On October 17, Equine Rescue Resource and The Sanctuary at Maple Hill Farms issued a joint news release announcing the death of Ryder, the carriage horse who drew national attention in August when he collapsed on the street in New York City. According to the sanctuary that took Ryder in, the horse was humanely euthanized recently “due to his medical conditions and age.”
Ian McKeever, Ryder’s owner and the driver on the day the horse collapsed, told responding police officers his horse was 13 years old when in actuality, he was 28 to 30 years of age. People who witnessed Ryder’s collapse were horrified to see McKeever repeatedly use his whip in an effort to get him up off of the street. It took an hour to finally get Ryder up on his feet.
Not long after the heartwrenching collapse, Ryder was retired and sent to a farm outside of New York City.
The release outlines the transfer of ownership and the care that Ryder received after leaving McKeever’s custodianship:
Ryder’s NEW OWNER immediately engaged a variety of veterinary professionals and subsequently brought him to the Cornell Equine Hospital (“Cornell”) for further evaluation and treatment where he spent many days. During his time at Cornell, Ryder was cared for by a team of veterinary professionals that have been consistently recognized as world-wide leaders in equine medicine and one of the best equine hospitals in the United States.
While at Cornell, Ryder was diagnosed with a variety of serious medical conditions that led to the decision to humanely euthanize him. “While Ryder is no longer with us, we find some comfort in knowing that Ryder’s NEW OWNER provided him the best possible care, utmost attention and long-needed love that he so deserved. Ryder’s NEW OWNER and many others involved are devastated by his loss,” the Sanctuary stated in the release.
Details about Ryder’s condition are not being released while the investigation by the Manhattan District Attorney’s office continues.
Wow, this is horrible. I hope that POS who mistreated him is in jail. Shame they couldn’t have let Ryder enjoy an open pasture for a few months before putting him down. His conditions obviously weren’t super serious considering he was pulling a carriage a few months ago. Would have been nice to let him enjoy leisure life for awhile. Not sure I call this a victory.
I agree
They arent put to sleep for no reason. Sure he was just working but most likely in agony, who was he going to tell?
I agree, Gail. This was not a decision made lightly. And all of the humanitarian professionals believed it was in the horse’s best interests. RIP Ryder. NOW let’s hope they go after that POS “owner”!
no more carriages for horse need go free and horses not belong on street anymore and they need use small tractor and all state need stop use carriages no mofre pray for horses best go free too much for horses been walk all day not good
I agree
Use criminals to pull the carriages……Pure cruelty what that poor old horse endured!!!
Good suggestion Kim.xxx
Carriages and making horses do this work is cruel. It should be illegal. It appears that those in the business don’t care about the horses and cruelly push them like this out of greed.
This just breaks my heart….the evil in this world toward animals should be delt with severly….Lord be with the animals everywhere
RIP Ryder, I hope NYC stops this type of business, that would be KARMA to business owners like this monster who used this poor horse in the heat of August in N.Y
This poor animal was worked to death plain and simple. So is the life of a carriage horse. They should be banned! All of them before they have all collapsed. Disgraceful to make a horse work in such horrid conditions.
Just remember: if you ban the carriage trade you take away these horses homes and jobs. It is extremely expensive to keep horses. the likelihood og many of them going to auction is high and there is a very real risk of them being bought to be shipped out of the country for meat. The carriage trade is highly regulated regarding care,housing,time on pasture out of the city,how many hours they can work and what weather conditions they can work in, etc. There are good and not so good owners as in every aspect of animal husbandry.
These horses will go to sanctuaries. There is no reason to keep them on the roads. The man who whipped the horse after he collapsed needs to be prosecuted.
I agree with you Kate. How horrible to whip that poor horse when it was suffering and had collapsed. How dare you do that.
From what I have read about this situation this horse had been recently acquired, evidently the seller was less than truthful about his age. If I remember correctly he was found to have EPM which caused his illness and collapse.
Poor sweet Ryder, RIP, no more suffering for you. Carriage rides need to be banned and the horses sent to good sanctuaries.
The people who ride in the carriages need to stop & walk instead of making a poor horse pull their lazy asses around. That way the can see more of the Ugly side of New York City. I went there once & I wouldn’t go back for a free bag of money. New York City is ugly & dangerous. We stayed in New Jersey and went on a bus tour. New Jersey is uglier than New York. People are obnoxious.
CARRIAGE RIDES NEED TO BE BANNED NOW!!~!!~! These Horses have to endure such Cruelty!!! Heartbreaking that this has gone on for so many years. All the Horses need Justice! STOP ALL CARRIAGE RIDES!!!!!!
Should have euthanized thst idiotbpwner McKeever for being deranged barbaric and disgustingly mean to that poor horse. He did nothing but exploit that poor old soul for his pathetic paycheck. Put this man away for pure animal abuse and how long had that been going on and no one ever helped the horse???? Shame on all those assholes! They all deserve a dark
Jail cell with no food or water! Barbarians!
These carriage people are as bad as the Amish how they treat their horses
The evil people involved in this sickening business should be punished to death!!! WE WANT JUSTICE FOR THIS POOR PRECIOUS HORSE!!!
Why are these horses still subjected to this ‘ work ‘ which is questionable in the first place, prey tell?
Why in heaven’s name are they being worked until they drop, at an age when they should retire ????
Why use animals for tourism?
I know NY is not as hot as say, Greece and Malta where this barbaric practice goes on, but really, should we allow this at ALL?
Os turistas que vão a pé e os exploradores de animais que vão trabalhar!!