Arthur, the NYC carriage horse who famously crashed into two cars, has died after happy retirement
All horses go to heaven.
A New York City carriage horse that made headlines and spurred debate after bolting and crashing into two cars, has met a sad but peaceful end after an idyllic retirement on a sprawling farm in the Hamptons.
In February 2018, a large gray draft horse named Arthur was spooked by a man yelling and opening an umbrella in Central Park. He ran off, carrying three Texas tourists in his carriage, and crashed into two parked cars.
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9 In February 2018, The Post reported on a carriage horse named Arthur that was spooked in Central Park, ran off and crashed into two cars.
9 Arthur's carriage was crumpled in the incident, and his three passengers had minor injuries.
Gregory P. Mango
The incident left the passengers with minor injuries, the carriage crumpled and the cars with significant damage. Arthur, meanwhile, became something of a poster pony for animal activists and was whisked away to a horse sanctuary in Massachusetts.
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At the time, it was reported that a number of organizations and private citizens, including comedian Whitney Cummings, had expressed interest in adopting Arthur, but then the horse quietly trotted away from the spotlight.
The Post can now exclusively report that Arthur was eventually adopted by Sabrina Rudin, a West Village restaurateur who took an interest in him after reading about his plight in this paper.
'I had always wanted to rescue a carriage horse … and something about him struck me,' said Rudin, 39, a native New Yorker who owns Spring Cafe Aspen in Greenwich Village and Aspen, Colo.
She said the adoption process was 'complicated' because of the media attention around Arthur and political debate over carriage horses, but she persisted. In May 2018, his owners released him to Rudin.
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9 Arthur (left) was initially sent to a horse sanctuary in Massachusetts. A number of people and organizations expressed interest in adopting him.
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'I was very clear that I just wanted to very privately bring him home … and give him a different kind of life,' said Rudin.
Finding a stable large enough for Arthur, a towering Percheron gelding, proved challenging. But Rudin found a home for him at Swan Creek Farms in Bridgehampton. The barn's owners, Jagger and Mandy Topping, were able to combine two stalls to make a large enough home for Arthur.
9 Sabrina Rudin, a West Village restaurateur, was touched by Arthur's story and determined to adopt him.
Courtesy of Sabrina Rudina
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'They helped me give him a really beautiful life,' said Rudin, who grew up riding horses. 'The first few times he saw grass, he was so excited, he was really happy, you could tell that he was really happy to be free.'
In his first few months at Swan Creek, Arthur, a shy, gentle giant, struggled to make friends with any of the horses.
Then, Mandy called Rudin one day with some surprising news: Arthur had become chummy with the barn's miniature donkey, Jingles. Despite their noticeable height difference, the two were inseparable.
9 At Swan Creek Farms in Bridgehampton, Arthur found an unlikely friend in a mini donkey named Jingles.
Courtesy of Sabrina Rudina
'I was just cracking up laughing [when she told me],' Rudin recalled.
The two pals enjoyed years of frolicking in grassy pastures together, spending most of their days outside. Arthur never pulled a carriage again, nor was he ever ridden.
Rudin and her three young sons, ages 3 to 9, visited him often, showering him with carrots, apples and oat horse cookies.
'He was amazing with the boys,' she said. 'And it was a way to sort of teach them in a really nice, gentle way about something we can do for animals,'
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9 Rudin said Arthur was 'amazing'with her three young sons.
Courtesy of Sabrina Rudina
A few weeks ago, it was discovered that Arthur, who was estimated to be about 18 years old, had lymphoma and had a large mass in his rectum.
He deteriorated rapidly at the Cornell Ruffian equine hospital in Elmont, NY, and couldn't go back to Swan Creek to see his friend a final time.
So, last Sunday, the Toppings transported Jingles to the hospital to say goodbye.
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9 After it was discovered that Arthur had lymphoma, Rudin made the difficult decision to put him down. But first, Jingles had to say goodbye to his friend.
Courtesy of Sabrina Rudina
'They had this very emotional reunion … Arthur could hear him coming down the hall, and Jingles was hee-hawing for him,' Rudin said. 'They spent the whole last morning together.'
On Monday, Rudin cradled Arthur's head, whispered her love to him and cried as he went to sleep a final time. She asked the dying horse to send her a sign that he'd made it to the other side OK.
The next day, one of Mandy's other clients randomly sent her an old photo of her daughter standing with a carriage horse that looked like Arthur. The year was 2018.
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9 Rudin bid an emotional goodbye to Arthur on Monday.
9 'It feels like yesterday that I saw the article about him,'she said.
Rudin doesn't believe it was actually a photo of Arthur, but she does think it was him sending her a sign that he was ok.
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'I do believe that wherever he is, that was a wink from him that he was safe,' she said.
To be sharing his story with The Post, she said, is a 'full circle moment.'
'It feels like yesterday that I saw the article about him.'
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Don't call yourself a vet, bitch.' 19 Following LuPone's complaint, 'Hell's Kitchen' star Kecia Lewis lashed out at her in an 'open letter' video posted in November, calling LuPone's behavior 'bullying' and 'rooted in privilege' for calling 'a black show loud.' Instagram / @therealkecialewis You could practically hear jaws hitting the stages all around Times Square. 'People are thinking that the New Yorker profile on Patti LuPone was akin to the [former FBI director James] Comey emails about Hillary Clinton,' the Tonys insider joked to The Post. It led to more than 500 Broadway artists, ranging from Tony winners like Wendell Pierce to wild cards like Courtney Love, putting their names to an open letter condemning LuPone. 19 LuPone trashed Kecia Lewis (above) in The New Yorker, saying, 'She calls herself a veteran? Let's find out how many Broadway shows Kecia Lewis has done, because she doesn't know what the f–k she's talking about.' Getty Images for Tony Awards Productions 19 McDonald (left) came to Lewis' defense on social media, putting her in LuPone's crosshairs. Los Angeles Times via Getty Images 'This language is not only degrading and misogynistic — it is a blatant act of racialized disrespect,' the letter said. 'It constitutes bullying. It constitutes harassment. It is emblematic of the microaggressions and abuse that people in this industry have endured for far too long, too often without consequence.' This led to an apology via social media by LuPone, who said, 'I regret my flippant and emotional responses during this interview.' 'She's [LuPone] a very outspoken person – no news flash there. It's certainly her fault for choosing her words incorrectly,' the Tonys insider said. 19 LuPone issued an apology on social media, saying she was 'deeply sorry for the words I used during The New Yorker interview, particularly about Kecia Lewis, which were demeaning and disrespectful.' 19 One Tony's insider told The Post of LuPone: 'She's a very outspoken person – no news flash there. It's certainly her fault for choosing her words incorrectly.' Getty Images for Disney Now, a Broadway source explained, the negative headlines might have the consequence of generating Tony voter sympathy for McDonald. 'Pre Patti LuPone drama, I would have said Nicole had [the Tony],' the Broadway source said. 'But after Patti went after Audra, people are saying it may help Audra in the long run.' Meanwhile, sources told The Post that McDonald, 54, was unhappy last month when she was unwittingly enlisted to present a Drama League award to 'Sunset Boulevard' star Nicole Scherzinger, who is up against McDonald at the Tonys. 19 George Clooney's 'Good Night, and Good Luck' set, then broke, a new record for the highest grossing week for a Broadway play, taking in more than $4.2 million in sales last week. Bruce Glikas/FilmMagic There were 51 actors up for the League's Distinguished Performance honor, meaning there was less than a 2% chance McDonald had to present to her rival. 'They've been pitted against each other the entire season. She [McDonald] felt uncomfortable doing it, but ultimately went about doing it,' the Broadway source told The Post. 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Scherzinger, meanwhile, had her own mini-scandal when some accused her of being pro-MAGA after she commented on a photo of Russell Brand wearing a hat with the phrase 'Make Jesus First Again' — posting prayer hands and heart emoji and asking, 'Where do I get this hat?' 19 As for Best Actor in a Play, there is apparently no doubt that the 'Oh, Mary' phenomenon, Cole Escola, will walk away with the trophy.19 Escola, 38, wrote and has starred in 'Oh, Mary!' as Mary Todd Lincoln. AP The actress later said in a statement, 'I deeply apologize for the hurt caused by my recent engagement with some social media posts. When I commented on these posts, I made the mistake of not realizing that they could be easily interpreted as being politically related and I apologize to anyone who understandably reached that conclusion.' The Tonys insider called the whole thing nonsense, adding that Scherzinger is 'a devout Catholic. She's all about prayer. Nicole lives in her own world [and] she couldn't be further from the MAGA world. For her to get painted as MAGA is such BS.' As for Best Actor in a Play, there is apparently no doubt that the 'Oh, Mary' phenomenon, Cole Escola, will walk away with the trophy. In fact, sources said, it's such a sure thing that fellow nominee George Clooney, nominated for 'Good Night, and Good Luck,' threw in the towel a while ago. 19 Nicole Scherzinger had her own mini-scandal when some accused her of being pro-MAGA after she commented on a photo of Russell Brand wearing a hat with the phrase 'Make Jesus First Again.' Getty Images 19 A Tony's insider said Scherzinger is 'a devout Catholic. She's all about prayer. Nicole lives in her own world [and] she couldn't be further from the MAGA world. For her to get painted as MAGA is such BS.' Marc Brrenner 'Clooney was campaigning, but then realized Cole Escola has it in the bag, so he stopped,' the Tonys insider said. Clooney's 'Good Night, and Good Luck' set, then broke, a new record for the highest grossing week for a Broadway play, taking in more than $4.2 million in sales last week. The other big earner has been 'Othello,' starring Denzel Washington and Jake Gyllenhaal, which made eyes water with box-office ticket prices that went above $900. (When The Post's Johnny Oleksinski wrote a column criticizing those prices, he was disinvited from reviewing the show but did so anyway by purchasing a ticket rather than relying on the comps typically given to reviewers.) 19 'Clooney was campaigning, but then realized Cole Escola has it in the bag, so he stopped,' the Tonys insider said. REUTERS Gyllenhaal and Washington, however, were not nominated for Tonys — a fact Washington's wife, Pauletta Washington, told reporters was due to 'narrow-minded people that are in charge of making decisions and judgements.' 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