carriage

Let’s Talk About That Carriage Horse Billboard On I-26

Featured Image Credit: Charleston CVB

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: Charleston can stop worrying about the treatment of our carriage horses.

“Have you see the sign?” many people in Charleston have been asking one another lately. They’re talking about the billboard located on I-26 depicting a silhouette of a horse-drawn carriage with the labels “1 horse” and “17 people” placed on the matching images. On the right side of the board, a flame is depicted with “95” over it, representing 95 degrees. Along with the flame, you read “carriage horse abuse #justsayniegh”.

Recently, Charleston Carriage Works, Old South Carriage Company, and Palmetto Carriage Works voiced their opinions of the billboard. The billboard is “false and misleading” and “an embarrassment to Charleston,” says general manager of Palmetto Carriage Works, Tommy Doyle.

“On summer days here in Charleston when the temperature reaches 95 degrees or the heat index reaches 110, all of our carriage tours are halted. By stopping our tours once the temperature reaches these levels, we ensure that our animals aren’t working in conditions that could lead to overheating,” Palmetto Carriage Works writes in one of their blogs.

This isn’t just a PCW rule either. It’s a city law and it is strictly enforced.

Doyle also said, “The work our animals do in these conditions is considered light exercise for the type of animals we use. It is not near their full capacity and certainly not abuse.”

Don’t believe that either? Check out this awesome video that Palmetto Carriage Works did. It shows the employees filling in for the horses. Get ready to be surprised by the outcome.

The billboard needs to come down because it displays completely false information about Charleston carriage companies. Not only does the Charleston carriage industry care deeply about their own horses, they care about others too. For example, when local carriage companies donated $3,000 in support of L.E.A.R.N. Horse Rescue, they helped Spirit and Bailey, two malnourished horses in the care of L.E.A.R.N. Horse Rescue.

A recent poll conducted by Charleston C.A.R.E.S also showed that the majority of Charlestonians have an overwhelming amount of support for the carriage industry.

It doesn’t look like the billboard will come down anytime soon, even though it is ridiculous and inaccurate. In the meantime, Charleston’s carriage companies will continue to love and care for each and every horse in their possession.

Learn more from our source at https://www.thestate.com/news/local/article215937690.html.

News

New Technology Monitors How Much Weight Carriage Horses Pull

Featured Image Credit: Palmetto Carriage Works

Downtown carriage companies and the City of Charleston have incorporated new technology to closely monitor how much weight horses are pulling.

Instead of having to manually monitor the weight like in the past, the city has now started using new tablets that efficiently and accurately check the number of people on each carriage to ensure that regulations are being followed.

“We already had the ordinance adopted regulating the amount of combined weight, of the carriage and passengers, cannot be more than three times the weight of the horse,” said Daniel Riccio, the Director of the Department of Livability and Tourism for the City of Charleston.

In order to determine how they should measure the weight of each person, Riccio said that they used Federal Aviation Administration Regulations.

“We used the same regulations as the FAA with air travel,” Riccio said. “The FAA has a mandate that all airlines follow, which are averages of passengers, not exact weights, but the averages of the males, females, and children. They even break it down so far as winter weight and summer weight. Winter being the more weight of the passengers.”

But the city has decided to stay on the safe side and go with the higher weight.

“All year round, we are going with the higher winter weight. The average is 195 pounds per person. We went maximum just to ensure the animal can pull all that weight. Even though you’re going to have women and children on there that weigh much less.”

The combination of these regulations and the new technology will allow for carriage workers to simply count the number of passengers in each carriage, enter it into the tablet and determine whether or not each carriage is holding the appropriate weight.

Ricco says that with the new technology in place there are no excuses for breaking these regulations.

“If a carriage were to come up to the gate and have 17 people total with the driver – and it surely indicates on there that there can only be 12, then we have an issue,” Riccio said.

Riccio added that any violation of the tourism ordinance would result in a maximum fine of $1,087 or a 30-day jail sentence.

However, at this point in time, there have been no issues reported and Riccio assures that the city and carriage companies are doing their job to keep the horses and the public safe from these concerns.

“We feel confident with the information we are providing to the public is accurate and they can trust that we are doing what we’re supposed to be doing to make sure the animals are safe,” Riccio said.

Learn more from our source.

Guest Columns

Why Horseshoes Are Necessary For Charleston Carriage Horses

Featured Image Credit: Palmetto Carriage Works

Have you ever been walking in downtown Charleston, seen a horse drawn carriage and thought to yourself, “Man, those horses feet must really hurt!”? There is no need to worry, because Palmetto Carriage Works takes special care of all of their animals by providing them with shoes that protect and add traction to their hooves.

Horses’ and mules’ hooves need proper care to prevent abnormal hoof wear and injury to the foot. At Palmetto Carriage Works, this care is proved by a farrier who makes his rounds twice a week to ensure the protect and safety of each of the animals. A farrier is specialized in preparation and fitting of the horseshoes.

A horseshoe is a u-shaped plate usually made of steel but can also be made of aluminum or plastic. Each of the animals comes in different shapes and sizes, which means each animals horseshoes are going to be different. For small horses and mules, the shoe is made of steel and has a plastic covering, while the larger, draft horses have shoes made of steel with plastic bolted in. The horseshoes are nailed into a not sensitive area on the bottom of the hoof.

To insure the best protection of their animals’ hooves, Palmetto Carriage Works askes their farrier to change each of the animals shoes every six weeks. This prevents the shoes from becoming loose and being thrown. In the case that a shoe becomes thrown, the horse or mule will wear a boot until the farriers next visit to the barn so that it may continue working. In the case of an injury to an animal’s hoof, they will see both a vet and a farrier to ensure proper treatment can be decided, whether it is a special shoe or time to rest.

Learn more from our source.

Guest Columns

A Day In The Life Of A Charleston Carriage Horse

Featured Image Credit: Palmetto Carriage Works

For locals and tourists, carriage tours around historic downtown Charleston are a beloved staple for the community. They provide everyone with a fun and unique way to explore one of the best cities in the world – yes, we are one of the best cities.

Most people in Charleston only see the animals as they are working, as they are patrolling the streets of downtown – but that doesn’t mean that’s all they do. Palmetto Carriage Works are big believers in an awesome work-life balance, which is why their animals get an average of 19 weeks* of vacation time. (That’s over 50% more than the six-week minimum required by the City of Charleston!)

Not only do the horses get the benefit of 133 vacation days, they also only work 5-hour workdays, receive multiple relaxation breaks, daily meals as well as room, board and transportation. And to top it off they get to live on beautiful John’s Island at the Doyle Family farm. Now if you’re asking us, we wish we had this great of a setup.

The Doyle family farm is about 20 miles away from downtown Charleston, and the animals are transported by truck and trailer to get to work. Once they make it to the Big Red Barn, the animals only work an average of five hours* a day. The City of Charleston requires that no animals should work for more than eight hours a day, but Palmetto Carriage Works likes to keep the days shorter for their animals.

People are always questioning how much and how hard Palmetto Carriage Works work their animals, so it’s time to answer those questions. Along with everything mentioned above during each shift, the animals are given plenty of rest, making sure each animal gets a 15-minute break at minimum for a drink and some time by our misting fans. Often times, during downtime at the Big Red Barn, the animals can be found asleep standing up, with one hind foot cocked in our spacious stalls. If they feel like it, they can even lay down to rest their legs. The biggest thing is the animals are never overworked.

Palmetto Carriage Works ensures their animals don’t work too hard or too much, and by doing this they are providing these animals with a positive life full of love and care.

*Based on 2016 Work Study