A horse collapsed while pulling a carriage in Central Park — and an animal rights group is demanding an investigation.
NYCLASS, an anti-carriage group in New York City, released photos taken by bystanders of the white horse as it lay on concrete near Tavern on the Green.
Witnesses saw the horse breathing heavily before it collapsed on the ground around 10 a.m.last Tuesday, according to the group.
“Horses don’t just collapse,” a NYCLASS spokesperson said. “Something happened – and the city should get to the bottom of it and make sure it never happens again.
“They should conduct an immediate investigation into the health and whereabouts of this horse, including allowing an independent vet to examine the animal.”
Carriage driver, Chris Emanus, had Max back at work Monday.
He insisted the equine simply tripped while wearing shoes for the first time in eight months.
“He had just come from spending eight months on the farm. So for eight months he was walking around with no shoes,” he told The Post.
“The day it happened, he tripped on a little crack in the pavement. That happens sometimes, they trip on a crack. He tripped and went down, but not hard.”
Emanus, 45, said he unhooked Max, who then got up on his own “without a scratch on him.”
Mounted NYPD cops checked out the horse at the scene, then Emanus took him to a vet, he said.
“On Friday they said he was good to go once the blood work came back, and said that everything was fine,” Emanus explained. “Today is his first day back. We gave him the weekend off.”
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