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Ryder RETIRES! Abused NYC carriage horse to live out life on 'farm' as activists slam 'hostage' situation

'Ryder will simply be euthanized by the same callous people who knowingly forced him to pull a carriage,' said Edita Birnkrant

MANHATTAN, NEW YORK: The carriage horse, which collapsed during rush hour traffic in Manhattan, earlier in August, after being flogged by its driver, is now enjoying his retirement on an upstate farm, a former industry official told the New York Post on Tuesday. “An initial diagnosis revealed that the horse was 28 to 30 years old, not the aforementioned 13 years, malnourished, underweight and suffering from equine neurological disease EPM (equine protozoal myeloencephalitis),” according to an NYPD report. On Wednesday, August 24, a rally is being held on the steps of City Hall to ban horse carriages in New York. 

“I’ve been the staunchest defender of the carriage drivers but the treatment of horse Ryder is inexcusable and indefensible,” ex-carriage-industry advocate Ken Frydman said of the horse, which was found to be malnourished and suffering from a neurological disorder after the infamous incident. Frydman said that Ryder’s owner and driver that day, Ian McKeever, told him he knew the carriage horse was too old for the carriage industry when he purchased the animal in May. The horse has now retired to a farm in upstate New York. “He bought the horse cheap and figured he was going to get everything he could out of it,” said Frydman.

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Ian McKeever is a past president of the Horse & Carriage Association of New York and Historic Horse Carriages of New York. The horse was examined by a veterinarian after the carriage horse was seen lying in the middle of the roadway in distress, and writhing in agony on the hot pavement. Christian Parker, an NYPD officer, used a water hose to help lower its body temperature and a pillow was placed under its head. The horse also had abrasions on its legs as a result of its collapse. 

Edita Birnkrant, executive director of the animal-rights group NYCLASS, told the New York Post in a statement Tuesday, “Ryder is not ‘retired,’ he is being held hostage by his abusers — the very people who have been caught in lie after lie about his horrific neglect and criminal mistreatment.

“How can anyone possibly believe a word they say?” Birnktant said. “We are very concerned that Ryder will simply be euthanized by the same callous people who knowingly forced him to pull a carriage while sick, malnourished and elderly. The latest bombshell news revealed by Ken Frydman only strengthens [potential] criminal animal-cruelty charges being brought against those involved," Birnkrant said.