| Safety Tips for your Horse Drawn
Carriage Experience
Even though we have operated many horse related activities
for over 30 years without incident, we would like to take a moment of
your time here to pass along some common sense tips to insure your horse-drawn
carriage experience is safe one.
- When approaching the horse speak and let him know you are there
before touching him. Make sure all children are held by the hand around
the horse and don't let them get under a horse, or grab ahold of the
horse's legs. Draft horses have very large feet so watch your toes
when standing close to them! While normally a minor injury, it is
quite a painful one to have your foot stepped on. Never stand directly
in front of a horse. The safest place to stand and pet is right at
the horse's shoulder. If you are unsure where to stand just ask, your
driver will be happy to show you.
- Make sure the horse is standing quietly before attempting to enter
the carriage. Even though your driver is well trained to handle the
horse, they do sometimes move a little at the wrong time. A horse
just shifting his weight from resting one hip to the other can cause
the carriage to move slightly. If the carriage isn't perfectly still
for stepping up, give the driver a second to settle the horse.
- Always stay completely seated while riding in a moving carriage.
Smaller children should be seated between adults and held onto. Never
allow children to jump out of a moving carriage as serious or fatal
injury could occur if ran over by the very hard carriage wheels. Never
exit the carriage unless the carriage is completely stopped and the
driver is purposely unloading passengers.
- While having photos taken while outside but near the carriage, make
sure all persons are at least 12 inches clear of the carriage wheels.
Its easy while trying to follow a photographers direction to not pay
enough attention to where your body is in relation to the carriage
wheels. Make sure you stand in a safe place before posing for photos.
Your driver or footman may ask you to repostion yourself if he/she
feels you are not in a safe zone while near the carriage.
- Do not feed the horse anything from your hands. We are happy to
accept a treat for the horse, and we promise he will get it at home,
but in his food bucket. While hand-feeding horses is widely observed
on television and with some owners, it is never a good idea and only
encourages nipping. Since our horses are around the public so much
of the time we can't afford to take the risk of teaching them to associate
any part of a person's body with a food treat.
- Do not throw anything at the horse. While it is commonplace to throw
rice, birdseed, and rose petals at weddings, just make sure that nothing
is thrown directly at the horse. Not only could that startle the horse,
small seeds could lodge in their eyes and cause injuries. Closely
monitor any children with a handful of something to throw that are
near the horse. Kids can get quite excited at events and sometimes
don't think about what they are doing.
- During rides that leave private property and enter public roads
that are questionable as a safe carriage route, Arkansas code requires
that the carriage be followed by a car using its 4-way flashers. Make
sure you keep the car near but a safe distance behind the carriage.
Thank you for taking the time to read
our tips and enjoy your ride on
“The Princess's Carriage” |
