A carriage-horse fell near Central Park just after 4 p.m. on Sunday.

"I saw the horse on the ground," Upper West Side veterinarian Mary Xanthos, 45, said. "A lot of people were around the horse trying to help him get up."

Xanthos is a member of Win Animal Rights, a group that regularly protests the use of live animals to draw the carriages around Central Park.

The white horse, Xanthos said, was able to stand up and walk away after about a minute lying on 59th Street.

"Once he was on his feet, he seemed to be able to walk OK.," Xanthos said.

The ASPCA said that the animal fell while pulling four passengers.

"The ASPCA is investigating this incident, and at this time, the horse has been suspended pending a veterinary exam and won't return to work until the exam is completed," an ASPCA spokesman said.

Since the highly publicized death of a carriage horse named Charlie last month, more and more groups are calling for the end of the New York City tradition.

"At the height of the holiday season when horses are worked till they drop, yet another NYC carriage horse drops," said Elizabeth Forel of the Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages.

The city Department of Health requires the city's carriage horses be examined twice a year.