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'Horse at that age should NOT be working': Collapsed NYC carriage horse Ryder is much older than reported

Police claimed Ryder, who collapsed on the busy Manhattan street, was actually 28-30 years old as opposed to his reported age of 13

MANHATTAN, NEW YORK: According to a new report, the carriage horse that made headlines earlier this month after collapsing on a busy Manhattan street was malnourished, underweight, and older than previously thought. On August 10, Ryder, the horse, collapsed at the intersection of West 45th Street and Ninth Avenue amid the summer head and remained on the ground for more than an hour while his driver hit and yelled at him to get up.

When Ryder was evaluated by a veterinarian following the event, police claimed they discovered he was actually 28-30 years old as opposed to his reported age of 13. The horse was evaluated that day by Dr Camilo Sierra, a veterinarian, who told Gothamist, “A horse at that age shouldn't be working in that condition. I mean, horses can be really fat and healthy at 30 … But a horse in bad condition shouldn’t be [pulling] a carriage.”

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The carriage drivers' union, the Transport Workers Union, initially claimed the horse tripped and was able to walk itself to a trailer for transportation. According to NY Post, a spokesperson for the union previously told, "The horse got up on its own power and walked into the NYPD Mounted Police Unit horse trailer. He’s at the stable eating and drinking and waiting for the vet." Ryder's owner was shocked to learn his true age, which had been misrepresented by a previous owner as 14 years old and miscalculated by a veterinarian who examined him in April in order to register him as a carriage horse, according to Christina Hansen, a driver with the Transport Workers Union Local 100, which represents carriage drivers.

Hansen said about the horse’s owner, “He’s like, ‘My God if I'd known the horse in his twenties, I never would've bought him.” Meanwhile, the event infuriated both lawmakers and animal rights groups, who demanded that prosecutors file charges for animal cruelty and begin a criminal investigation into the mistreatment of horses in general. The councilman urged Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg to look into the industry as a whole last week, along with members of the nonprofit animal welfare and political action group NYCLASS (New Yorkers for Clean, Livable, and Safe Streets).

Last month, the councilman submitted new legislation that would prohibit new permits and substitute horseless electric carriages for the horse-drawn carriage industry. If put into effect, it would be the largest regulation of the sector since the City Council passed an ordinance in 2019 making it unlawful for horse-drawn carriages to operate in hot weather.