Opponents of horse-drawn carriages renewed their call for a ban on the rides following a recent accident involving a horse near Central Park.

Protesters gathered in Midtown Saturday calling for the city to put an end to carriage rides.

They said horses are mistreated and overworked - and say the rides put horses and humans in danger.

"You can just jump on a bus if you want to see the city. This is not a romantic way to see the city. It's cruel to the animals," said Lina Axmacher, one of the demonstrators.

"It's been banned in a lot of major cities. And horse carriages don't belong in traffic-congested cities like New York City," said Dimitria Fay, another demonstrator.

Carriage drivers said the rides are safe and accidents are rare.

"We've made 2 million round trips to and from the park in the past 30 years. We've probably done about 10 million carriage rides in that time. And for only to have a handful of serious accidents is a really stellar safety record," said Christina Hansen of the Horse and Carriage Association of New York City.

On Thursday, a horse named Oreo got frightened and ran off, dumping his two passengers, his driver and his carriage.

Police finally caught him near Columbus Circle.