HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Hoping each and all of you have a Very Merry Christmas, a joyous holiday season, and a Happy New Year!  From all of us here at The Princess’s Carriage.  http://www.princesscarriage.com

Duke says he cant fly!

Santa has been giving Rudolff some well deserved time off since the upcoming Christmas eve he will be working all night around the world again. However....Santa never seems to quit promoting the most special day of the year! You see him everywhere!

Here Santa was found in Heber Springs Arkansas giving carriage rides for donations to the Animal Shelter and Foster Childrens association. Our horse Duke was happy to give Santa a classy ride to do that in even if he had to explain to Santa that he couldnt fly!

How did I do that?

This was one of those "How did I DO THAT?" moments with my new camera that I barely know how to use. The truth is Im pretty sure something was not set the way it was supposed to be to make this come out like it did.

Regardless....when I saw it I was delighted! Not only was I lucky enough to get a real life Cinderella to photograph with our pumpkin carriage, the "mistakes" turned out to be pretty awesome. Too bad thats not generally the case when Im messing up. Oh well.......

A Trip into Narnia without a Wardrobe

Imagine a trip to Narnia right here in Arkansas! That's what it felt like driving through the stone entrance of The Elms Plantation in Altheimer, Ar. Right up until entering the gates the landscape was bean fields and farm ground. Once through those gates it was like stepping into another world. The gorgeous house is on the National Register of historical places, and the grounds are just as old and equally unbelievable. Huge old trees dapple the whole property in a blanket of shade, and the water side swings and landscaping is truly gorgeous making this place feel truly magical. A perfect place for a wedding, and the mystical feel of our Cinderella carriage was just the perfect touch to a perfect day for this enchanted couple.

To learn more about The Elms Plantation look for thier information on the links page of The Princess's Carriage site.

Even the good guy's horse wasn't always white

After having so many people ask questions about the post "Our next white horse, say what?" I thought I would include here a few pictures showing the process a Percheron horse goes through to become an all white horse.

The first picture is of my 2 yr old Percheron filly Duchess who is still almost all black. In the picture to the right of her is our 5 yr old mare Countess who is in whats known as the dappled stage of gray.

The last picture on the bottom is of Duke who is 12 years old and by now pure white with the exception of a few very faint dapples on his hip. All grey horses turn white, and most accomplish this by the age of ten.

So....you see, even the "good guy's" horse probably wasn't always white!

Rain, Rain, Go Away!

Is it ever going to stop raining in Arkansas this spring? By now most of us here in the "natural state" are tired of all the "natural" weather. This photo was taken with blurry rain drop covered lens last Saturday at a wedding we were a part of.

Not only was it wet, it was cold, and after standing in it for several hours waiting for the wedding to start we were pretty well drenched everywhere our ponchos didn't cover. The hats we switch to in order to keep from ruining a top hat in rainy weather are made of wool and fend off the wet for a lot longer than one would imagine, but even they can only hold so much rain.

However.... we are proud to boast that our bride and groom were dry and cozy inside our antique Victoria. Between the clam shell top, waterproof lap robe, and a little planning to pick up from under an overhang they were as snug as bugs in a rug even with the constant downpour.
Today we have a two jobs in two separate towns and its predicted to start raining again about the time the first job starts and continue throughout the evening for the entirety of the second event. Its going to be another soggy one for us. This time we are hauling the Cinderella with its full rain cover installed to keep our prom goers dry. We will switch crews so that each event has a dry driver and footman. At least to start out with.

Not to sound like we are complaining ( ok..ok... a little bit) One of these days the weather will be splendid, if for no other reason than the law of averages at some point this has to subside. Until then, we will be singing to ourselves "rain, rain, go away" I think at this point we will even skip the "come again another day" part.

Making Wishes Come True

When the Make a Wish foundation contacted us, the whole crew here at "The Princess's Carriage" was absolutely delighted to be given the opportunity to be a part of making a special little girls wish to be a Princess come true. We were an unexpected surprise for the tiny little 4 yr old's birthday party.

While she was eating cake and opening her presents we were hiding in the back waiting for the signal to bring the carriage around to her. The moment came and as you can see she was both surprised and excited about her royal ride.

The photo is of one of our footmen leading her and her slightly older sister to the Cinderella for her magical princess ride. Our happy little birthday girl rode the carriage on every lap that picked up each new group.

Our heart felt thanks to the Make a Wish foundation for inviting us to be a part of this beautiful little girls special day. A party we will never forget, and truly a blessing to get to be a part of.

Our Newest white horse. Say what?

Meet The Duchess of Missouri, our latest white horse purchased for future use with us as a Princess Carriage horse. About now you are probably wondering if we are color blind so let me explain. First off let me tell you a little bit about Duchess. She is a registered Percheron draft horse who is about to turn two which means shes still a baby.

We purchased Duchess from Robert Sparrow of Missouri who is not only a top breeder of Percheron horses he is very active with the Percheron horse association of America as a board member. Roberts father is the famous teamster who drove the 40 and 48 horse hitches in top parades all around the country in the late 70's through mid 80's. The elder Mr. Sparrow holds the guiness world record for these feats. His son Robert whom we purchased the filly from was also involved with his dad in the record breaking heavy horse hitches. You can read about the Sparrows here http://www.zearing.net/sparrow.asp

Back to the color mystery, Percheron drafts come in two colors either black, or grey. All grey horses in this breed are born black, as they age they turn grey, and as the white hairs increase in numbers over the black hairs the horse turn from dappled grey which is the equivalent of salt and pepper in human hair to all white. So...believe it or not Duchess will be a white horse. To be born black and turn grey and horse must have at least one grey parent. If you look closely at Duchess tail in this picture you can see that it is turning white already.

By the time Duchess is old enough for us to actually use as one of "The Princess's Carriage" horses she will have been through several years of special training to prepare her for all the things she may encounter while doing carriage work. She must prove to be fearless in traffic, crowds, noise, camera flashes, and not only brave those things but enjoy the work as well. We only use horses that have good attitudes, and happy expressions on their faces. Lets face it, who wants pictures of a horse with its ears pulled back and sour look on its face in their wedding pictures? Not only that, we want a horse that thouroughly enjoys the attention it will get from people, and not one that despises being petted and pulls away,

We picked Duchess specifically because of her friendly attitude, happy work ethic, and calm demeanor. Whether or not she will work out is yet to be seen, but we feel we have chosen well and would be quite surprised if she didn't. If she proves to not like carriage work, then we will find a job she does enjoy and she will be steered in that direction. We are dedicated to having not only healthy but also happy horses here at "The Princess's Carriage"

Hey Horse! did you know you had a turn signal out?

Just kidding, this isn't a case of traffic violation but instead a post about how wonderful the local police are, and how appreciative we are for their help in certain situations. Sometimes a route will have a potentially dangerous spot for a slow moving vehicle. Which is a big part of the reason we pre-drive each and every job in our car first. One of the main objectives for this is to look for any such areas in the route. When we identify one we discuss our concerns with our clients, and offer suggestions on how we can either avoid them, or ways to deal with them safely.

One such often remedy is with the help of local police. We have found them to be more than obliging as long as they are given enough advance notice. Always polite, and very professional the police can and do add a big element of safety when the need arises. As in this photo where this small part of the road includes a hill in combination with a sharp curb where a motorist could be startled to come upon a slow moving vehicle, and have little time to react. The policeman was gracious enough to stay behind the carriage for the short distance the route was compromised making it totally safe for everyone involved.

Our top hats off to the local police, those that have helped us, and those that will. Our thanks to them cannot be expressed enough. Oh...and Earl did you know you had a turn signal out?

Christmas Spirit

The Holiday's are right around the corner. Don't forget to book one of our horse drawn carriages for your holiday gatherings. Sleigh bells ringing and friends and family singing from the cozy seat of a carriage is a great way to enjoy the season.

Nothing quite like a carriage ride to feel the spirit of the season!