So, I thought I would post a few commonly asked questions and their answers from the carriage driving business in Denver. Now, these answers are only from the horses in Denver, as other cities have different practices and such. The answers come from a panel of draft and draft cross horses and myself. Here is your panel:
Duke, Percheron, currently retired from downtown. He now pulls for a hay wagon with his buddy Ranger. Also pictured, Bri, your blogger and fellow panelist.
Jazmine, Percheron, matriarch of the group.
Keno, Shire, owner of the second longest mane downtown.
Spider, Percheron, retired from downtown. Can be seen at the photo booth at the National Western Stock Show.
Theodore Roosevelt Huggins, aka Teddy, Percheron cross, seen here in full Halloween regalia.
Q. Are the horses happy?
A. (Spider) Well, we have our ups and downs. Most of us are more than happy to be working only 6 hours a day and only 1 or 2 days a week most weeks. A lot of us come from the amish where we were working horses, pulling in the fields every day but Sunday.
(Teddy) A horse like me would have been used for pulling the family wagon into town, out to church, and over to the neighbors.
(Jazmine) Even though I look grumpy while I am downtown, I am more than willing to work and very good at my job. I have been ridden so very little in my life that I only walk and trot when someone is riding me, like any good carriage horse. I don't want to canter because that was never expected of me while I was in harness!
Q. Why do the drivers ask us not to pet you on your faces?
A. (Jazmine) I think everyone has treats and try to bite. I also do not like children, so it is very important that they are kept away from my face.
(Spider) I like to swing my big head around to look at things. If you are in my face, you are in my way.
(Teddy) What is most important is that we don't know you. If you are a stranger, you should really get to know us before you come into our personal space. Even if you have been around horses all your life, we are not those horses that you know. Please let us have our space while we are working. You can give us scratches on our sides all you want. We are used to it!
Q. Are the horses afraid of anything downtown?
A. (Bri) You would be surprised to know of all the things they are NOT afraid of! That is why we drive mainly draft horses. They are very good at absorbing all of the things around them without overreacting to any of it. Fireworks, flare guns, honking, sirens, all of these are things that the horses are exposed to and get used to over time. Jazmine in particular is so used to most of these sounds that her drivers react to it more than she does!
(Jazmine) But I do not like the big busses that cruise around downtown. They get me a little frustrated when they just zoom by making all that noise.
(Spider) I don't like manhole covers. I walk around them when I can.
(Teddy) I am still getting used to the fireworks.
Q. Where do the horses live?
A. (Keno) We don't live downtown! We all belong to different companies, so we all live where our owners live or where they board us. There is no shortage of nice outdoor space in the areas surrounding Denver, so most of us get the luxury of stalls in addition to outdoor runs or even pastures! We get hairy in the winter and a little sunbleached in the summer, so it's obvious that we are getting our outdoor time!
Q. Is that a Clydesdale?
A. (Keno) I get this the most since I have feathers on my feet. I am a Shire. My breed is from lower England, not Scotland where the Clydesdale hails from.
(Spider) I get it a lot because I am so large. Us Percherons have much thicker bodies than most Clydesdales and we lack the heavy feathering on the feet.
(Duke) We also only come in Gray and Black. No Bay horses, like all the ones in the Budweiser hitch.
(Bri) Now, there are some Clydesdales driven downtown, but not all of our horses are of that breed. The drivers are always more than happy to talk with you about the breed of horse they are driving.
Q. Can we give the horses a treat while they are working?
A. (Jazmine) YES!!!
(Bri) NO!!! The horses are all well fed and get treats when they are done working, but giving them treats downtown is a bad idea. They start expecting it from everyone and can start biting or nudging people with their 100+lb heads in order to try and get goodies. We don't want them begging.
(Spider) It also causes us to salivate a lot when food gets stuck around our bit (the metal part of the bridle that goes through our mouth). We get focused on that last bit of goodness and forget about our job. This can get dangerous when we need to move for an ambulance or mall bus. Our driver needs us to be paying attention at all times to keep us safe!
Q. What are your favorite treats?
A. (Jazmine) Peppermints.
(Keno) Most anything, really. I like my grain the best!
(Spider) Apple and Oat horse cookies.
(Teddy) PB&J sandwiches.
(Duke) Oatmeal and raisin cookies.
Q. What are those whips on the carriages for?
A. (Teddy) Well, the drivers rarely have to use them on us. If they do, it is just to tap us gently to remind us of what we are supposed to be doing.
(Duke) I get scratches and pets with mine!
(Bri) Quite honestly, I have had to use my whip more as an intimidation technique with unruly humans than with the horse I am driving. For the horses, it is just an extension of our bodies since my short little arms could never reach out to the horse from the carriage boot (driver's box). If I were riding instead of driving, I would have my legs and seat as well as my reins and voice to direct to horse. The whip is simply another aid I can use to talk with the horse while driving.
Q. Are the carriages heavy?
A. (Duke) No way.
(Keno) The limo carriages can be tough when too many people are in them. That's why our drivers try to limit the number of riders on those larger carriages.
(Bri) They are really like large wheelbarrows. Easy to pull when empty and lightly loaded, harder when heavily loaded. That's why most of our routes are pretty flat and we try not to overload the carriages. Another reason why we like to use draft horses is for their pulling abilities. A lot of these guys come from bloodlines that routinely pull up to double their own weight on flat sleds for competition. It is fairly easy for them to pull their own weight in a carriage with easy-to-turn wheels. Most of these horses weigh well over 1500 lbs. Even our lightest, Teddy, can pull a fully-loaded limo carriage as long as he doesn't have to pull any large hills.
(Teddy) Jeesh. Don't have to brag about it.
Q. What are those cool shoes for?
A. (Bri) Well, the glitter is actually on their hooves and not part of their shoes! We drive the horses in regular steel shoes with three holes tapped into them in order to bolt on a vulcanized rubber pad called a Remuda pad. The pad is shaped like a horseshoe and about an inch thick when brand new. They are required downtown because the city of Denver likes its granite along the 16th Street Mall and doesn't want it scratched up by metal horseshoes. The horses either have to run barefoot, with glue-on pads or boots, or with these pads attached to the bottom of their shoes. The nice thing...their steel shoes last longer since they are not being used against hard surfaces. The holes where we bolt in the shoes also give us a place to put borium cleats in on those REALLY icy days. We very rarely run in cleats since that means we can't use the mall streets and have to keep to the side streets around the mall. Also, if it's really icy, we usually just won't run at all. No point in putting the horses in danger of slipping for everyone else's enjoyment.
Q. Where can the horses run downtown?
A. (Bri) We normally run along and around the 16th Street Mall, from Wynkoop St to the City Park area (including the City and County Building and the Capitol Building) and from 14th St. up to 20th St. We generally don't go outside these areas because of heavy traffic in the areas outside of downtown.
(Teddy) I sometimes go up into the Capitol Hill area since I can get up those hills!
(Jazmine) We can go up to the entrances of most of the hotels in downtown!
(Keno) We often pick up from popular restaurants and hotels and go to attractions like the Denver Performing Arts Complex, The Pavillions shopping and movie theater, the Daniels and Fischer Clocktower, and other popular spots! A lot of the hotels and restaurants know the carriage companies and can call for a ride to pick you up!
That's all for now! The horses and I are too busy prepping for Christmas week to stick around, but feel free to leave more questions in the comments and we will try to answer when we have time!
In the meantime, feel free to reserve your Denver Lights carriage ride in advance by visiting www.RoyaltyCarriages.com!
