A guardian weather angel?

I had been stressing out all week about our huge upcoming carriage service for Mountain Home high school's prom at the towns ASU campus. Not because of the size of the job, the number of carriages, or even the size of the crew involved, but because of the predicted weather which was a sixty percent chance of rain and thunderstorms.

Now...don't get me wrong, all our carriages have rain covers, and rain is not the end of the world for us. About the only thing that cancels service on our end is severe weather like lightening , tornado, ice, and the stuff that has everyone running for cover. That said, you always, always, hope for nice weather for your customers.

Nice weather it did not appear was in the cards all week. That is until today when it is forecast that the nasty stuff will all be gone by Saturday and the chance of just rain is only ten percent. Woo-Hoo! I am so incredibly delighted that it looks as if the evening will be perfect!

Now for the weird part, this has happened so many times that I am beginning to think we have a guardian angel that watches the weather for us, or.. at least our customers. Whatever the case may be, I promise you I am not complaining.  :)

New Partners

I am thrilled to announce that we have partnered up with http://www.whisperinghorseranch.net/ for some really great package deals for some VERY fun children's birthday parties! These will include both carriage and pony rides at your desired location. The folks at Whispering Horse Ranch are super friendly and a great outfit to work with and we are pleased to get such a great opportunity.

How far do we travel?

Since it seems we are constantly being asked I will share here with you a detailed explanation of how far we will travel to your event. We provide service in Arkansas state wide. The above picture was taken at a Prom in Lake Village, Arkansas which is quite a long way from us here in Rose Bud. We have serviced as far south as El-Dorado, and as far north as Fort Smith. 

Besides Arkansas we have serviced events in Southwest City, Mo, and end up in Branson on occasion. We  don't mind venturing into neighboring states on occasion. I say on occasion not so much that we are opposed to doing so more often, but in reflection of the fact that it starts becoming costly for the customer. It is not so much a question of miles and fuel as it is other things most people never even think about.

While we have a state wide maximum charge for Arkansas, once we have to travel more than 150 miles one way the logistics become much more complicated and costly for us. We are hauling live animals and that adds degree of care and concern a person in a car does not have. We have to travel carefully, taking easy turns, and slow easy stops, and that slows down the pace a great deal. It can easily add 20-30 minutes to every hour of driving. If its a "long haul" stops must me made to offer water, and to check and make sure the horse is traveling unstressed.

Often we have to leave the night before which means finding overnight stabling for our horse or horses at a facility near the event site. That means a hotel bill for the crew as well as the horse motel. Having to eat on the road is expensive too and long hauls require that you do. I factor in $10 per person, per meal, when traveling and that has proven to be a modest fairly accurate number. We also have to block out any additional bookings for that day and sometimes the night before.

So in short we are happy to be a part of your long distance or out of state event, just understand that the price for doing those jobs is usually double, sometimes triple, our minimum fees. If I have the date open and cost is not a factor don't be afraid to call and ask. This is what we do, and we love, love, love, making people's dreams come true.