/ Courtesy: YouTube video
BALDWINSVILLE -- A Baldwinsville woman is making national headlines after a carriage ride through New York City's Central Park went terribly wrong over the weekend.
Theresa Shaver, her husband and son were riding in a horse-drawn carriage on Sunday when the horse started moving backward. It then tripped over a curb and then fell to the ground.
Shaver was able to catch the entire incident with her camera. You can hear her on the video screaming, "oh my gosh, oh my gosh! Oh the horse, no! Oh God, get off, get off!"
"It was horrifying. I didn't know what was going to happen...I didn't know what to expect," she said. "You'll notice that my video is pointed at the ground...I'm worried about getting my son to my side and once he was there I was able to bring it back into focus what was going on."
In a separate video shot shortly after the horse's collapse, you can hear Shaver become angry when the carriage driver allegedly had the horse in line to pick up new passengers (warning: there is graphic language in the video).
Shaver can be heard screaming, "You put him back to work after he drops to the ground twice?"
Shaver tells CNY Central that she's not a horse expert but she couldn't imagine putting the horse back to work after it collapsed.
According to WCBS in New York City, a spokesman for the Horse and Carriage Drivers Association, Ian McKeever, said Shaver is "crazy" and overreacted. McKeever said the horse just tripped and was "absolutely fine." He said the horse was checked out and returned to work on the following day.
According to the WCBS report, Dr. Pamela Corey, Director of Equine Veterinary Service for the Humane Law Enforcement Department of the ASPCA, said the horse was "spooked by a pedicab and fell down."
The driver claims that Shaver left her purse in the carriage and he was waiting with the horse in the hack-line for her to return to collect it, Corey said.
Shaver's experience is making big headlines in New York City where there is a movement supported by animal rights activists and lawmakers to ban horse-drawn carriages.
What do you think of Shaver's experience? Should horse-drawn carriages be banned? Leave your comments below.
Information for WCBS in New York City was used in this report
