Claps for clip-clop
Return of Central Park carriage horses cheered
Little Henley Wellington and her kid sister Lucy were giddy-up with excitement.
The delighted New Jersey siblings, ages 7 and 5, climbed inside a Central Park horse carriage with their mom Saturday as the iconic attractions returned for the first time since the pandemic forced a March shutdown.
“It was great,” said Abby Wellington, 42, of Morristown, N.J., after the family spin through the park. “I did it back when I was a little girl. It was fun to relax, sit down and get a tour of some of the fun things in Central Park.”
While Wellington was unaware that Saturday was day one for the carriages’ return, her decision to bring her girls into the city a day before Lucy’s 6th birthday proved serendipitous. Their 10-yearold carriage horse, as it turned out, shared Abby’s first name.
“It was meant to be!” said the happy parent.
She wasn’t alone in that feeling of destiny. Groom-tobe Corey Matos, 27, was waiting with a preacher in Sheep Meadow when his fiancée Princess surprised him by riding up with her parents in a white carriage.
“I was like, ‘Wow!’ It was a surprise. I didn’t expect it,” the newlywed recalled shortly after saying “I do.”
The carriage drivers opted for a soft opening, with only a dozen of the vehicles heading out on a sun-splashed Saturday with little wind and temperatures in the mid-60s. Officials said the carriages were sanitized before heading out, and will be again after every ride.
And all the drivers, before taking the reins, received a rapid results coronavirus test by Mobile Health, an occupational testing company based in the city.
“It’s safe to say we’re not horsing around,” said Mobile Health CEO Andrew Shulman. “And I think the city is trying to get back on the right hoof.”
Driver Gino Gattuso, 72, was just as excited as the passengers about his return behind the reins inside the 843acre oasis. The Wellingtons were his first fares.
“It was fantastic,” he said. “You know, after six or seven months, you come back here and feel alive. It’s beautiful, it’s fantastic.”
About 20 anti-carriage animal rights activists turned out to protest Saturday, with carriage driver Sean Boyle offering a wave and a smile as he drove past.
A family of tourists from Augusta, Ga., expressed their delight after a leisurely ride through the park. Mom Raven Welch, 30, and dad Jimmy climbed aboard with their three girls: Simone, 7, Sariah, 6, and Sydnie, 2.
“It was pretty cool,” said Raven Welch. “He gave us a good tour, a lot of information that we didn’t know about.”
Simone said her favorite part was riding past the ice rink — and “seeing all the pigeons.”