Send me a woman to do a mans job!

Meet Lilly Ice my new farrier. This picture was taken right after she had put four new rubber horse shoes on our downtown horse Clyde the Clydesdale. These are not an easy shoe to apply but that isn’t what’s most amazing about this story. The fact that I went through three local male farriers first is pretty interesting though.

There was one that was overwhelmed and claimed the shoes would not fit ( Clyde is sporting them in the pic) Another was an older gentleman in his 70’s who I have been using for several years who does a beautiful job but had to quit because he said doing the big horses made him sore which at his age is understandable. Then a third that came out once but then promptly fell off the planet and can no longer be reached by phone or capable of returning a call left on his voice mail. Which for some odd reason is a common customer complaint about far too many farriers.

However…complaining is not in order when it comes to discussing my new lady farrier Ms Lilly Ice. She is as tough as the horse shoe nails she uses, showed up when she said she would all the way from Russelville 2 hours away, and not only did the job with two unusually cranky draft horses, she did a nice job, and was even open to suggestions without the “I’m the farrier” attitude one generally gets from the guys. You really could not ask for a better scenario. Next time… send me a woman to do a mans job!

Its that Time of Year...again.

Busy, Busy, Busy, is the only way to describe things here this time of year at “The Princess’s Carriage”. Last week was a flurry with jobs all through the week and weekend. This Saturday came finding us no less covered up having to split up both crews. Each heading in different directions, One crew was off to Walnut Ridge, Ar. for a wedding on the campus there. Afterwards we explored a world war museum and aviation graveyard where there are literally jet airplanes from all over the world left to be scrapped. If you have not seen one before its really something to see and worth the trip to Walnut Ridge, Ar.

At the same time another crew was off to Belgian Meadows Farm on Lawson Road in Little Rock to provide carriage service for that popular wedding venue and event center. The farm is a beautiful place with a small lake, rolling meadows and gorgeous mature trees everywhere. Pictured above is a picture of Duke on our Vis-à-Vis in front of the lake and one of the many picturesque trees that abound at Belgian Meadows. Contact info for Belgian meadows can be found on the links page of our website if you or someone you know is looking for what they have to offer. http://princesscarriage.com/links.html

Next Saturday wont be any less eventful (pardon the pun I couldn’t resist) with one crew headed to Scott, Ar. and the other to Searcy first, and later to Judsonia for a total of three in one day. Whew! I'm getting tired just thinking about it. lol

One of the nicest things

About my job is:

Bringing horses up close and personal for kids of all ages.

A great cause

Friday night found us at the Clinton Library surprised by the number of festivities going on there with the Walk for Life relay for cancer.  These fine ladies in the picture decided to take a ride on our carriage shortly after unloading. After the ride the gal on the left explains to us that she herself is a cancer survivor.  I started over to a booth to break a twenty for her change when she tells me to just donate it to the cause instead.

Wow! what a good idea! It feels really good to donate to such a great cause, so we decided to donate a quarter of our proceeds towards the cure off of each and every ride we gave!  We found a booth willing to take the money and the great gals running it even supplied a Gatorade to my too busy to stop and get something to drink carriage driver.  A great time with a great group to help out with a great cause. I hope we can be a part of their fund raisers again!

“ Feed your horse!” umm….I DO lady!

As anyone who follows us on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Princesss-Carriage-Arkansas-Finest-Horse-Drawn-Carriage-Service/110479649001672  already knows we were subjected to this verbal accusation last Saturday night in Downtown Little Rock by a woman who decided to yell out “feed your horse” from across the street in an effort to humiliate us.  In her defense there have been some sorry looking horses around town and had her outburst been towards one of their owners it would have been well founded.

However….such was not true in this case, and I would like to set the record straight for us here at “The Princess’s Carriage” with a link to an online picture album of every single horse on our farm and that was taken today 4/26/2011 (after heavy, heavy, rain and tornados) last night causing the mud you see in the photos. In case you are not well versed in horse living conditions I assure you mud is not harmful to horses and is a natural part of their normal living environment after storms and spring weather. The other thing you may notice is that my horses coats are not yet shining due to still shedding off the dead winter hair coat. Id be happy to provide older photos of their shining summer coats if anyone would like to see them. Id be happy to e-mail you some. Just send an inquiry to:  karen@princesscarriage.com

Our horses live with us here on our farm and are part of our family. I assure you there is absolutely no abuse or neglect going on. Nor a single hungry horse on the place. In the 41 years I have been a horse owner I have never once been accused of not providing my horses with the best of care. I come from a background of horse ownership that demands my horse’s look far better than the average. Showing horses, judging shows, saddle club president, and long standing horse and carriage service operator my horses have always been in the ribbons as well as the public’s eye.  They have to not just look good, but awesome. There is only one way to accomplish that and that is through exemplary care.

Unfortunately, not every single carriage service adheres to the same standards I do, and a very few outfits do give ammunition to radical groups like PETA that often assault the horse and carriage industry as one of their favorite targets. PETA’s attacks towards the industry as a whole are as unfair and unfounded as this woman’s verbal attack towards us  was.  So….here I offer the open invitation to view my horses online as they were today here on the farm, https://picasaweb.google.com/hrslady59/FeedYourHorse?authkey=Gv1sRgCOzg9Zbig9jZ4gE# Personally come see them anytime, feel free to ask questions, see our carriages, and educate yourself about our operation.

Lastly, If you have actually seen something that makes you concerned about who you take a carriage ride with, well…….make sure you ride with us! Really its just that simple.

It’s Here!

We now have the new carriage trailer home. Its 24 feet long with 16 in the back section for the carriage with solid sides and floor tie downs, 81 inches wide and 7'6" to accommodate  our tallest drafts, the front 8 feet is rubber matted and padded to either haul 2 drafts facing forward or one riding rear slant. There is a ramp on the back to load the carriage and to 4 foot doors in the sides ( one to load the horse in and out independent of the carriage, and one on the other side for rear access to the carriage section.) We ordered it custom so its perfect for what we do. A big thanks to the folks at Calico trailers in Quitman, Arkansas for doing such a nice job of making it for us!

Downtown Saturday Night

Saturday night found us in downtown Little Rock with Clyde our Clydesdale. The weather was perfect, the streets lively, and Clyde was told many times how pretty and handsome he is. You can tell he agrees wholeheartedly.

A Princess’s Birthday Party

Nothing is more delightful than the look on a child's face that has been surprised beyond their imagination. The parents of this little girls birthday party did a great job of making sure that the surprise was indeed surprising. Our Cinderella style princess carriage was stationed just outside the home while all the party goers were shuffled into the garage, told to face the garage door, and to cover their eyes with their hands. The door came up and dad yelled "OK everybody can look now" and the picture above is of the excited faces of the children. You can almost hear their excited squeals when looking at the Cinderella style princess carriage, complete with the sparkling white carriage horse sporting his ostrich feather head plume .

To say that they were happy about the horse drawn carriage rides would be an understatement. Groups of one adult and six children got to ride around the birthday girls Arkansas neighborhood, and wave at the many stunned neighbors that had come out onto their porches to see the unexpected site of a white horse pulling Cinderella's carriage with a load of little princesses aboard. This enchanted evening was as fun for us as it was for the kids I dare to admit.

POSTED BY KAREN GARRIOTT AT 1:07 PM

Horse’s wearing Nike?

Well...not really Nike, but the equine equivalent to tennis shoes. Having been in the horse industry all my life I pride myself on keeping up on new trends, and better ways of doing things that are always being discovered. Theses hoof boots are one of the innovative ideas that I am really impressed with.


While doing princess carriage rides we are usually working in a mixture of public streets, or private property's. Once in awhile when on the road you will come across debris that you would rather your horse not step on. Broken glass is one. Hence why our horses always wear these protective boots when working. Not only do they offer protection they also allow the horse to go barefoot(without metal horse shoes)when not working which is much healthier for their feet.
 
Barefoot is a recent trend that has gained popularity with horse owners from all over the world. Barefoot horses receive a special barefoot trim, and/or abrasive hoof trim method utilizing power sanding tools. Coupled with more frequent trims than shod horses, more horses feet these days are being kept healthy, and more natural without the nails required to hold on steel shoes.


Pavement can get hot here in Arkansas, and these boots also provide heat protection, a nice cushion when working on pavement (much like you wearing a good pair of tennis shoes), and are all but invisible in photos. Plus the huge benefit of being able to allow our our carriage horses hooves to be left naturally barefoot when not working. A win, win for everyone concerned. Especially the princess's carriage horses!

POSTED BY KAREN GARRIOTT AT 1:00 PM 3 COMMENTS

I wanna job like that!

Ahhh the life of one of the princess carriage horses. Since we only do weddings, proms, and other special events in Arkansas our horses only work a few times a month. The rest of the time the horses are in a private pasture totally free to play and relax. They have free access to unlimited hay, extra feed twice a day, warm blankets to wear when its cold, a doctor ( vet) and regular pedicures ( farrier) and even a dental plan when its needed.

Retirement here means going from working a few times a month to no work at all with full benefits. A day of work for them isn't exactly the old grind mill either. While we humans will be working all week to prepare for an event the horses part of the job rarely last more than 3 hours total, and on most jobs a good part of that is standing quietly waiting through photo shoots, ceremony's, dinners, or... that ever famous cue for "here comes the bride".Our horses only travel up to about three miles, and usually much less due to the slowness of a horse drawn vehicle.

Not to mention that during those quiet times alone while waiting for the signal to bring up the princess's carriage, our horses get showered with rubs, pets, and even kisses from our footman who generally is one of my teenage daughters. Our horses have become so spoiled that they will literally turn their heads as soon as we stop to look for their "person". Its quite comical, but also endearing that they have gotten so attached to the idea of constant love and affection at the work place. I wanna job like that!

A Great Day at the Princess’s Carriage farm

Today was nearly 60 degrees so here at “The Princess’s Carriage” we enjoyed a day outside horsing around. A good friend brought over three of her granddaughters ages six, five ( shown in the picture) and two. The girls had a blast riding horses, petting and brushing horses, and getting cart rides around the farm. Here Aaleigha gets a gentle nuzzle from Duchess after giving the giant horse a kiss on the nose.  

Some of the best kept secrets

Last night found us at Willow Wind event center in Searcy, Ar. for their open house. We dropped off a carriage to add to their landscaping which is Southwestern in style and absolutely breathtaking like the rest of the place. A horse drawn carriage fits right in! At their modest rental prices for events they are without a doubt the best kept secret in all of Arkansas. Talk about a great place for unique and picturesque event photos. www.willowwindarkansas.com

Today found us on the phone with Bobby at Arkansas’s Pro Dj’s. One more of Arkansas best kept secrets! http://www.facebook.com/arprodj Bobby provides entertainment, lighting, Master of Ceremony services, and of course Disc Jockey’s for all sorts of events and receptions with weddings being a specialty. He was contacting us to get the ins and outs of making sure his clients could be guaranteed a horse and carriage if they so wished to have one. Bobby is on top of things that’s for sure. His enthusiasm is contagious and his desire to please his customers more than apparent. We are really looking forward to the chance to get to work with him.

We are growing!

Actually I’m talking about our business “The Princess’s Carriage” and not the size of our family. All those children in the picture enjoyed our custom Cinderella carriage for a tiny Princess’s birthday party which is just one of the many things we do here at The Princess’s Carriage. Busy all last year with weddings, birthdays, proposals, anniversaries, ball room dances, quinceaneras, and even some charity work for the Make a Wish folks. The year was ended with our very busy Holiday season that left us exhausted and ready for the winter weather break we are currently enjoying.

Last year we literally could not keep up with the calls we were getting and since our availability is limited we unfortunately had to turn far too many folks away. So this year we are expanding!

We have a new booking agent on board to help out with scheduling, contacts, and keeping everything running smooth. We are excited! Even with two crews there will still be some limitations as to what we can provide, so if your heart is set on a certain carriage ( we have 4 different styles of custom carriages) make sure to book your event early!

C.O.N.A.

You probably are wondering what C.O.N.A. is, right? C.O.N.A. stands for Carriage Operators of North America http://www.cona.org/ This year C.O.N.A. is having their annual convention in Memphis, Tenn. This year is the first time it has been anywhere close enough for us to go. We are very excited! C.O.N.A. is not only a great organization the conventions are a great place to get ideas, learn about the industry, and keep up to date on the latest news. We will be joining C.O.N.A. and look forward to enjoying this great organization.

Snow, Snow, and more Snow

         +

This is Arkansas today. Looks more like Canada if you ask me. Can you believe we have nearly a foot of snow here at “The Princess’s Carriage” our home base and farm in Rose Bud, Arkansas? Drifts outside our back door are up to our knees! The horses love this weather they have been running around and playing like its just the best thing.  Us humans however don’t think its so great. The photos were snapped during their mid day feeding. All the rambunctious play ended abruptly when lunch arrived.

New Customers or Old Friends?

Had a super great time tonight with new customers that already feel more like old friends. Thats Trent in the picture with his wife in the pink coat ( it was her birthday and Trent had surprised her with the carriage ride) and his daughter is hugging Dukes head. These folks also have horses and were a total blast to have on board. I really think Ron and I enjoyed ourselves as much as they did.

Then we get home stop for the mail and I got the nicest thank you card from a job we did 2 weeks ago that read:

To The Princess's Carriage- Thank you so much for coming out and supporting A Royal Night Out! Your discount and carriage ride helped us raise $33,000 for the kids!! Its supporters like you that make it possible! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

The Community Connections Team

Does life get any better than this?

A Quinceanera in El-Dorado, the city of great riches.

Friday found us in El-Dorado, Ar. We were in the city of great riches to celebrate with this young lady her Quinceanera. Our carriage was followed through the main streets and around the courthouse square by the biggest white Cadillac Limousine. It contained her hilariously rowdy escorts. ( well sort of they we all hanging out the windows, and sitting on the limo's doors) What great fun we all had, and the young beauty even got her photo taken by the local newspaper!

A trip to El-Dorado

El-Dorado, spanish for "The Gilded One" A legendary city or historical region of the New World, often thought to be in South America, that was fabled for its great wealth of gold and precious jewels and eagerly sought by 16th- and 17th-century explorers, including Sir Walter Raleigh.

Well....in this case its in South Arkansas, but the experience certainly yielded a great wealth of good times! Being nearly a four hour drive south of us we decided to leave the morning before and overnight at the Bar J Ranch of El Dorado where both we and our horse could stay together fresh and ready for the next days carriage service for the young ladies Quinceanera in town. For those of unfamiliar with what a Quinceanera is you can read about it here, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quinceanera

At the Bar J we could literally open the door of our very nice hotel room in the horse barn and look right at Duke happily munching away at his hay. Just how cool is that!

The staff at the Bar J are dedicated to personal service and let me tell you they know how to do it. Everything from where to park, help with unhooking the trailer (even in a down pour), where to put our horse, to home cooked meals in the mess hall we had someone there within seconds to help. We started out being happy to just find a place to stay for a job the next day and ended up with an experience that leaves us hungry to return another day for a fabulous western style vacation. I really cant say enough good things about the Bar J experience but I can give you a pictorial glance of it from the pictures I took on our brief visit

http://picasaweb.google.com/hrslady59/BarJElDorado?authkey=Gv1sRgCPuAzNCgvaeh1AE#

You can learn more about all they offer on their website here: http://www.barjranch.biz/

This is a place that I would HIGHLY recommend to anyone who enjoys outdoor activities, horses, and the western lifestyle. Family oriented and kid friendly too!

Willow Wind of Searcy Arkansas

Here is a recent picture of our Cinderella carriage sitting in front of Willow Winds event center in Searcy Arkansas. This photo only captures about a fourth of the true size of this gorgeous adobe house. Inside boasts gorgeous southwestern design throughout and a full sized swimming pool as well. Already becoming a popular place for weddings and receptions ( the grounds are as gorgeous as the house) I cant imagine a more perfect place to celebrate a Quinceanera in Arkansas! The owners are about as nice, thoughtful, and accommodating as folks can get, and I highly recommend Willow Wind for your next special event!

Young and Old Beauty

This photo was taken in front of the 100+ year old Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in downtown Fort Smith Arkansas. The carriage is our Disney Princess. The dark purple roses and silver butterflies really looked good on the Disney. The bride was simply gorgeous and seeing her on the seat was the icing on the cake!

Another Homecoming Celebration

10/9/2010 found us in Little Rock at the JA Fair High School in Little Rock for their homecoming game. We did a photo shoot with the horse and carriage and all the queens court including the Princess's elected from each respective grade.

Let me tell you that is one school that has more than its share of gorgeous girls! The grand finale was when the extraordinarily beautiful young lady in the above picture was crowned 2010 Homecoming Queen and took a victory lap around the track in our Cinderella Carriage.

Homecoming Parade

One of the nice things about having a horse and carriage service is that once in awhile I get to use one of the carriages for my own family. This time it was to showcase my two teen daughters who were in the homecoming parade at school due to being nominated as sophomore and junior homecoming maids for their high school. Our horse was perfect, and we even got some great pictures!

Happy Birthday My Lady, Your Carriage Awaits!

Princess Morgan of Little Rock turned 4 years old this Saturday and boy did her family make it a birthday she will remember! Not only did all her friends and family show up in royal attire, her mother had invited Snow White, Belle, and Cinderella!

Each of the famous Princesses took turns riding with the little ones on our Cinderella carriage through the neighborhood and teaching the girls "elbow, elbow, wrist, wrist, touch your pearls and blow a kiss!" to the waving neighbors and passing cars. What a fun time!

Doing it right, and doing it wrong!

Yes there is a difference, a BIG difference and for those of you that don’t know what should, and should not be, I’m going to educate you here so you will know. While what you personally expect from a carriage service may vary, but what you should never accept is the same for everyone. Humane care issues are always first and foremost. I only hope that you would never ride on a carriage with a horse looking like the one in the picture to the left.Yet this is a real carriage horse that was up until recently available in a downtown area for rides. Below one of my white horses is pictured.

The obvious contrast of an unhealthy vs healthy condition between the two horses is really truly  staggering.

While it may not be hard to tell the difference between a dingy beat up looking carriage with a driver wearing street clothes with loose hair blowing in the wind compared to a neat, dressed to kill, top hat and formal wear attired driver sporting a spotless well kept carriage. This obvious difference while IMHO is important its not what really gets my hackles up about a carriage service that’s doing it all wrong.

What I would like to vent about here is the few surviving carriage operators/owners that seemingly give no more care or concern about their horses than they do their turn out, or tacky appearance. They are the ones that give the carriage business a bad name and a bad image.

Thankfully they are very few and far between, but when they are out there on the streets for all to see, and while they are certainly not doing the rest of us any favors, the most disturbing thing is the sad reality for their horses. I’m going to give you some things to think about, and watch for so hopefully if you see such an outfit you will avoid them at all costs and thereby take away their incentive to do more bad business as usual.

Here are the three worst IMO, and three things that you should never ever see!

#1) An underfed skinny carriage horse – there is no, and I mean NO excuse for a horses ribs or spine to be poking out! If you can see and easily count them all like the bay horse in the picture above left the horse is far too thin, and this is not only unhealthy for the horse, it is not acceptable in any way! The draft horses you most commonly see used in carriage services are “cold blooded” and of the type that takes less feed that most horses do to maintain weight due to their slower metabolism and laid back attitudes. If anything a responsible owner has to make sure they don’t get too fat!

#2) A lame carriage horse - while most people find it impossible to see at the walk, the trot is a dead giveaway for seeing a lame horse even for a non-horse person. If the horses head noticeably bobs rhythmically up, then down, with each trot step then the horse is lame and in pain. There are zero excuses to use a lame and in pain carriage horse, its just plain cruel.

#3) An unattended carriage horse – No… its not “ok” to walk away from a horse harnessed to a carriage for any reason. It is not acceptable to clip a horse to something handy so you can walk into a building, or jump in a truck to warm up, or even to use the bathroom. Never for any reason should a horse be left without a handler, not even for a minute. Horses are extraordinarily strong and being flight animals when startled are very dangerous if not under a persons control. Even the very best “steady Eddy” types can get bit by a stinging insect, become frightened if a bridle is rubbed off, or startle from something that was totally unforseen and completely unexpected. Any competent horse owner well knows this, and knows to never say never when it comes to a horse possibly reacting in a bad way to unexpected things. We that “do it right” know its always better to be safe than sorry. A carriage operator is not only responsible for himself and his horse, they are also responsible for the safety of the public around them. If a carriage driver needs a break for lunch, dinner, the bathroom, or to warm up, etc. There should be a ground person to take over staying right there with the horse during their time away.

Well….. off my soapbox, there are lot’s of things I see that I don’t agree with but these are the three major ones I think we can all indisputably agree on.

First its this, then its that!

Kiss the Bride Expo- bridal show in Little Rock, Sunday March 14th from 12 to 5 pm.

I’m sure you know the feeling, first its one thing, then another, and the next thing you know your head is spinning off and you don’t know where to find it.

The month of March has found us busier than busy bees. While only 6 days into it, its already a whirlwind of calls for carriage service, website problems that had to be fixed, the delivery of a horse we sold to out of state, as well as getting ready for the above show we will be attending in Little Rock 45 minutes north of us where we will be bringing 3 carriages for display.  Just the three trips to get them there is taking some major planning. 

My daughters Shelby 15, and Cody 16 will be in the fashion show modeling bridal gowns on the runway. The girls are really excited about this opportunity. Of course that leaves even more planning on how to get them where they need to be while still getting the carriage booth set up.

What else can we find to do these days? Exasperated in Arkansas!