The handler of a frail carriage horse who collapsed on a busy Manhattan street “ignored” clear signs of the struggling colt’s distress, prosecutors charged Tuesday at the start of the alleged animal abuser’s trial.
But driver Ian McKeever’s lawyer shot back that the horse “Ryder” merely “tripped and fell” at the end of his shift on a sweltering summer day — and that his death months later was tragic, but not criminal.
“Make no mistake about it: Ryder’s fall is heartbreaking, but the evidence in this case is not going to show that Ryder fell because Ian overdrove him,” defense attorney Raymond Loving argued.
Central Park horses break free, causing multiple injuries as carriage driver breaks wrist: ‘Thankfully I was not killed’…