AI-generated images shared online appeared to show exhausted horses collapsing while pulling carriages full of smiling tourists.
One Facebook post was shared more than 11,000 times.
Climate Minister Paulina Hennig-Kloska said horse-drawn transport was suspended on Sunday and Monday because of the extreme heat.
"Horse-drawn transport to Morskie Oko was completely suspended on Sunday and Monday," she said on X.
She added that carriage operators had already reduced the number of passengers from 10 to eight on Saturday on their own initiative.
The minister said veterinarians and animal welfare groups had set the conditions under which the horses could work, using the wet bulb globe temperature (WBGT) index to monitor heat and humidity.
According to the climate ministry, measurements were taken more than once an hour and conditions on Saturday remained below the threshold requiring services to stop.
The ministry said any decision to resume horse-drawn transport would depend on weather conditions in the Tatra Mountains.
Severe third-level heat warnings remain in place across much of Poland until Monday evening, with daytime temperatures forecast to reach 35–39 degrees Celsius (95-102.2°F) and night-time lows of 18–25°C (64.4-77°F).
(ał)
Source: PAP