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Del Camino Equestrian Enterprises, Inc. Mailing Address: 3822 E. Sahuaro Drive, Phoenix, Arizona, 85028-3442 United States of America Tel: 480-242-9490 Fax: 602-953-9347

Del Camino does not endorse, approve, guarantee, warranty, or otherwise recommend any product, service, vendor, book,
article, website, webzine, magazine linked on this page

NOTE FOR AMATEUR HORSE OWNERS: One feature of membership is that some of the dues support The American Horse Council (AHC), a political action (lobbying) horse industry trade association representing commercial horse interests that presently focuses on supporting:

• pro-horse slaughter legislation as a means of disposing of excess inventory,

• blocking humane horse transport laws,

• increasing the removal of America's wild horses from preserves and having the BLM and USFS send them to slaughter to make way for cattle grazing leases,

• tax incentives for breeding more horses, especially racehorses,

• tax incentives for diverting grain and hay from food production for livestock and humans to ethanol and driving up the cost of other feeds,

• disaster relief for losses incurred by commercial horse breeders but not other horse businesses such as boarding and training stables, trail ride concessions, or non-profit horse sanctuaries or therapeutic riding centers.  Only producers of horses receive the grants and loans, not businesses that provide jobs for them or provide services to recreational horse owners.

• lenient immigration laws for alien low wage workers and the suppression or waiver of minimum wages in livestock operations to keep the jobs attractive to aliens but not entry-level citizen workers such as young people and National Guard or Reserve servicemembers, or veterans with disabilities, nor part-time, second career, or second job wage earners.

The American Horse Council is very proud of its accomplishments in furthering these goals.

ARIZONA REVISED STATUTES 
TITLE 28. TRANSPORTATION
CHAPTER 3. TRAFFIC AND VEHICLE REGULATION
ARTICLE 12. SPECIAL STOPS REQUIRED

 

28-858. Approaching horses and livestock   

A person operating a motor vehicle on a public highway and approaching a horse-drawn vehicle, a horse on which a person is riding or livestock being driven on the highway shall exercise reasonable precaution to prevent frightening and to safeguard the animals and to ensure the safety of persons riding or driving the animals. If the animals appear frightened, the person in control of the vehicle shall reduce its speed and if requested by signal or otherwise shall not proceed further toward the animals unless necessary to avoid accident or injury until the animals appear to be under control.

If you are concerned about the use of your horse on city pavement amid car and bus exhaust fumes, and are aware of the plight of most carriage horses plying the tourist trade in large cities, look for a carriage business that specializes in events such as weddings, funerals, birthdays, hayrides for parties, anniversaries, or winter sport resort town sleigh rides.  Since they trailer to venues booked in advance, many of the logistics city carriage operations contend with are not an issue for special event carriage/sleigh/wagon ride operators. 

Another option is to seek horse drawn carriage businesses that operate in small resort venues, or at least smaller cities, rather than big cities.  At least in smaller towns traffic is less congested, and stabling is likely to resemble any other horse farm or ranch in the neighborhood a few blocks from their downtown worksite. 

Permanent amusement parks also often have good facilities for horse drawn carriage rides incorporated into their large grounds. 

Rawhide 1880's Old West Town outside Phoenix, Arizona is one that has stagecoach rides using driving mules (don't forget the mules) and burros tied pack-animal style for kiddie rides (don't forget the donkeys, very authentic Old West, too) and hayrides for parties.

Ponderosa Stables and South Mountain Park Stables, Phoenix, Arizona. Operates in the South Mountain Park.

Disney World, Lake Buena Vista, FL Wagon rides (teams), carriage rides, sleigh rides (seasonal), horseback riding.  Horses are trained and live on-site at the Fort Wilderness Resort and Campground and the Port Orleans Riverside Resort (carriage rides on the grounds) and Saratoga Springs Resort and Spa horseracing theme hotel carriage rides on the grounds .

Disneyland, Anaheim, CA Streetcar rides (draft teams) on Main Street. The horses are trained and live on site, and work a 4 hour day, 4 days per week.

Ironwood Springs Christian Ranch, MN wagon rides, carriage rides, sleigh rides, riding lessons, trail rides, therapeutic riding (new).

Mackinac Island, MI Mackinac Island Carriage Tours. No motorized vehicles are permitted on this resort island. Founded in 1869, MICT is, per their website: "the world's largest, oldest and continually operated horse and buggy livery, with approximately 100 freight and passenger carriages put in motion by over 400 horses.."

Business Selection Checklist                      (Top of Page)

An example of an outstanding horse drawn carriage business that is proud of its drivers, its perfect safety record, its well-maintained horses and equipment, and relations with the local community, is KC's Classic Carriage Company in Scottsdale, Arizona. 

It is also helpful if the persons who are in charge of the routes, hours of operation, equipment, and horses, have received certificates of completion from a formal training program for commercial carriage operation, such as that offered by Sugar Creek Carriage Driving School. It demonstrates a standard of professionalism and investment in their career in the industry, and concern for the safety and well being of their customers, their horses, their staff, and their long-term success.

Water at Work and in the Stable                             (Top of Page)

q Cool clean water is ideally offered from clean individual 5 gallon buckets at least hourly in temperate weather and more often in severely cold or hot, especially humid weather.  Some city tourist carriage horses do not have reliable access to water during their typical nine-hour work days, so that dehydration is a problem for them on hot humid days, and cold windy days.  If you are considering a city tourist carriage company as a new home for your horse, visit the "hack line" where the horses wait for passengers, and see what the watering arrangements are.  Remember that in half an hour a large horse in humid hot conditions can lose several gallons of water in sweat even when at rest - this must be replaced and it is best if the horses can drink at will, or are offered a full bucket of cool clean water hourly. 

Draft horses, because of their body mass, and draft crosses, are more vulnerable than light breeds in hot humid weather to heat stress.  Drinking troughs are less desirable as they can easily become fouled, or transfer disease from one horse to the rest of the horses.  They are more convenient for the carriage business operators than filling heavy buckets from a tap and hauling them a few feet, especially if it is a one-person operation.  However, shared feed or water is risky when the animals are not part of a single herd under the vaccination and care of a single business, as would be the horses of a trail ride operation. 

Access to fresh clean water is seldom a problem for horses in the horse drawn carriage business at large amusement parks, fairgrounds, horse shows, in small resort or tourist towns, or for those serving the wedding and special events market.

Meals on the Go                                                         (Top of Page)

q Carriage tourist ride-for-hire horses sometimes eat from nosebags, harming their respiratory system with inhaled dust.  This was a common practice with working horses of all kinds in previous centuries, but there are few holdovers in America today.  Avoid placing your horse with a carriage ride business that uses nosebags.  When eating, unless the horse carries a "grazing bit" rather than a "driving bit", it should be transferred to its halter from its bridle.  Eating with a bit in its mouth can significantly impede proper mastication and swallowing, or cause wads of food to gag the horse, so it is somewhat unsafe, not to mention much less comfortable and pleasant for an animal whose favorite thing to do is eat small amounts of food almost continuously.  Those that specialize in events rather than the tourist ride-for-hire trade generally do not need to feed their horses in their traces, because they feed before or after the event.

Hoof Protection and Surface Traction                    (Top of Page)

q  Borium is used on horseshoes to increase traction on pavement, but does not cushion horses' hooves or legs from the concussion on the unyielding surfaces.  Also, the non-slip coating does not provide protection from the intense heat of city or amusement park pavement in summer months, when metal horseshoes in contact with asphalt or concrete for hours can become virtual frying pans, leading to "heat founder."  Not all carriage-for-hire horses that work on city pavement appear to get the special shoes or pads to protect their hooves from concussion, or receive as frequent regular trimming and resetting that maintains balance or restores balance lost from uneven wear. For those horses cracks and splits are common, leading to laminitis, or "road founder."  Check the hooves of the horses currently in the employ of the business.  It is a positive sign if they have cushioning pads in addition to borium coated shoes, or they wear rubber or composite shoes, or Easyboots, since these special shoes are more expensive and wear faster, generally, than thick metal shoes with studs. 

Carriage horses that work special events in parks, cemeteries, and Old West towns or on fairgrounds usually do not need this protection because of the unpaved surfaces, yet may wear them to provide a quieter sound for the occasion or simply as extra protection.

Special Considerations for Short City Rides      (Top of Page)

q Another problem for city tourist carriage horses is standing for long periods, then going into high exertion to pull a full load without a warm-up, then repeating the process in traffic.  If you are experienced driving your horses now, you can see for yourself that the hardest part of a "pull" is getting started, not how fast they go.  This stop-and-go-hard can cause azoturia, also called "tying up" and colic in carriage horses, and contrasts with the steadier, more natural activity of the police horse in the city, or a plow horse or country carriage horse of yesteryear.  City carriage horses have always had it the hardest because of the stop and go work. 

 

The police horse seldom stops behind the tailpipe of a vehicle at a light or in a loading or parking area, the way city tourist carriage horses do, so they breathe in fewer toxins.  Take a good tour of the route your horse will travel, and at appropriate times of the day.  Will it be among busses and trucks, and cars snarled in rush hour traffic, or will light traffic be most common?  How does the horse get from its stable to the "hack line"?  Is it trailered or does it negotiate traffic to get to work and go home?  Trailering is best, and since stabling in the city is expensive due to high real estate prices and generally a lack of space for turnout, the better carriage ride operators stable in a suburb and trailer into town for work.  These days the fuel costs to trailer to and from the jobsite have doubtless forced operators to increase fares.  Here is an explanation of how the famous Friesian carriage horses of Harrod's Department Store in London live and work.  They stopped living in the city when modern automobile traffic rendered it unsafe, and real estate for their daily turnout became too costly in one of Western civilization's oldest metropolises.

Training for Urban Environments                     (Top of Page)

Any horse that is trained to drive must have a suitable temperament and impeccable ground manners to start with, and then be trained to be even more calm and desensitized to a man-made environment, even if it will be driven in controlled surroundings and not in public.  Here is a link to a "despooking clinic offered by a professional driving barn to train amateurs and other professionals and their horses.  3G Farms Despooking Clinic. 

The staff and horses of any commercial driving business should be able to pass such a class with flying colors before putting a paying passenger in the vehicle, in our professional opinion, and consider safety for the horse, themselves, their customers, and the other people and horses around them their first priority.  Not everyone agrees, and that is their prerogative.

TIP:  Safety conscious stables encourage the use of helmets and use them when training green horses.  If you are lucky enough to observe a schooling session for a novice horse or driver, it is a positive if the trainer and the student are both wearing ASTM SEI Certified horseback riding helmets with the chin straps fastened. Safety First is Del Camino's philosophy.

q If you have not trained your horse to accept crowds, music, strange noises, jackhammers in construction zones, honking car and truck horns, backfiring motors, emergency vehicle sirens and flashing lights, etc. as part of its normal routine, how does the carriage business plan to do this?  Find out if the horse must work variable rather than routine routes in the city to serve weddings and funerals to get from the church or funeral home to the reception hall or cemetery.  Horses prefer routine and do not like surprises, so a constantly changing route in an urban environment may be more stress than your horse can tolerate.   Training, in addition to temperament, makes a huge difference in whether a horse can do this work safely for himself, his driver, his passengers, and pedestrians, bystanders, and other vehicles. 

Training to pull or be ridden is just the beginning of training for a city horse.  The majority of their training for the specialized work needs to be desensitization to unexpected loud noises, and strange moving objects entering and leaving their wide field of vision - that is, teaching a highly adapted flight animal not to flee when startled or threatened.  Traditionally, driving horses, because they are less able to be controlled by a handler than a rider, are seldom put through such time-consuming training, but "blinkered" instead.  This is not significant to a blinkered recreational or competitive driving horse, or one that works special events by appointment, because he does not wear the blinders for seven or more hours of the day. 

However, for city tourist ride horses, living with their sense of sight vastly restricted most of the day heightens their dependence upon their sense of hearing and smell.  This does nothing to improve their trust in their human partner for guidance in an emergency, as practicing with a human partner would do to teach them to focus on and trust the reins, voice, and touch of the whip.  It does nothing to teach them alternative responses to the stimulus.  A recent accident in NYC involving a horse that spooked and died after crashing into a tree resulted from a musician playing his drum.  The horse could not see the source of the sound that came from behind - a direction where the horse feels vulnerable, and the response of the NYC carriage industry has been to lobby the city to require musicians who frequent Central Park to stay further away from the hack line.  Of course, this will not prevent a child from suddenly playing a kazoo in the park or on the sidewalk unexpectedly and innocently causing another horse to die.   Ref: Fox News

Farm Experience Not a Substitute for Urban Training    

 (Top of Page)

On their website Horse and Carriage Association of New York,  carriage ride operators, for example, advertise that most of their draft crosses are trained to pull by Amish farmers in the idyllic non-motorized countryside of Lancaster, Pennsylvania.  This is meant to impress tourists, and city dwellers who find rural life "romantic" with the high quality of life and care the horses receive.  For carriage horses that will only ply sleepy country or park roads along a known route, it would probably suffice.  For carriage horses destined to do urban work, expert horse trainers would be more impressed if the horses could perform in:

• harness drill teams,

• competitive driving through obstacle courses,

• parades, including desensitization to marching bands,

• and training similar to police horses and military color guard horses.

 None of this acclimatization to their ultimate work environment is likely to occur on a non-mechanized farm or quiet country roads.  Where a horse learns to pull seems to be less important for city work, than ensuring that it has been thoroughly desensitized to bustling metropolis activities, noises and smells.

Professional Staff are Critical                              (Top of Page)

q  What are the driving credentials of the employees of the carriage ride operation?  According to the Horse and Carriage Association of New York, all of their horses, carriages and drivers are licensed by the City of New York, and "All carriage drivers are required to study the city’s official Carriage Horse Course Manual, apply for a license and train under a professional, experienced driver."  However, the site does not explain the amount or type of training, or claim that the drivers pass a  competency test to receive their license, in this public information designed to briefly reassure tourists seeking to book rides. 

However, this impressive sounding license is available for $25.00 to a person who is not tested on driving competence, but takes a "rules of the road" written test similar to a regular motor vehicle driver's license, but administered by the Department of Health, provides two photos for the ID card, and answers test questions about basic horse care and the city laws that place restrictions on the carriage operations in the city's 46-page city carriage driver's manual and regular motor vehicle driver's pamphlet. Reference: NY Daily News Report on City Carriage Driver Licensing Procedure.  "The city's list of 5 most common causes of accidents involving horse-drawn carriages: 1. A lack of ability on the part of the driver. 2. Carelessness and overconfidence of the driver. 3. The driver's lack of understanding of horses, or lack of horse sense. 4. Inadequate or improper training of the horse. 5. Unsuitability as to the size or temperament of the horse." according to the NY Daily News report.  Likewise, the hands-on training touted to tourists that the city requires, actually consists of a five-day apprenticeship with any licensed driver who signs an affidavit that the apprenticeship occurred.   In practice, then, the apprentice can have merely observed the driver going about his typical day.  So the "city license" requirement is not an indicator of skill or training, but simply a means of identifying the approximately 300 hansom cab operators that work for the five licensed stables in and around Central Park on the country's busiest streets.

In contrast to NYC, most other operations are less heavily regulated by ordinances, but more involved in traditional horse activities and able to train with their horses in settings where they can practice maneuvers and discover each horse's strengths and weaknesses, as well as gain a detailed knowledge of the complex equipment and its fitting and functions, before encountering traffic.  The disadvantages of stabling the horses in multi-storied converted city buildings without adjacent tracks or arenas for practice where training courses can be set up for the drivers limit the ability of instructors to teach driving and horsemanship in an organized fashion.

Most operators of carriage rides for special events are themselves professionally trained drivers (Example: KC's Classic Carriage Company, Scottsdale, Arizona, and Bridal Carriage Company, Inc. Boston, MA).  Many show their horses in fine harness, compete their teams in driving events, teach recreational driving to client horse owners, or operate related horse businesses, such as breeding, boarding, or trail ride concessions.  Consequently, some can proudly point to perfect or near-perfect safety records. 

That is not always the case with carriage drivers in the largest cities.  Some are inexperienced, or never received professional training in their job on a par with other horse professionals who must maneuver their horse through dangerous obstacles safely, such as competitive carriage driving experts, or those who must teach respect for and care of the horse as part of each lesson, such as certified therapeutic driving instructors for the disabled.

Mounted police and military ceremonial color guard and caisson horses drill, practice, and attend workshops, and spend many months in the "school" preparing their horses and maintaining their horses' skills, while developing a trusting relationship.  It is important that their horse resist the flight instinct in an emergency and look to them for direction of what to do.  This takes significant training since the flight instinct is reflexive and a highly successful main characteristic of the horse.  Visit our  Police Horse page for more information on what this type of training is like and how long it takes.  A driving horse that will be exposed to unusual circumstances deserves the same skilled handling and investment in training of both the horse and the driver. 

Most carriage driving businesses are small family run concessions, with a handful of highly skilled employees and a dozen or fewer horses that live on normal horse farms or ranches and are thus able to drill, attend workshops, and provide quality time for their equine partners when off duty. The majority train most of their own horses from scratch, which gives them peace of mind as to the horse's history and suitability, but will consider taking in a horse when none of their own novices are far enough along to work with the public and a need arises due to expanded business or an unexpected layup of a reliable teammate.   Finding one in your state or nearby that can provide a good home for your driving horse and has an opening is likely to take some research online, on the telephone, and, of course, in person, but can be done.

Stabling                                                               (Top of Page)

q What are the stabling and turnout arrangements?  Your horse's stabling when not working needs to include daily turnout for at least an hour in a paddock so he can act like a horse, stretch and roll and sniff and visit his buddies. 

He also needs an adequately sized stall or covered pen with adequate bedding to encourage him to lie down for full REM sleep, which can only happen fully stretched out on his side.  There also needs to be room for a stable hand mucking the stall, or a groom handling the horse to move around safely.  Professionally accepted standards of adequate stabling are:

• 4-5 ft. x 8 ft. "standing" or "tie" stalls are used for temporary holding areas or grooming and tacking of small to average size horses, or for production purposes, as with PMU mare collection for several hours but not as a living space. The average size horse could lie down in it, but not stretch out.

• 4 ft. or 8 ft. x 8 ft. for miniature horses and ponies under 12 hands at the withers HorseStalls.com

• 10 ft. x 10 ft. for cobs and ponies (small horse breeds)13 to 14.3 hands at the withers HorseStalls.com

• 12 ft. x 12 ft. minimum for horses 15 to 16 hands tall at the withers (such as our Arabians and most average size "light" horse breeds). Virginia Tech Virginia Cooperative Extension, Authors: Scott Pleasant, D.V.M., M.S., Equine Veterinary Extension Specialist, Virginia Tech and
  Nancy Currin, D.V.M., Veterinary Extension Publication Specialist, Virginia Tech and Penn State College of Agriculture Extension Publication

• 16 x 16 for horses 17 hands or taller at the withers (draft "heavy"), and stallions of light breeds HorseStalls.com

• 12-16 ft. x 24 ft. (double sized) foaling stalls for broodmares close to foaling or with foal at side are best, however, 14 ft. x 14 ft. is considered adequate for a light breed horse by the Oregon State Extension Service

• Ceiling height:  The ceiling should allow the horse to raise its head comfortably without worrying about hitting the ceiling. A standard room height of 8ft (3.6m) might be fine for ponies and small horses, but taller horses need higher ceilings. Also check that no nails protrude from second story flooring or other obstructions like light fixtures or fans that your horse could hit accidentally when it raises its head.

• All equids:

• well bedded about 3 inches deep for light horses, an additional inch for drafts, with fresh bedding cleaned at least once daily to remove wet bedding and manure (see Bedding page)

• well ventilated stall if indoors with secure even flooring, sturdy walls with no sharp bolts, torn metal or wood, no cobwebs, and with the ability to see neighbors

• fresh clean water available free choice (see Water page)

• free of flies and mosquitoes due to cleanliness and insect control

• plenty of clean fresh hay (a minimum 60% of their diet) with as few calories from grain such as corn or oats as possible to maintain strength, energy and weight (see Feed page)

• salt lick to replace salts lost when sweating

• with well-trained expert stable hands who seem to like the horses busily cleaning horses, stables, and harness to military standards for safety and public presentation

• observably no harness sores on the horses resting in their stalls or the paddock and those horses appear well-maintained without tangled manes, tails, or coats matted with sweat, and well trimmed hooves, even if they are dusty or muddy from a nice roll in the dirt during turnout.

• Turnout paddocks should be free of trash or sharp objects, have sturdy fencing appropriate for horses (not chicken wire, barbed wire, cyclone fencing) and be sturdy with proper gates that are secured.  Shade from a tree or run in shed in the summer, protection from wind and rain in a covered area in other seasons.  A reasonable "exercise yard" turnout paddock size for one average size horse is about 30 feet by 60 feet.  Only horses that get along should be turned out together.  The paddock should also have water available during hot months.

On the East Coast Amish traditions are often referenced in addition to modern equine husbandry standards.  For older facilities here are the Amish sizes you might encounter: 

Run in sheds and shedrow barns from Amish manufacturer. Smallest size available for horses is 10 ft. x 10 ft. for loose box stalls, 10 x 12, 12 x 12 and 12 x 14 available. J and N Structures

 The Horse and Carriage Association of New York, tells us on its website that their draft-cross horses work a seven-hour day, below the city ordinance nine-hour maximum, not including negotiating traffic to and from their stables on the west side of Manhattan.  There they have 9 foot by 10 foot stalls in which it is possible for the horse to lie down that "exceeds the New York City legal requirement of 8 feet by 8 feet minimum."  However, the site does not provide any photographs or architect's drawings of any of the five stables.  A few animal rights groups have videoed horses looking out of second story windows of one of the converted buildings, or climbing a steep ramp that replaced stairs to the upper floor.  One shows a horse lying curled up in what looks like a small converted office or storeroom in the few seconds of film posted on YouTube.  Fortunately, this "big city" scenario is not the norm for the thousands of carriage, hayride, and sleigh horses that work in America, giving many urbanites a brief and positive exposure to the horse as one of man's oldest partners.

It's hard to imagine our beloved Clipper (a 16 hand Belgian Quarterhorse cross who wears an 86 inch winter blanket measured from point of shoulder to edge of tail) living in a stall that small, instead of his 12 x 12 inside stall or his 16 x 24 covered pipe pen.  With his big Belgian body on short Quarterhorse legs, he might have been able to lie down in the fawn position with legs tucked under and nose on his chest, but there is no way he could stretch out his 7 foot 1 inch by 5 feet 3 inch body (not including head and neck) completely in a 9 foot by 10 foot stall and rise again without becoming cast (stuck against the walls unable to get his legs under him properly.)  But then, we don't live in a matchbox apartment in New York, either, so perspective is relative.  New York City may have written the ordinance requiring an 8 ft. by 8 ft. stall a long time ago to satisfy the first agitator for better living conditions for city horses, back in the days of horse multi-story parking garages.  However, the NYPD Mounted Units manage to provide adequate living, training, and exercise facilities for their police mounts in the city with a limited, non-commercial, taxpayer supported budget. They don't use antiquated city regulations as an excuse for inhumane stabling!  See our Police Horse page for a description of the new 38th Street facility in Manhattan.  (Comparison photo: Percheron King and his miniature friend "Smokey" visit the Del Camino campers during Antique Transportation Week to show the different size breeds and talk about their jobs in prior centuries.)

February 2009 - TheHorse.com "In January, carriage company owners, drivers, and stable workers voted to join Teamsters Local 553, according to Secretary/Treasurer Demos Demopoulos.

"They're all banding together for one common goal, to protect their industry," said Demopoulos. "Having the Teamsters behind them gives them a little more clout."

Rather than bring the quality of care and working conditions up to professional and humane standards, and increasing fares is necessary to cover the high cost of doing so in an urban setting, the Horse and Carriage Association of NY expects the muscle of the notorious Teamsters Union to enable them to resist doing right by their animals.  Very sad.

February 2009 - Six Chicago Carriage Horses Seized - Substandard Living Conditions the Apparent Reason Article at TheHorse.com describes removal of horses from J.C. Cutters, Ltd.

Why You Will Have to Research
From a Different Perspective                               (Top of Page)

Don't expect to find most commercial horse drawn carriage operations advertised in equine directories, horse magazines, monthly horse newspapers, or via membership lists in horse associations.  Amateur and professional horse people are not their target market, so their advertising dollars are placed elsewhere.  Some will give you plenty of the customary horse information on their website once you find it because they also have traditional horse businesses, whereas others are so far removed from the regular horse community after decades of specialization that the presentation is totally unrecognizable to owners, breeders, trainers, and other horse lovers.  We've pulled some examples to help explain how and why their priorities are different, and how that can affect your senior horse, as well as your search for a new appropriate driving job for him or her.

Here are two representative big city websites from New York that market the carriage horses.  The first markets the short Central Park tours for all the hansom cab operators.  The second belongs to one of the operators, but markets its party, wedding, and funeral services.

The Horse and Carriage Association of New York website states that the horses get lots of rest and recreation - but, because the site is understandably targeted to the casual NY tourist who just wants to spend a few seconds booking an activity, the website doesn't explain how this is possible in the city at stables converted from warehouses and office buildings, and there are  no photographs - only 2 amateur snapshots of horses on the site, both in harness from bad angles on the hack line.  There are no photos of any of the horses , nor are there any horse biographies, as is customary at professional training stables, many of the other horse drawn carriage websites, police horse unit websites, or other professional equine facilities, such as boarding stables.  The site does not show an exercise paddock or training course adjacent to any of the stables, give the names or addresses of any of them, or claim that daily liberty in turnout is available.   [It would be possible to have an arena and paddocks - the New York Mounted Police have them at their several facilities - even in Manhattan.]

Chateau Stables at 608 W. 48th Street in New York, one of the five NYC carriage ride vendors, has an elaborate website, advertising its many special occasion or theme party offerings, however its emphasis is on the vis-a-vis, wagons, hearses, and other historical recreation vehicles customers can choose from, but no mention or photos of the facility, and barely a mention or of the two most critical aspects of driving:  the people and the horses, except as perfunctory not much worth mentioning components of the package that are included with the vehicle so that it is operational.  If you are a wedding planner or corporate events planner this site is well organized by "product" - businesslike, showing great pride in the selection and authenticity of its equipment inventory, just like any other diversified party supplies packager.  Unfortunately, for an individual interested in the facility, horses, or professional staff from an equine perspective it has nothing to offer, not even an "About Us" page that gives you a management contact.  If you were interested in the equine part of the operation you would need to research the location at 608 West 48th Street to discover that it is the location of Equestria, a therapeutic riding center, as well as a busy modern specialty and tourist commercial livery stable, but would still fail to find a description of the stable or a photograph.  In such a quest, there would be no choice but to make an appointment go there and take a look in person.  This example is not unusual for advertising commercial tourist and event or specialty media props.  It is effectively targeted to its commercial audience, which is not horse owners or horse aficionados.  That audience does not understand the importance of the equine and human elements to the product, generally speaking, and the purpose of the website is not public relations but sales.  We have included it to help horse owners seeking these kinds of horse businesses learn that they do not advertise to horse people and may not emphasize the kinds of qualities about their business that horse people consider important.

Management and Employee Credentials             (Top of Page)

When looking for a home for your horse, read the professional biographies or credentials of the horses' trainers, stable hands, grooms, or drivers, to get a feel of the breadth and depth of their horse experience.  The horse drawn carriage businesses sampled below are fairly representative of how professional horse stables specializing in jumping, racing, reining, dressage, competitive driving, vaulting, therapeutic riding, trail, endurance, cutting, boarding, and so on develop side businesses as horse-drawn carriage operators, that sometimes become the main business.  There is even one in New York State that is associated with an equine veterinary practice. 

Seasonal Work and Off Season Pasturing           (Top of Page)

If you are considering placing your older driving horse with a carriage business that is stabled in a large city, rather than a city's suburbs, or in a seasonal operation that shuts down for several months, look into the  farms to which the horses repair for several months off per year, and what their off-season work will be.  If the your horse will be at pasture for more than a month, what is the trainer's routine to bring the teams or string of horses back into working condition as the tourist season approaches?  This gradual rejuvenation of muscle tone and aerobic conditioning is even more important as horses age, and is just as important for workhorses as for competitive athletes to avoid strains and injuries.  Ask how the horses' change of diet to and from pasture is managed to prevent digestive problems.  As you probably know, most horsepeople are more than willing to share their experience in managing the delicate diets of their charges, whether they train reiners, jumpers, miniatures or four-in-hands.

Local Weather Concerns for Commercial Driving   (Top of Page)

Unlike competition athletes in training, or recreational driving horses, a horse that works for a living for himself and his employer must put money in the till.

Winter Chill Conditions                                        (Top of Page)

A horse that gives sleigh rides in the snow to holiday shoppers in a city, or resort tourists in the mountains must have the constitution, coat and hoof care, and waiting area amenities to withstand standing inactive in bad weather as well as working daily in the environment.  If you cannot visit the hack line and working route during winter operations, ask to see photographs of the horses clipped and blanketed, ask about policies for determining when to cease operations due to inclement weather, and so on.  When standing inactive waiting for a fare, do the horses have a windbreak or overhang to get out of the wind or rain, since they must burn calories to stay warm?  When working, even in freezing temperatures, they sweat, so are they trace clipped and blanketed to enable proper evaporation and maintain the insulating loft of their coats and prevent matting and galling?  This is especially important for an older horse, that has a less efficient system.

Summer Heat in Paved Conditions                     (Top of Page)

Likewise, operations with busy summer tourist seasons may contend with heat and humidity.  Humidity affects the horse's ability to effectively control body temperature by sweating because it effects evaporation. For horses working on pavement, ambient temperatures are one of two important concerns.  The other is the searing temperatures that concrete, bricks, cobblestones, blacktop, and even sand and gravel reach.  Find out how are the horse's bodies and hooves kept cool in urban working conditions in the summer, and how is the densely salty and itchy dried sweat removed from their coat and skin not merely for immediate relief, but also to prevent chafing by all the harness.  How are electrolytes replaced, besides rehydrating the working horses is worth asking.  Is there shade from an overhang, awning, or screens for the hack line?  Are there misting systems set up to make standing on the hack line bearable, or cooling ice boots for their legs and hooves?  

Forward-thinking city operators, to improve business and avoid complaints as well as improve working conditions for themselves and their equine partners, upgrade hack lines with convenient water supplies, sanitation drainage, shade, rubberized "parking pads" made of the excellent attractive pavers available for stables, attractive hitching posts, a full-time stable hand to clean constantly to prevent odors and insects, and to refresh individual water buckets, and other comfort accommodations for the horses, passengers and drivers. These kinds of business capital improvements are not just good investments in the welfare of their horses and employees, but also can increase sales by making the hack line more attractive with a more inviting first impression and more comfortable first few minutes for potential customers.

Interestingly, the Horse and Carriage Association of New York website description of horse care includes monthly teeth floating, which is atypical - most horses' teeth are floated no more frequently than every six (for very bad dental problems) to eighteen months.  There is no explanation for why they need to float monthly. Quote from page on August 3, 2008 "Once a month, horses receive new customized horse shoes for their hooves from a professional farrier specialized for concrete and asphalt, and as well as [sic] having their teeth “floated” (aka smoothed) by a registered equine dentists.[sic] " Yet the same page contradicts this assertion further on stating "Every year we float the horse’s teeth to help them digest more protein in their food."  We find it confusing to say it is both monthly and annually, and while floating is important for overall digestion and to prevent "sharps" from cutting tongue or inner cheek, we have been unable to find a veterinary explanation that specifies that it only improves protein digestion, rather than improving initial breakdown of all feed, including fiber and carbohydrates, so this remains a mystery.  Other horse care statements on the "About Our Horses Page" are worded such that inconsistencies and variations from generally accepted practices are implied. 

This is a good example of how important it is to ask the actual business owner specific questions relevant to your own horse, and satisfy yourself about the actual horsekeeping procedures of the stable and the equine knowledge of the staff who will care for your horse.  Remember, the information on the site is not meant to impress horseowners, or address public relations concerns with local New Yorkers, but reassure casual visitors who want to book a tourist activity as an amusement and know little to nothing about horses that the business is humane.

Its too bad some high profile operations are not representing the horse drawn carriage industry positively and proactively from a public relations perspective, because there are seasonal carriage and sleigh businesses in small tourist resorts, and city rides in smaller venues that are exemplary and would provide an excellent second job for your retiring harness horse.  The good horsemen and women providing safe humane service to the public should not be tarred with the controversy surrounding some embattled big city operations, and it would be a shame to see their businesses that provide jobs for horses jeopardized due to the situations elsewhere.

A very positive, heartening example of a resort town carriage company is KC's Classic Carriage Company in Scottsdale, Arizona which beautifully demonstrates that a professional horse drawn carriage company can be profitable -  not in spite of taking excellent care of the horses and passengers and investing in extremely well-trained drivers and safety procedures - but because of doing this, and being extremely open with the public. 

Another is Jockeyport Livery Stable, associated with equine veterinarians, in Afton and Hancock, New York. 

A third example is Charleston, South Carolina, Palmetto Carriage Company  These folks are so proud of their operation that they are savy enough to provide a Live Webcam of the Stable on their website.  This is both excellent advertising to tourists, and an excellent public relations and public education response to political action groups opposed to carriage businesses.

And finally, Sugar Creek Carriages and Ranch, of McEwan, Tennessee that operates carriage rides in Nashville and a commercial carriage driving school.

Models for the industry to emulate, these are the kinds of companies you should look for to find a job for your driving horse.

Safety Training and Emergency Preparedness      (Top of Page)

q Ask about safety training and emergency first aid training of the drivers.  A major cause of lameness or injury to city carriage horses is accidents. 

In documented reports nationally, 85% of all accidents involving carriages in the last decade are due to the horse spooking, and in 98% of those accidents, the horse is injured, in 70% a person is injured, and in 20% a person dies.  We have compiled these statistics from public news reports, and consider them reasonably accurate and diligently researched. 

In many of these reported cases, first responders and bystanders who tried to help were at risk because they did not know how to handle a 1,000 plus pound frightened animal in pain, and in only two reports that we found did the driver take evasive quick action to minimize danger to the horse or passengers, and in no case did the driver have emergency first aid supplies on hand for the horse or people, so there is no way to know from the report if the drivers were properly trained to use such supplies if they had them.  Most of the dismay felt by the public in these sad scenarios centered around the understandable time delay of getting an equine veterinarian to the scene to treat or euthanize a horse in critical distress, and their feelings of helplessness and the lack of expertise of the equally distressed owner.

Operators of public carriage and hayride or sleigh ride services for special events normally have proper equine and human first aid training and supplies.  This is simple common sense and good business, and required by most equine livery insurance policies, so no operator to whom you are considering selling your horse should object in the least to you asking about these matters, but be proud to demonstrate their preparations.  That is our experience with the many good operators around the country.

Compared to the overall city carriage tourist trade, despite exposure to traffic, city noises, sights and smells, reported incidence of police horse accidents due to spooks are rare, even though there are many more police horses than tourist carriage horses.  Factors contributing to safety in city conditions for police horses include being able to see widely, rather than using blinders, extensive desensitization training at the police academy and in gradually more demanding situations, and the ability of a mounted expert to guide an animal that panics through obstacles until calmed, rather than contending with an attached vehicle.  Anyone who rides and drives knows that voice, reins, and whip are weaker aids for communicating with a panicked flight animal than seat and legs. Classical training asserts that automatic physical responses of the horse's body to your body (natural aids of seat/weight, legs, and hands, in that order) is stronger than the learned responses to supplemental and artificial aids (voice, bit, whip or crop, spur) which reinforce the physical aids. 

Every state and city is different.  In the State of Arizona, horse-drawn carriages are permitted on any public streets (with the exception of freeways) as long as they are equipped with the necessary safety equipment such as brakes and rear lights. KC's Classic Carriage Company of Scottsdale recommends (and provides) that carriage travel on streets with extremely fast or heavy traffic is followed at a discrete distance with a safety vehicle with flashing lights to warn oncoming cars of a slow-moving vehicle ahead. 

This exceeds Arizona's slow moving vehicle symbol display law, which applies to motorized and non-motorized vehicles alike on public roads.

Bridal Carriage Company of Boston adds bright fluorescent orange and pink tape to the shafts of their vis-a-vis to help the grey horses that can fade into a concrete cityscape and grey winter skies stand out for oncoming traffic on either side - an excellent safety measure that does not detract at all from the beauty of the carriage for photographs of the wedding party.

Figures were compiled by Pennsylvania's attorneys for a carriage vehicle moving violation in 2002 "research which revealed that 60.9 percent of all horse and buggy accidents occurred in daylight, approximately .8 percent occurred at dawn and 4 percent occurred at dusk. (Appendix to CX 2.) Thus, approximately 2/3 of all horse and buggy accidents occurred during either low light or full daylight conditions. Both experts have thus agreed that the SMV emblem is the most visible warning device during those hours when two out of every three horse and buggy accidents occur and may best warn of the presence of a horse and buggy on a roadway to enable drivers to see the carriage, identify it and make a decision that could protect the lives and safety of the public." - Pennsylvania v. Miller, Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, UNPUBLISHED, 2002 WL 31426193, June 6, 2002.

Whether or not required by law, it is wise for a horse drawn carriage to display the slow moving vehicle symbol when operating on public roads. 

Street Warning Signs for Motorists and Pedestrians (Top of Page)

In Phoenix, Scottsdale, and many of the surrounding suburbs, "Horse Crossing" signs are posted at busy intersections that serve horse bridle paths and commuter traffic alike.  These warn other traffic to watch out for the possible presence of horses, just as "Deer" or "Cattle Crossing" signs alert travelers in rural areas that they are approaching an area frequented by animals.  [Photos coming soon.] One at a major intersection close to us that experiences its share of traffic accidents even requires equestrians to dismount and lead their horses across due to many lanes of traffic (3 each direction with a 45 mph speed limit) and heavy left and right turn activity.  Thousands of horses live in this area, and many share the road with motorists.  There is no way to know how helpful these signs are, but they certainly can't hurt!

Equipment Quality, Fit and Maintenance                 (Top of Page)

q Examine the harness, traces, bridles, bit, reins, and carriage that will be used with your horse carefully. Are the billets worn, and the joints rough? Are buckle holes worn? Are winkers (blinders) cupped so they don't rub eyelashes?  If the saddle has a rigid tree, does it fit your horse's back?  Is the girth smooth on the side to the horse's body?  Are the tugs worn or have burrs?  If your horse will work in a breastcollar, are the traces buckled (best and safest) or sewn (less safe in an emergency) to the collar.  Can it be adjusted to fit your horse without interfering with windpipe or forearms or rubbing its shoulder?  The breastplate gets the most wear due to bearing the pulling forces, so check buckles for bent pins and buckle holes for wear and general weakness of the leather at stress points.  If pulling a large vehicle wearing a hames, will the collar fit your horse's neck and shoulders properly, and are the critical hames straps in good repair?  How about vehicle balance with the shafts - can it be adjusted to account for varying  passenger weights?  Just as important, can the driver do so easily and quickly since it may need to be done for every fare.  Traces, breeching, loin straps and crupper all need to be free of wear and be able to adjust to your horse properly.

Do not assume that because it is a business, these mission critical items - the tack, are in perfect working order and will adjust readily to fit your horse.  If there are other horses, examine their tack as well to get a sense of practical everyday maintenance, cleanliness, and fitting skills of the drivers.  Expert on city horses equine veterinarian Holly Cheever, D.V.M.  is a horse owner, trained harness driver, and longtime consultant to numerous animal welfare organizations.  Dr. Cheever has  examined city carriage horses with improperly maintained equipment and inadequate conditioning for standing or walking on hot pavement, a common situation in cities in the summer months, and written letters of concern to city officials.  This is a safety issue not merely for the general welfare of the horses, but also because a horse overly stressed by heat or lack of conditioning and harnessed in chafing tack that is worn or damaged is likely to fall and/or break the equipment during a spook, or run or kick as a result of improperly adjusted equipment, turning a minor incident into a more serious one.  For a factual case reported by a Massachusetts horse rescue of a Boston  percheron carriage horse, Monty, permanently scarred by an ill-fitting bridle, click here Monty's Story.

q Will your horse need to wear a manure catch bag (diaper) and/or a urine catch bag when working?  If so, examine one of the business owner's other horses that is fitted with them to ensure there is no chafing from the harness, and the horse's belly and abdomen is not crusted with debris from leakage causing skin sores or attracting insects.  Another from Boston, Chester's story.

Happy in Their Work                                          (Top of Page)

As a horse owner, you know when your horse is happy, fit, comfortable and enjoying his work.  Exercise feels good to all of us when done properly for the right amount of time.  Horses, like us, need to exercise to stay fit, even as we age.  Exercise helps us maintain our balancing skills, so that we are less likely to fall, or hurt ourselves in a fall.  Exercise keeps joints moving and muscles supporting our bones.  The only way to build muscle is to use it.  Also like people, and dogs and cats, horses whose physical needs (food and water) are well-met, like to just hang out with their social group sunbathing and snoozing once the youthful vigor wears off, and experience teaches them to ignore many sights, sounds, and smells that piqued their curiosity or frightened them when new.

That said, what is your impression of the horses that are working for the commercial driving operation?  Do they seem relaxed and happy but alert and strong?  The physical carriage of a confident, healthy working person doing his job is not the same as an exhausted, anxious, or despondent drudge whose boss or co-workers pick on him all the time.  The same is true of horses.  What do their ears, head carriage, eyes and gait when moving tell you?  Proud and happy and fit, or tired and dejected?  If your gut reaction to their body language is negative, make a note of it, and come back and watch them work another time, and watch them when off duty.  Prince (Tennesse Walker DC schoolmaster) loved giving rides to the Del Camino camp kids during Antique Transportation Week in his mid-twenties.  It was easy work because he was the center of attention, there was plenty of shade in the arena, kids were satisfied with short rides with frequent stops for them to take turns, and the load was light.  Great work if you can get it for an old timer.   So he moved in a relaxed but alert manner, attending to his driver's cues and neither plodding nor jigging, with ears up.

Everyone has the occasional "bad day", including, no doubt, your horse.  So listen to your instincts, but give the day the benefit of the doubt.  If after visiting several times you haven't satisfied yourself that only one horse was having a bad day, you will know whether placing your horse there will give you the peace of mind you seek.

Carriage Horse Retirement                                        (Top of Page)

q What about retirement when that day comes?  The "forever home" is a myth; no one can guarantee that their circumstances will never change and they will be able to keep a horse indefinitely for a decade or more after it retires from service.  But you should ask what the retirement process is for horses too old or lame to continue working, and you can make arrangements to be notified and have "first right of refusal" to buy your horse back if he/she becomes unsound or does not work out.  Many carriage for hire business owners love their horses just as private owners do, and have country farms to which their horses retire, or carefully resell their horses to be family horses, or are able to donate them to therapeutic riding centers to be therapeutic driving horses.  But, from a business perspective,  it is not reasonable to retire a horse, it needs to go off the business books onto the owner's personal expense ledger.

 Consequently a good many used up or damaged carriage horses show up at auctions and were sometimes trailered directly to abattoirs while the ones in Illinois and Texas still operated, bypassing the auction middleman.  This has been documented by experts under contract to investigate the slaughter transport business in their official reports, and by experts observing auctions in Pennsylvania and other states where rural harness horses used for farming and drayage were frequently sold through 2007.  Some are still crossing the borders to Canada and Mexico.  For two factual cases of Boston carriage horses that were bound for slaughter, click here Monty's Story or here Chester's story. Here is the story of Moose, a NYC carriage horse who was sent to auction and purchased from the killer buyer by a Colorado horse rescue, Shiloh Acres, which has developed a specialty in carriage horses that were bound for slaughter.

"Advancements in the equine health field have helped to increase the life of the horse to well into their 30s, but often well beyond their athletic usefulness. Prepare to be a responsible horse owner and plan ahead for your horse’s retirement years and beyond. As a horse owner, you should also plan to set aside an emergency fund for the unexpected but all too common injuries or illnesses that may occur in horse ownership. One final point for all horse owners to remember: the horse is a living being whose life and welfare are in your hands." -- AAEP Health Article What to Expect When Owning A Horse, Purchasing a Horse - February 15, 2007

[Comment:  The emergency fund ensures you have the means to provide humane euthanasia whenever that time comes.]