Official urges carriage ride ban

ST. LOUIS -- The director of the St. Louis Health Department said she will try to ban horse-drawn carriages on city streets after a weekend encounter with a horse showing signs of heat stroke.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Pam Walker was walking her dog just before 9 p.m. Saturday downtown when she spotted the struggling horse.

Walker said she stopped riders from boarding the carriage being pulled by that horse, Moose, and stopped a second horse, both owned by carriage operator Brookdale Farms.

Brookdale Farms chief Jerry Kirk checked on Moose and pronounced him healthy and well-hydrated. Even so, Kirk eventually agreed with Walker that Moose would go back to Kirk's warehouse for the rest of the night.