A preliminary necropsy conducted by Cornell University has found that Lady — the 15-year-old carriage horse who collapsed and died on Tuesday afternoon in Hell’s Kitchen — suffered from an undiagnosed medical condition that likely caused her sudden death.
According to a statement from TWU Local 100, a gross necropsy performed Wednesday revealed Lady had a small tumor on her adrenal gland that likely caused an aortic rupture — a “silent killer” event that the union says comes without warning and could have occurred anywhere.
“This was a tragic and sad loss, and we are all mourning Lady’s death. However, at least we now have some answers,” the statement from carriage driver Christina Hansen, who is also the TWU representative for the industry, reads. “This sudden-death medical episode would kill a horse anywhere — in a field, park, stable, trail, or street — at any time.”
NYCLASS Executive Director Edita Birnkrant pushed back on the union’s characterization of Lady’s death as unavoidable, instead blaming systemic failures in the city’s oversight of the industry. “Tumors don’t appear overnight,” she said, noting that Lady was recently cleared by a city-approved vet and licensed with what NYCLASS claims are inadequate medical evaluations. “This is the same tragic pattern we’ve seen with Ryder, Aysha, Charlie — all declared ‘fit for work,’ all who collapsed and died.” Birnkrant argued that the stress of city traffic, extreme heat, and confinement in stalls without access to pasture places constant strain on carriage horses, particularly those with undiagnosed conditions.
Lady, who had recently arrived in New York from Pennsylvania, had passed her city-mandated veterinary inspection in June and had given just two rides in Central Park on Tuesday before heading back to her stable on W52nd Street in Hell’s Kitchen. It was on that return journey, near the corner of W51st Street and 11th Avenue, that she stumbled and fell — and never got back up…