Horse-Drawn Carriage Rides NYC (NYC Carriage Horse Project)

Call for Improved Carriage Horse Conditions
by Arun Venugopal
NEW YORK, NY September 17, 2007 —The death of a 13-year-old carriage horse near Central Park has the industry calling for better safety conditions. WNYC's Arun Venugopal has more.
REPORTER: Central Park South can get crowded, with carriages and horses sharing a narrow shoulder between busy traffic and a sidewalk full of people. On Friday, a horse named Smoothie got spooked when a break dancer performing nearby started playing a snare drum. The horse broke free of its carriage before galloping straight into a tree and dying. Smoothie's owner, Neil Byrne now wants musicians to be banned from the area.
BYRNE: They just can't park these musicians with their loud banging noises - piercing noises - and those drums, there's a lot of metal involved with those drummers. And it's something that really sets a horse off. So you can't have them in close proximity to these horses.
REPORTER: The Horse and Carriage Association also says the city should install hitching posts to secure horses.
REPORTER: A spokesman for the city says it looks forward to reviewing any recommendations that will improve safety on 59th Street