Metro

New laws set ‘steed’ limits

It’ll no longer be a dog’s life for the horses in Central Park.

New rules proposed yesterday by the Health Department would guarantee the hard-working buggy-pullers five weeks of vacation a year, no work after 3 a.m., and nostrils that no longer have to endure secondhand smoke.

In what amounts to the city’s first outdoor-smoking ban, the carriage drivers and their passengers would no longer be allowed to light up under regulations that could take effect as early as March.

“Just like cabdrivers, they shouldn’t be smoking,” declared Daniel Kass, the Health Department’s acting assistant commissioner for environmental health.

He said the new rules were drawn up in response to findings by an advisory board that studied “best practices” and included both animal advocates and members of the horse-rental industry.

Three months ago, Comptroller Bill Thompson scolded the agency for not moving more quickly to implement the recommendations.

Horse drivers will soon face the same restrictions as cabbies: No cellphones, no texting, no music players and no cameras.

City officials decided that all those tech marvels were too distracting.

Horse owners will also have to supply thermometers so drivers can take readings after every trip and enter them into a log book.

When temperatures drop below 18 or above 90, the horses would get the day off.

Kass said the advisory board suggested horses get two months off every year, but the Health Department ultimately settled on five weeks.

“Operators are invited to give them more,” he said.

Carolyn Daly, a spokeswoman for the horse-carriage industry, said that wouldn’t be a burden to most owners, who already give their animals long breaks at nearby farms.

Kuddusi Demir, 28, one of the Central Park drivers, also endorsed the idea.

“Five weeks vacation is good. I need vacation, too,” he said.

But Demir questioned the need to take temperatures.

“That’s stupid. The temperature can vary from block to block,” he said.

Cheney Preporius, 21, a South African student visiting the city with her boyfriend, George Smith, 24, wondered if the Central Park horses would rather stay in the city than spend idle days on a farm.

“What does a horse do on vacation? Will they put their feet up? In the wild they’d just be running around anyway,” Preporius said.

A public hearing on the new rules is scheduled for Feb. 3.

Additional reporting by Amber Sutherland

david.seifman@nypost.com