A New York City tourist was taking a quiet stroll in Central Park on Sunday–just like millions of people do every year–when the horse pulling the carriage collapsed to the ground after it suddenly became frightened.
The horse was strolling down a path in Central Park when it started walking backwards. While sitting in the carriage with her family, the tourist, Theresa Shaver, said “our horse started freaking out,” as she captured the “traumatic” experience on camera.
As the horse continued to walk backwards Shaver started to panic, saying, “Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh,” repeatedly before the horse fell to the ground.
Video of the tourist’s carriage ride
“Oh, my horse fell,” she said, and starting yelling “get off, get off, run, run,” to her family. Shaver can be heard crying as the man directing the frightened horse helped the animal get back on its feet.
The man with the horse then preceded to go back in line outside the park where Theresa spotted him and became furious that he was putting the animal back to work.
“He put him right back to work,” she said, “that’s f***** up, you put him right back to work even though he lays down on the ground. He passes out and lays on the ground, you put him right back to work?” she said.
Shaver continued: “That horse dropped to the ground twice and you guys have him back on to work again? You know how traumatic that was for me?” She then warned the man, saying, “I got the whole thing on video just so you guys know. And you put him back to work?”
At the end of the video, Shaver is still screaming at the carriage driver when he gets back on the horse and rides away.
A spokesman for the carriage company told 1010 WINS that the horse was “fine” and just tripped on the ground like anybody else would. He told the radio station that the horse was taken back to the stable and was cleared to ride later in the day.
