"Following where my camera leads me!"

"Following where my camera leads me!"

Monday, July 18, 2016

Get Around in Style...Charleston Style

Now that summer is back, we have many more people enjoying tours of our city with the horses.

Many of our city's working horses are "Percheron" horses. I think they are absolutely gorgeous and I love them all, but I do have one favorite. Love to see him and I always talk to him. He looks at me. Does he recognize me or my voice? Probably not but it's fun to think so.
Check out the pretty braids!


I've  always called the Percheron horses "gypsy horses" because so many of the pictures I see of the old gypsy wagons, they are pulled by these type horses.
There are many ways to tour Charleston....vehicles like cars/vans/buses, or on foot. Carriage/wagon tours pulled by mules and horses seem like a particularly enjoyable way to see the historic city and they surely do add so much to the ambiance of such an old city. Truly, there have been horses on Charleston's streets since the very beginning, back in the 1600's. 



I love to hear the sound of our city's horses.....the approaching clip clop clip clop of the hoof beats, steady and true. The horses are so big and strong and gentle. 
I've nearly been trampled dozens of times getting in front of these 1000lb. animals for 'just the right picture'. ha ha ha Just KIDDING. LOL


This one is a beauty! A "Cinderella Horse"!
No wagon----but a pretty white carriage.




Last year there was an incident when one of our horses, Blondie, was spooked by the sound of a loud truck. Apparently Blondie backed up into the carriage, got tangled up, and fell. Somehow Blondie just couldn't get back up. I think it's still not clear what all contributed to it....the heat, was he injured, not in good health to begin with, his legs 'fell asleep' and the circulation was cut off....I was not there and only know what I saw on the news. They did call a vet in and I think he (Blondie) was sedated until a forklift could come pick him back up again. I was so relieved and happy to see him getting back up on his feet, under vet care, and then on a well deserved little break/vacation out in the country. I think he did come back to work. 
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These horses were all out working on this particular Sunday. The temperature was 97:



















I do love animals and will always stand up for and defend them if they are being mistreated or neglected. So I went reading/researching a little further to see what I could find out about our city's horses. I found an interesting article here:
(click here) The Treatment of our Carriage Horses

The comments in the section at the end of the article are very interesting. I am not well educated on the care or needs of horses but some of these people clearly are and it was interesting to hear what their point of view is. 
What is yours?
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By the time I was getting to the end of this post I decided to go see for myself so I visited the downtown barn of the Palmetto Carriage Works. 
Again--I am not a vet nor do I own or have much knowledge of horses. I have ridden recreationaly  only and I have worked with very large mammals much much larger than horses, but I am not a horse expert by any means.
 I am just someone who loves animals.
Also-no one knew I was coming nor did they know who I was. The barn is open to the public.
First off---it's big. And clean. And the employees acknowledge you with a polite and friendly greeting.








The horses and mules were happily eating their suppers. They all appeared clean and well cared for.


The animals seemed to have plenty of room and nobody appeared "scrunched-up" or jammed into tiny spaces.
The stalls were clean and the horses were curious and friendly.




There were many large heavy duty fans blowing on the horses and there was also a water misting system which sprayed the horses. 
(above--that little fella was about knee high and adorable!)




I fully know that horses are not house pets. I think they were created to be work animals and to have a 'job'. From what I have read, they are happiest when they do have work. I also don't want to see animals mis-used. 
What do you think? Do you have carriage tours in your city? Do any of you know about horses?
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14 comments:

  1. What an interesting post! I think horses are such beautiful creatures.

    Thanks for sharing. No horse drawn carriages down here.

    Have a great week ~ FlowerLady

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  2. I think you were so smart to go down and visit the carriage horses. I don't know anything about horses and I've learned a lot from this post. Most towns here in Florida have carriage horses and that's a great way to see the town. It's nice to know they are so well taken care of. Enjoy your day sweet friend. Hugs, Diane

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  3. the horses are beautiful!! i worry so much about them, especially in this heat...we don't have any horse and carriage rides here but i do see them in some of the places we visit!!!

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  4. Oh, I love horses! So glad to hear that these horses are being well cared for. I do think that those temperatures are much too hot, though, for those poor horses. We don't have carriage horses in Seattle (that I know of), but we do have police horses. I have a Percheron living next door to me....he is retired and lives a lazy life. Perhaps he was once a carriage horse! x Karen

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  5. Hi There, We LOVE Charleston --and we actually took one of the carriage rides and visited the barn one time when we were there...

    One of my greatest joys was being downtown on a Sunday morning and hearing the church bells toll..... AWESOME.... We actually visited St. Michael's for one of their Sunday morning services one time... TERRIFIC...

    You are so fortunate to live there---although the heat would really bother me I'm sure..

    Hugs,
    Betsy

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  6. oh they are beautiful creatures! it is great to hear how well taken care of they are! i also love to hear the clippity clop of their hooves :) i hope blondie is better than new!

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  7. I had no idea you could get a horse-drawn tour around any city. I think that is awesome. So totally beautiful. Horses are truly one of the most gorgeous animals ever. And I'm glad to hear that the ones in Charleston are so well taken care of.

    This article put me in mind of Black Beauty. I love that film.

    Blessings to you,
    Patti

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  8. I had no idea you could get a horse-drawn tour around any city. I think that is awesome. So totally beautiful. Horses are truly one of the most gorgeous animals ever. And I'm glad to hear that the ones in Charleston are so well taken care of.

    This article put me in mind of Black Beauty. I love that film.

    Blessings to you,
    Patti

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  9. Hi Debbi! What beautiful horses! You've taken some wonderful snaps. I'd love to be there. Thanks for popping in to see me.
    Be a sweetie,
    Shelia ;)

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  10. Wonderful photos of all the horses. It does look like they are very well taken care of. I would worry though about them being out in the intense heat.

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  11. There is no carriage horses in my small town of 108,000
    I always feel sorry for the horses in these larger cities because they look so bored or beat down.
    I think on humid hot days the horses should be out in a field laying under a shade tree not pulling a wagon full of people when it's 97 degrees

    they are beautiful animals

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  12. I wanna come take a horse ride. It looks like so much fun. I always worry about their feet though and how hot they must get.

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  13. Horses are such beautiful animals and you took such pretty photos. They look very well cared for just by how shinny their coats are. Never been to Charleston and some day hope to go!

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  14. Hi Debbi, I think this would be the most delightful thing to do in Charleston. I've only been on one horse-buggy ride (on Michigan's Mackinac Island when I was about six) and I just loved it! To see this city, so beautiful, in this lovely and leisurely way would be divine!

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