Saved horse’s ‘stable home’

A former Central Park carriage horse who had been headed to the slaughterhouse must have a lucky horseshoe: He has been saved, animal activists claim.

Bernard, at least 14 years old, was dumped at an infamous Pennsylvania livestock auction in February, but is now living the good life at a sanctuary in Dittmer, Mo.

Julie Copper, whose Copper Horse Crusade saves and rehabilitates slaughter-bound equines, said she paid $1,400 for Bernard (above with Jay Weiner of The Gentle Barn sanctuary).

“He’s a pleasant horse, an attractive horse . . . he stood out amongst the 60 others in the pen,” she said.

Recently, Edita Birnkrant, executive director of animal advocacy nonprofit NYCLASS, which has long fought the city’s carriage horse industry, was scrolling through Facebook and happened upon Copper’s post, which sought a permanent home for Bernard.

Birnkrant immediately realized Bernard was once a carriage horse, recognizing the identification number etched into hoof.

“The carriage horse industry . . . left this horse for dead. They threw him away because he couldn’t make them any more money. I’m so horrified,” Birnkrant said.

She contacted Copper, and the two worked together to find Bernard his new home at the Gentle Barn Sanctuary, where he’ll herd with other rescued carriage horses.