A Manhattan carriage driver burst into tears Monday after a jury acquitted him of overworking his frail colt Ryder — who collapsed on a Manhattan street in 2022 and died months later.
A jury of six Manhattanites took just one hour to clear Ian McKeever of a misdemeanor animal abuse count after a trial where the driver blasted the charge against him as “ridiculous,” saying he’s “never been accused of abusing a horse” in his decades-long career.
“I feel vindicated in what I do and what I’m about,” McKeever, 56, told reporters outside the courthouse. “Everybody was looking at me like I’m an abuser of a horse, and it just killed me because I love horses.
Ryder the carriage horse died months after his sudden collapse on a Hells Kitchen street in August 2022. Robert Miller
Horse carriage driver Ian McKeever was charged with one misdemeanor count of animal cruelty. Steven Hirsch“I’ve been doing it for 40 years, and I’ll be going back.,” McKeever added. “It’s my life. I’ve been doing it my whole life.”
The veteran horse handler began sobbing after the not guilty verdict was read aloud in Manhattan Criminal Court Monday morning.
After taking a moment to collect himself, he then turned around to the court gallery, flashed a grin and gave a thumbs up.
McKeever was arrested more than a year after footage went viral of him hitting and yanking on the emaciated Ryder’s reins while he lay on the road. The episode triggered outrage from animal rights activists, who demanded that the driver be punished.
Months after the August 2022 episode, Ryder was diagnosed with multiple ailments and euthanized at an upstate farm.
Jurors during the five-day-trial were shown an autopsy that found Ryder had cancer when he collapsed, and heard testimony from McKeever, who claimed he never knew the visibly skeletal horse was sick.
NYPD officers tried to revive the fallen colt after he crumpled to the ground on the steamy summer day. FNTVOne of the panelists, Tracy Winston, explained to the newly acquitted McKeever outside court that he found him not guilty because of Ryder’s cancer diagnosis.
“Had you known that the horse was sick, even with cancer, and put out that day to work in those conditions, I’m speaking for myself, I would not have done it,” Winston said to Mckeever.
“First of all, I didn’t know the horse had cancer,” McKeever replied, thanking Winston for finding him not guilty.
“Exactly, that’s why we didn’t hold you accountable,” Winston told him.
Raymond Loving, Mckeever’s defense attorney, told reporters that the year-long wait between the incident and the prosecution was a “political” response by the District Attorney’s office to the outcry from activists.
McKeever was overjoyed after the jury acquitted him. Steven Hirsch“There was clearly a reluctance of the district attorney’s office to bring this case,” Loving said. “I mean the doctor they called wouldn’t even say the horse was abused.”
DA Alvin Bragg released a statement Monday thanking the jury and promising to keep investigating cases where animals are harmed or mistreated.
“All animals deserve to be treated with the utmost of care. I thank the jury for dedicating their time to hear the evidence presented to them over these past five days,” Bragg said.
McKeever, wearing a suit jacket and blue jeans, appeared to be enjoying himself after leaving the courthouse, smoking a cigarette and taking calls on his cellphone from well-wishers.
He told The Post that he plans to be back driving carriages in Central Park within the next three weeks.
“I’m 100% not guilty and I’m just delighted,” McKeever said.
