The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is conducting an inquiry into the death of a carriage horse whose collapse in Central Park was witnessed by a distraught crowd.

The horse, named Juliet, fell ill in the park on Thursday and collapsed at about 9:30 p.m.

Its owner, Antonio Provenzano, 47, of Brooklyn, said he called a veterinarian and was told the horse probably had colic, and needed to get walking to push gas and waste out of her system.

Provenzano said he began striking her in the flank with a thin whip in an attempt to make her stand, but in doing so infuriated a crowd of onlookers