horses.
Article mentions epm
Ryder was examined by a veterinarian after being brought back to the stable by the NYPD’s mounted unit following his collapse — and the diagnosis was Equine Protozoal Myeloencephalitis, a neurological disease caused by possum droppings, Hansen said.
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I agree, I feel the same way! The second photo looks like the horse is on death’s door. I admit that I was suspicious, given this is completely different from what I have personally observed–all the horses I’ve seen pulling carriages are immaculately groomed and of good weight. Plus, the breathless ways in which PETA is quoted in the NY Post article.
I’m not saying this isn’t legit (has monitoring gone south due to city cutbacks or something), but definitely need/want more information about how this happened.
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I wonder if the driver was an unlicensed freelancer.
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The ASPCA enforcement unit was abolished years ago. Unless the city or whoever does animal control for horses is up to the task, probably not a lot of oversight. I know at a certain temperature, the horses had to go back to the barn, so I agree this was either an unlicensed driver, or there isn’t proper attention by the authorities who are supposed to be monitoring the carriage horses.
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Just exactly what tests were run ( and paid for) to diagnose EPM? How did they get the definitive results so fast? Personally seen a barnload of EPM over the years and was not aware a body scale of low 2 was a symptom or that there was a test producing results so fast.
PETA shoots itself in the foot with dramatic, often incorrect verbiage like the “ flogging” skipping over actual facts that are as bad or worse. Something is very wrong here, who the heck thought that second picture of a too skinny creature at a bad angle standing in dumpy surroundings was anything but gas on the fire? No need to invent “ flogging” to draw attention and not try to solve the problem.
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One can do the proprioception tests and come up with a tentative diagnosis right away. But it’s not definitive without a spinal tap.
Since supposedly the owner/barn manager? claimed he had EPM in the article, it’s possible recent records of a spinal tap were available.
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He may have EPM too but the severe underweight condition solely due to EPM is a reach.
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You’re right. I didn’t read it closely enough to realize they had linked the EPM to the weight loss. That doesn’t sound right.
He is too thin and feeble to be working. Period. In that respect, it doesn’t matter what caused his weight loss, although if they knew he had EPM it is even one more reason why he shouldn’t have been laboring.
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Beyond his pitiful condition which should have prevented him from being worked, taking a known EPM horse out to pull tourists around NYC would be asinine. It would explain why he fell, aside from the heat and his pitiful condition (which would be reason enough to fall imo).
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A horsey friend of mine was actually on the scene. She said his condition was horrendous (about as bad as those photos show), but she was also very pissed off by the NYPD response. The Mounted Unit didn’t have a lot of horse sense. By the time she arrived, the horse had been down for half an hour, and she repeatedly offered to assist, for over an hour, but was refused, although she had syringes and bottles of electrolytes (who doesn’t have these to hand when walking through Manhattan?). She said the one Mounted officer who showed up seemed completely out of their depth, and a vet never came, although the cop said one was on their way.
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That’s nuts. Bless your friend for trying!
The horse looks awful. I hope it gets appropriate care, good feed, and a soft landing.
As for the EPM diagnosis? I wonder if it tittered positive? Mine did and very amazing, reputable vet said many do in the region and that alone cannot be used to diagnose. Could be smoke and mirrors based off of a positive titer.
As someone who lives in NYC, I will say that the mounted police usually seem like decent horsemen when I speak with them, and that usually the carriage horses are in decent condition. So on both accords this sucks. I personally don’t think the carriage horses should be on city streets - and should be relegated to the park. I’m not anti-carriage per se, but I cringe when I see them in traffic or trotting on pavement, and I white knuckle it when I am passing them in my car…
As for the idea that the driver was unlicensed, it’s pretty heavily regulated and the drivers are union. I doubt they are/were unlicensed.
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Way out there conspiracy theory: the driver was actually a mole for the big developers who want to build where the stables are. He was going to find some way to make the carriage industry look terrible.
OTOH… the woman in the second NYP article sounds like an idiot, waving off the horse’s condition.
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