A lawyer representing Mr. Colarusso did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

About 200 horses work in Central Park, and animal rights advocates said that while Mr. Colarusso’s arrest might be unusual, many horses on New York City’s streets were suffering.

The case, they said, was more evidence that the newly elected mayor, Bill de Blasio, should make good on his campaign promise to ban horse carriages from the city’s streets and parks.

“This incident further reinforces the need for an end to carriage horse operations in the city,” said Bret Hopman, a spokesman for the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. “The A.S.P.C.A. believes that the use of carriage horses in 21st-century New York City is unnatural, unnecessary and an undeniable strain on the horses’ quality of life.”

The union that represents carriage drivers did not respond to calls and an email seeking comment.

Christina Hansen, a spokeswoman for the carriage industry, said it was “shocked and saddened to learn that one of our drivers was charged with animal cruelty.”

She said that if the driver were to be convicted, it would be the first time a carriage operator, owner or stable was found to have committed cruelty.

“I have spoken with the owner of Blondie, who says that he was unaware that Blondie had shown any signs of lameness or discomfort when being driven by Mr. Colarusso,” she said.

Ms. Hansen did not identify the owner by name, but she said: “He has suspended Mr. Colarusso pending the outcome of the investigation. We do not tolerate any mistreatment of the carriage horses in our business.”