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An 18-year-old Percheron gelding named Ice died suddenly "in a very public setting" on Thursday, June 27, the Cape May Carriage Company said in a Facebook post. The company offers tours showcasing Victorian architecture in Cape May's historic district.
The company said Ice was the first horse to die while pulling a carriage since the business began in 1983.
"It would have happened no matter where our boy had been," the company posted on Facebook. "The Cape May Carriage horses enjoy excellent care and the owners have many decades of experience with carriage horses."
The company also shared necropsy results from Mid-Atlantic Equine Medical Center in a second Facebook post on Saturday, June 29. Veterinarians said Ice's death was likely caused by "a thromboembolic event" from a blood clot or "cardiac arrhythmia."
The necropsy also said Ice had no lesions that would explain the horse's collapse and death.
"Ice appeared to be otherwise very healthy, and on our examination, no signs of abuse or neglect were found," Dr. Catherine Thurston wrote in the necropsy report.
Carriage Horse Freedom, a Philadelphia group pushing to end horse-drawn carriage tours, criticized Cape May Carriage after Ice's death, saying the animals can have preexisting injuries or conditions that hurt their well-being.
"Equine tourist attractions are neither quaint nor necessary," the group said in a Facebook post. "Given the veterinary data and the consistently high number of carriage horse collapses and deaths in cities around the world, the practice of horse-drawn carriages, especially in 21st-century society, is unacceptable."
Cape May Carriage pushed back against what it called "radical animal rights propaganda" from people it accused of exploiting Ice's death.
"EVEN with the Necropsy report provided...medical proof that the horse was not abused or neglected.. and that he suffered a sudden medical event.. THEY DON'T CARE.. it's irrelevant.. they say!!" the company posted on Facebook on Monday, July 1. "They somehow feel that their Radical opinions are more relevant [than] medical proof."
The company also said carriage rides resumed on Saturday, June 29.
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