The owner said that the pregnancy had nothing to do with the horse's illness. She said that the disease was not detected when all the leased horses were examined initially by a veterinarian before being allowed to pull the carriages. The Kansas City Star in a follow-up to the carriage horse story reported in its December 29 edition that the same carriage service lost a horse about two weeks earlier. That horse was also euthanized. Kansas City, like many cities, has ordinances regulating the work conditions of carriage horses it permits to operate on public streets.
Horses are limited to pulling carriages seven hours a day, and breaks are required.
The city also requires checkups by private equine specialists every 90 days and from a veterinarian chosen by the city twice a year. The horses cannot pull loads more than six times their weight or work in cold below 0 or heat above 100 degrees. In Philadelphia, carriage horses can't work in temperatures over 94 degrees, and their stables are inspected monthly by the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. New York City requires annual veterinary check-ups for carriage horses, limits them to 10 hours under harness a day and prohibits their use when the temperature climbs above 90 degrees or dips below 18. Mr. Ross would not know this because of his apparent lack of research.