Neigh-sayers galloped outside Manhattan Criminal Court Monday afternoon to call for a shutdown of the city’s carriage horse industry as a handler of a horse that died two years ago faced his first day of trial — or so they thought.Despite the adjournment, roughly 30 demonstrators remained in the scorching heat for the “Criminal Horse Abuse Trial for Ian McKeever” protest co-organized by non-profit NYClass , PETA and Marine veteran-led Unbridled Heroes Project.
McKeever’s attorney Robert Loving described the carriage operator as a respected figure within the industry. He denied the charges — which included overdriving, torturing and injuring animals and failing to provide proper sustenance — and insisted that his client didn’t kill Ryder, but rather cancer finished the ailing horse off.
Monday’s rally called not only for McKeever’s conviction, but the elimination of an industry “where unchecked neglect, abuse and deaths of horses runs rampant,” NYClass said in a statement. Earlier this month, The Unbridled Heroes Project conducted a wellness check on carriage horses at a stable on the west side – finding tied up horses, stalls too small for them to lie down and animals so malnourished theirwhen temperatures reach over 90 degrees, though Birnkrant previously told The Post she has received “dozens” of reports of carriage horses working in the heat since July 5 — the first day in a string of heat-related work suspensions.