Featured Photo: Palmetto Carriage Works
If you’re from the Charleston area you’re probably well aware that the welfare of carriage horses and mules has been a heated topic of conversation of the past year. Palmetto Carriage Works considers their animals as part of the family and makes it a priority to keep the horses and mules happy and healthy.
One of the biggest topics in the carriage horse issue is how is it safe for the horses to work in Charleston’s insane high temperatures during the summer? Well, Palmetto Carriage Works takes multiple precautions to keep their animals safe during the Charleston summers.
Image Credit: Palmetto Carriage Works/ Facebook
First, they make sure all of the horses get plenty of water and breaks at the barn between tours – this happens all the time, but it amplified during the summer. Their staff is also always monitoring the temperature.
Once the outside temperatures reach 95 degrees, or the heat index reaches 110, all carriage tours are halted until the temperatures drop. This rule makes sure that the horses and mules are never working in conditions that could lead to overheating. Palmetto Carriage Works also takes the temperature of each individual animal after each tour – this helps ensure that the animals are safe and healthy.
You are probably wondering, what is an unsafe temperature for the animals to have? If at any time the animal’s temperature reads more than 102.9 degrees, the animal does not go back to work until he/she has cooled off to the appropriate temperature range.
Image Credit: Palmetto Carriage Works/ Facebook
Charleston is one of the only recorded cities in the world that pays attention to the temperature and health of their animals. Because Palmetto Carriage Works takes the time to monitor their animals so closely they have not had a heat-related incident in over 30 years.
Palmetto Carriage Works cares about every one of their employees in the same way, whether they have two legs or four.