The horse named Ryder was captured laying on the hot asphalt at 45th Street and 9th Avenue around 5 p.m., according to a video posted by the Instagram account NYC Class.
The driver apparently ordered the horse several times to "Get up," slapping him and jerking the reins, the New York Post reports. Ryder was taken to an unknown location for treatment, the NYPD told the outlet.
An Uber Eats driver told The Post the horse looked "obviously" dehydrated and hungry. "
"The guy started whipping his horse and telling him to get back up instead of giving him water,” the driver said. Ryder apparently tried getting up nearly a dozen times but just kept collapsing, the driver noted.
A carriage driver apparently snapped at an onlooker concerned by a horse's condition, NYC Class says. The organization held a rally last month to replace carriages with animal-free, electric carriages.
Instagram users tagged NYC Mayor Eric Adams in the comment section urging him to "do something."
PETA released the following statement ahead of a rally Thursday, Aug. 11:
"Just weeks after a horse in New York City’s carriage trade collapsed and died in his stall, another horse collapsed yesterday and lay on Ninth Avenue for over an hour with no veterinary care while his driver reportedly slapped him, whipped him, and screamed at him to get up.
"The city’s horse-carriage trade has been plagued for years by complaints of mistreatment and overwork of horses, and PETA is calling on the NYPD Animal Cruelty Investigations Squad to launch a criminal investigation into this incident."
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