Carriage horse breaks free in Midtown, collapses on West Side Highway

Gunner the carriage horse recovers at the Midtown stables following his escape and collapse on Nov. 26.

TWU Local 100

A carriage horse broke free of his reins and ran through the streets of Midtown before collapsing on the West Side Highway on Sunday, injuring himself and renewing calls by advocates to ban the carriage industry from Manhattan.

The 15-year-old steed, named Gunner, was pulling a carriage on 55th Street and 10th Avenue in Hell’s Kitchen at about 3 p.m. Nov. 26 when the carriage “malfunctioned,” according to police. Videos showed that the canopy above the cab had collapsed.

As the driver attempted to repair the carriage, Gunner became “agitated” and took off, dragging the carriage westbound and knocking into several parked cars, causing significant damage to them. Eventually, Gunner became detached from the carriage, continuing to gallop away before slipping and falling on the northbound West Side Highway at 55th Street.

Off-duty officers with the NYPD’s mounted unit tended to the injured horse, who was taken to the Midtown stables in stable condition with cuts on his body, sustained from the broken carriage equipment.

The driver told cops that while he was attempting to fix the canopy, he was attempting to rein in the horse but slipped and fell, and was dragged several feet until the horse first crashed into a car, according to a video from the scene shared with amNewYork Metro. The driver sustained minor injuries in the ordeal.

Christina Hansen, a carriage driver, union shop steward, and de facto spokesperson for the industry, told amNewYork Metro that Gunner, a standardbred with a “flea-bitten grey” coat, was seen by a vet Sunday night and got stitches on his leg. He is on “stall rest” for the time being, she said.

Hansen said it’s “going to be a little white” until Gunner can go back to work, “not until he’s healed and gets vet clearance.”

Gunner’s escape and collapse come at a precarious time for the…