Circle your wagons and join us for conversations with the pros of professional carriage driving. Hear directly from expert drivers about the care, keeping, and lifestyle of carriage horses, as well as the unique world of carriage driving as a profession. Our Legislative/Regulatory Update discusses the High Health High Performance framework and what it means for international competition. Listen in...

HORSES IN THE MORNING Episode 3791 –Show Notes and Links:

• Your Hosts: Julie Broadway (President) and Emily Stearns (Health, Welfare, and Regulatory Affairs Liaison) of the American Horse Council
• Guest: Tommy Doyle of Palmetto Carriage Works
• Guest: Ben Speight of Royal Carriages
• Sponsors: Zoetis and Pyranha
• Subscribe to the American Horse Council Podcast - Search American Horse Council Podcast on your podcast player.
• Follow Horse Radio Network on Facebook or follow Horses In The Morning on Facebook
• Follow the American Horse Council on Facebook, Instagram and X (formerly Twitter)

Time Stamps:

00:46 - The Enchantment of Carriage Rides

09:38 - The Joys and Challenges of Working with Horses

20:14 - The Importance of Animal Welfare in Carriage Operations

27:52 - Hiring and Training Carriage Drivers

35:03 - Humorous Encounters in Carriage Tours

39:50 - Legislative and Regulatory Updates on Biosecurity

You are listening to the Horse Radio Network, part of the Equine Network family.

What a beautiful day for horses in the morning.

You are listening to the number one horse podcast in the world.

Here is your entertaining look at the.

Horse world and the people in it.

Well, hello everyone and I'm so delighted to welcome Emily back from maternity leave.

Hi all.

Happy to be back.

We are so glad you are back.

You were definitely missed.

And what a perfect day to jump back in because we're talking about something really magical.

Horse drawn carriage rides.

And they feel like stepping into a living storybook.

There's just something timeless and enchanting about what it makes that experience.

Stay with you.

It's time to hear from the American Horse Council in this monthly episode episode of Horses in the Morning.

And you know, since it's coming up on spooky season, I think we should make sure we include hayrides in this conversation.

I'm having some.

I have some really special memories of picking pumpkins and going for that horse drawn hay ride down at the local farm.

Yes.

And there are just so many special things about horse drawn carriages.

First off, there's that romantic nostalgia kind of thing where you're bundled up with somebody special or you're just soaking in the little clip clop of the hooves.

But it's all that old world charm that you just can't get enough of and you really can't get when you're just sitting in traffic.

Yes, definitely.

And you know, compared to sitting in traffic, there's also this scenic kind of serenity.

You're not rushing to get anywhere.

You're just gliding through, you know, the twinkling city lights or the historic streets or you know, down that kind of peaceful country lane or in my, you know, case, up in the Great White north, that winter sleigh ride that's just magical.

Call.

Oh, I can go on and on because I had the most fantastic sleigh ride when I lived in Vermont.

It was outstanding.

But I've done a lot of carriage rides in a lot of different cities.

So it's one of the few times when I think you're totally present in the moment when you're in a carriage ride.

And then of course there's that fairy tale sort of vibe to it.

It's not hard to feel sort of like royalty or like you've stepped into some kind of classic movie.

The carriage, the horse, the general rhythm.

It's all pretty dreamy.

Yes.

And you know, there's kind of that like seasonal magic, you know, around the Holidays with all the festive decorations and the cozy blankets and the sparkling lights just kind of takes the whole experience up a notch.

Absolutely.

And finally, there's that important part that I enjoy, which is the connection to history.

In places like Charleston or Gettysburgs, those rides aren't just beautiful.

They bring history to life in such a personal way.

It's no wonder people say carriage rides are unforgettable.

They're romantic, they're serene, they're magical, they're historical all rolled into one.

And it's not just transportation.

It's a mood, it's a memory.

It's a moment suspended in time.

So we are so excited today to have Tommy Doyle of Palmetto Carriages in Charleston, South Carolina, and Ben Spickett of Royal Carriages in New Orleans, Louisiana.

The episode today is brought to us by one of our fantastic sponsors, which is Zoetis.

Have you scheduled your horses annual vaccinations?

It's that time of year.

Ask your veterinarian, core EQ innovator or flu vac innovator, EHV4 and 1.

When paired together, these two vaccines help provide comprehensive coverage against all five core equine diseases and trusted respiratory disease protection.

Visit zoetis equine.com or follow oetisequine on Instagram and Facebook for horse healthcare tips and resources.

Today, I am very happy to introduce Tommy Doyle of Palmetto Carriages in Charleston, South Carolina, and Ben Speight of Royal Carriages in New Orleans, Louisiana.

So welcome, gentlemen.

Thank you for joining us today.

Glad to be here.

Thank you so much for the invitation.

Well, we're so happy to have you both.

You both have a long history in the carriage business, so tell us a little about that.

I know you guys are both real storytellers, so keep it brief.

So, Tommy, how long have you been doing this and how did you get into it?

You know, I was born into it.

I'm a second generation operator.

Graduated in 70.

I came along soon thereafter.

He kind of bummed down, bummed around, looking for a job.

Sold shoes at Sears, bartended.

All of a sudden saw an ad for a carriage driver in downtown Charleston and went to apply for the job.

Got the job.

My grandmother was supposed to babysit.

She flaked out.

And so he brought me to work with him and told the boss it was a twofer and kind of the rest is history from there.

You know, I worked here Was on the front seat of the carriage with him as a kid through middle school, worked here through high school.

And I'm going to start 35 years full time in January.

So it's the only, only job I've ever had.

I still work with my took over the operations from him I guess a little over 20 years ago.

And I work now with both of my sisters.

He still occasionally comes around and a bunch of other employees.

But I was born into a very unconventional.

I grew up in a neighborhood just outside of Charleston and I enjoyed the animal aspect of it.

And about 20 years ago or so I moved to a little bit more rural part of Charleston County.

It was able to start having animals of my own and that was that.

That's the part of the business that I, that I find probably the most gratifying.

The short answer, Julie, is I was born into it.

I had no choice.

That's a fantastic story.

And one quick note there.

I think you said Your birthday is November 20th.

That's my birthday too.

Is it really offline about that?

So Ben, tell us your story.

How did you get started in all this?

I have a little bit different route.

I'm also from South Carolina, grew up in a little town called Baitsburg, Leesville.

You know, grew up on a little farm on a dirt road and studied animal science at Clemson.

I had ridden horses my whole life but had not really done anything at Clemson.

I met a trainer there and started riding horses and helping him train as an assistant And I trained cow horses, reigning cow horses and rope horses for the most part along with, with some, some pleasure horses and some ranch stuff and then you know, wanted to go to vet school, it didn't work out and was traveling on a job kind of in between things because when you, when you go to pre vet and then you don't get a job there and you don't go back to a family farm, it's like what do you do?

And I was looking for my place and you know, went to a bunch of different train ended up over in France for a little while.

But, but after I got back and, and decided I, I wasn't going to train horses full time.

I was in sales and, and did it on the side and, and accidentally ended up just traveling through New Orleans.

Met my, my now wife, ended up in New Orleans and it always had the ability to do something else along, you know, do horses along with other things.

And after about a year of being in management in the city, I was introduced to a lady at Royal Carriages, you know, My dad always kind of joked when I moved down here, he's like, I know it's a lot of.

A lot of asphalt, but you love to tell stories and.

And you're good with an animal.

So if you were to decide to do something with carriages, you might could do that.

And that's how I ended up taking a job with Royal as a driver.

Now, again, I mean, I have a background in.

In training horses at this point in horsemanship, and also had my own driving horses privately growing up.

Started about 16, but had never done anything on a professional level with driving horses and drove for them for a year and then took over as director, which would make it made sense for my role, because in Barnes, I had been in that management role.

I'd been the one that made sure that our feed programs were what they were supposed to and our training protocols were where they were supposed to be.

So it made sense.

Sense for me to go from a driver to director, and then after that, ended up becoming part of Carriage Operators in North America.

So I'm eight years there in June and then seven years as director in August.

But my dad also went to the Citadel, so that's one thing that Tommy and I.

Hey, so I'll tell you a quick side story, Ben.

My first serious boyfriend in, I'm going to say, in college was from Batesburg, South Carolina, and he went to Clemson.

And I'm not going to hold that against you, but bad, bad combination for me there.

Okay, Emily, you're.

I'm sure I knew.

I'm sure I know who that person is because my town is about 4,500 people, you know, pretty much everybody.

I'm.

I'm feeling very outnumbered as the only Yankee on the call.

Now, we all talk about kind of the joyful aspects of being with horses, but, you know, I have this really kind of nostalgic vision of going down a beautiful stroll in a carriage.

And, you know, I've always wanted to go to someplace like Magnak island, but I know as a horse person that this carriage you're having is not this romantic career.

There's the early hours and the feeding and the mucking and the grooming and preparing the carriages and repairing the tack, and then the financials and the ticket sales and the customers, and it goes on and on and on.

So we know there's all these hard parts to it.

But I'll start with you, Ben.

What's kind of the most joyful part of your job, what really gets you up in the morning, going for it.

I still train full time, so I, I train drivers full time as well as mules full time.

And that's what we use in New Orleans is we use mules.

And so, and then after that I train horses, I train riding horses when I get off work.

So, so I, my day is immersed in training.

If I wasn't this, I'd be a coach somewhere.

I've always been that person.

I like to watch that elevation, I like to set goals.

You know, when it's going to a show, it's a little different.

You, you have to go and set that goal.

It's a little different in a commercial sense, but you know, setting goals as far as where I want an animal to be and everybody has different training protocols.

Tommy gets a lot more stuff that's this, that he doesn't really have to work with a whole lot.

It's already ready to go.

I get a lot more that I have to do more hands on with.

So it's a lot more time consuming and of course that we're just all set up differently.

So yeah, me being able to watch a mule that I got in, for instance, right now when I got in from Mississippi, guy did some wagon trains and stuff on her, but watching her go from the first couple of days, not really being sure of me.

And now we kind of got this little relationship going and eventually I will introduce her to one of our more advanced drivers and allow her to work with them after I have done some work on the street with her because usually I work with her privately and then I give tours and then we go from there.

So that elevation, and I hate to say this, but I enjoy it more with the animal than I do with the human.

We have these lovely words that can literally telepath what I'm thinking through my mouth to your ears and you know what I, I'm thinking.

And horses and mules don't have that.

So it's a time when I really, I'm a very, can be anxious, you know, sometimes stand up, walk around when I'm on the phone, a lot of times.

But when I'm with my animal, I, I, it's, I have to be settled.

But yeah, watching them move along, it's just like watching kids, you know, grow up and learn and, and pass through.

So, so yeah, that part of my job is what I enjoy the most is watching that advancement.

No, I love that and I think that speaks to a lot of Horse people out there.

And I would say, and I say, you know horses, Julie, I bet we could get him and Dr. McLean talking mules for oh yeah, hours.

We won't be able to stop you guys.

So Tommy, go ahead, tell us what keeps you in it.

You do for one.

I don't know how to do anything else.

And that's probably what keeps me in it mostly.

But not mostly.

I'm joking now.

You know, I genuinely love the business.

You know, I'm fortunate.

I get up, I'm super lucky.

I get to come someplace that I want to come every day.

And it's, you know, I enjoy the animals, I enjoy the people, you know.

Emily, you were talking about the nostalgia going down the street and they are in a carriage or Julie, you mentioned going to Cobblestone Street.

I had a fantastic experience where we were doing a photo shoot of the sun came up.

So I left our barn around five in the morning.

And it was a horse.

It was, this horse is actually his last trip.

And it was one of those moments.

The streets of Charleston were deserted, the gas lamps cruising down the street and it was as somebody who's been on a, you know, been part of this my whole life, that was arguably one of the more moving moments as going down the streets to Charleston harbor with Fort Sumter in the background to set up for, you know, just a fantastic picture.

And you know, the connection with that horse in particular, he was one that I bought as a two year old and he was he last turn there was at 25 that he, you know, worked with me.

Oh, that's fantastic.

Well, you know, it's.

The business for me is super personal.

The connection with my family, with the animals.

You know, one of the fond memories I have is the thousands and thousands and thousands of miles laid across the front seat of a pickup while my dad was looking for horses or going here or going there and you know, and I have similar experiences with my kids.

You know, I love the connection of, you know, the way my business, my business is set up.

Every customer comes into the barn and just to get on the carriage and I have that luxury just from where the, the location of my barn is in the middle of downtown, in the middle of everything.

So every customer that rides one of my carriages, the experience starts in the barn.

The interaction that I can have with the customers, with the kids to tell them about the animals, to let them see the animals is second and that so much so that I do a free tour every Saturday morning.

And it's a behind the scenes Tour where we take people in, we show them the animals, show them what they do, and give them a curry comb to brush the animals out into an interactive experience with the animals.

Now, you know, I get, I get tremendous joy and like I said, that was a moving experience with Milhouse for the photo shoot.

But I love the.

Part of the business I love the most is to facilitate somebody being able to, to, to be with a horse, to see a horse, to touch a horse.

And you know, my whole model again is built around that interaction and that's that, you know, what keeps me coming back is, is that interaction.

Oh, that's fantastic.

Well, you've set up for the next question for sure.

So you're talking about being in the barn and I've been in the barns at several carriage operations and I'm always amazed at the lengths that you guys go to, to take care of your horses.

And I know that there are people out there that think some of the horses are overworked or they lead a, a sad existence, but these are your partners, just as you described.

Tommy, I know how much you guys love these horses and how much they mean to you.

I see how you care for them.

So tell folks a little bit about the rules and the regulations and all the things that you do to ensure their well being.

And before somebody goes on social media and they take me to task about this, I fully admit that everyone doesn't see the sector of the industry the same way that I might.

And I replaced.

Appreciate that and I respect that.

Yet I want you to hear these guys out.

So I think the question I have is, Tommy, talk a minute about all the links you go to and what are some of the misconceptions that people have and how do you respond to people who express frustration or concerns and what have you seen change over the years?

Just give me that full picture there.

Yeah, you know, it's, it has changed a lot over the years.

You know, is, is a kid or when I was younger when I would drive carriage, you know, used to get the, we call them, you know, a drive by active activists that would scream at us when we would go by.

But it's becoming more and more prevalent, you know, and I think with, you know, obviously the Internet and all the social media sites, you know, I just try to take, I stay focused on what I do.

You know, there's.

If people that want to have a rational conversation or have genuine concern, we will.

You know, my staff is educated.

I've got a staff at 22 Barn Hands and we've got anywhere from three to five that are on every shift that know my business inside and out.

I'm here six days a week to help educate people as well.

And you know, people that have already decided that what I do is bad or they, they just completely disagree with it and don't think I should be in business, I can't really do much with those.

But the people that are genuinely concerned and generally want to learn, I think we've sort of set it up pretty good.

You know, I told, I told you about the business model that I have.

It's really one of transparency.

And it came about because of people's concern.

You know, you're worried about the horses.

Where do they live?

What do you take care?

How do you take care of them?

Well, guess what?

Come and see.

It's open.

And other than being that transparent, I'm not sure what else we can do.

You know, we do little things.

When you walk into the barn, We've got the 20 most asked questions concerned about this horse.

We have a staff member at the front door to talk to customers that come in and try to leave it open and transparent.

Transparent.

You know, Charleston's super unique.

We, we have arguably probably the most comprehensive animal welfare ordinance anywhere in the country.

Charleston has a city staffer that is an equine manager.

And this person's one job is to interact with carriage operators in our barn, checking on animals and committed to their welfare.

There's no other city to my knowledge.

And she's here all the time.

She's in and out of our facility daily.

Charleston, we're one of the few cities in the country as hot as it gets.

Here we take the animal's body temperature out for every single tour.

You know, a lot of people, they don't realize, you know, New York City, they leave the barn and they're gone for nine hours.

In Charleston here, my barn's downtown.

Our characters do one hour, they come back to the barn and they get a 15 to 30 minute rest between tours where they're under Mr.

Fans and they have 15 minutes of access to water should they want it.

Our animals see a vet three times a year.

They get a health certificate twice from my vet.

The city has a third party vet that comes in and inspects the animals.

On top of that, you know, as far as, you know what people say about a snow, you work them until they pass out.

You know, they're limited to their work day.

My stock last year averaged five hours a day.

They had 16 weeks off.

A lot of People don't think that they get out of downtown where I live, they live with me.

We have a 30 acre farm.

We've got trucks that run back and forth daily.

We've got a special shoe that we're required to use here in the city, help with cushioning, walking on the concrete all of the time.

You know, those are just a few things.

But the short answer is there's a lot of people that have already made their mind up and I don't waste my time with those.

But the ones that are genuinely interested, you know, we're welcome.

And I've got nothing to, nothing to hide.

And very transparent.

Tommy, tell me, how many horses total do you have?

What breeds do you have, average age?

What's some demographics about your.

Yeah, so you know, I was a mule man like Ben, but we sort of phased out of those about seven or eight years ago.

But we feed about 35 right now.

And I've got every mix and model, you know, the work that we ask them to do specifically here and I would assume in New Orleans as well.

Charleston's very flat and so there's no hills and so the hardest part of the job for the animal is to start and stop the carriage.

That's three times their body weight is what the veterinarians are okay with them pulling here again on flat ground, ball bearing wheels.

So.

And that's set by the city, that weight?

Yeah, it was set, it was, it was set by the city several years ago and it was a group that did include carriage operators.

But the ultimate decision was made by veterinarians.

That was an accepted weight and we've been very successful at that, Tremendously successful.

But as far as the breed, I'm not super particular because the work is not that difficult.

We've had the most luck with Belgians.

We do have a couple of.

Perchance we've had some pain horses.

Again, I'm not super particular about the breed as much is, you know, are they acclimated to work in the city?

The one breed that I do stay away from are the Clydesdales.

They're.

I just don't think their bodies and is as harriers they are or suited to work in this climate.

But other than how warm it is.

Yeah, yeah, correct.

But other than that I'm not, I'm really not super picky.

And as far as age, I really don't like much less than 10 years old.

You know, I Need something that's sort of been there, done that.

And you know, I talked about Milhouse who was 25 again, you know, we started him at, I guess I bought him at 2, we started him around 3.

And a good worm and program, a good feed program, a good shoeing program and you know, they're the Easter bunny, they'll go forever and ever.

And yeah, so that, that's pretty much that, that pretty much the, the animal into things right there.

Interesting, interesting.

Okay Ben, tell us a little bit about what you do in your part of the country.

I'll start by saying that Charleston does have the premier.

Like when you look at how they do things, not take away from Palmetta, not to take away from them, but like as a city in general, they do a good job and are on the forefront of what is current industry standard.

So you know, I'll say that first we, we use mules and not horses.

Generally our mules, the weight for the city is lower than I believe it should be.

It's about a thousand pounds.

Well now we use two different size carriages and do not carry as many passengers as they do in Charleston.

So it's a little different.

They had some fly by night people coming to the city in the late 70s I think pulling some horses off of the track because we have a racetrack here.

They had a couple horses die on the streets.

Now again these were not reputable people but back then there was not as stringent of regulation and as you know, there weren't people really tracking that stuff.

But then when they had some complaints due to some deaths, they went to shut the industry down.

And our I guess would have been our second generation owners helped to fight that fight.

And, and basically what our ordinance then would have been that you had to be used mules except for certain a year.

You know we've changed some things over the years but during the, you know, if they take an hour tour we generally give them a 30 minute break.

Now in the cooler times a year they have to have at least a 15 minute break.

And that depends on the animal as a per animal basis.

You know, when the temperature gets too hot we go by ambient air temperature as well as the heat index.

The Ground Transportation Bureau in this particular wording being in the animal drawn portion of the ground transportation bureau's ordinance for the city.

And basically they changed that to add a 105 heat index to it.

As an equ.

My professional that's dealt with animals and kind of seen the, the, the links or you know, the depths in which we can travel with some of these animals and how far they can go and how, you know, how tough they are.

That 95 and 105 I feel like has been been pretty healthy for us.

I mean obviously we have any animal in distress, we would pull them off the street immediately.

But the 105, a lot of times here it'll be 89 and 105.

That's the way we do it.

Generally give them 60 days off at a time and cycle them in and out.

We have, we.

And again our program is a little bit different than, than palmettos with retirees and everything.

We have probably about 55 mules total.

So you know that that's everybody total.

And we have 33 stalls in the city.

So we cycle in and out as we need to.

But yeah, so ordinance in the city is you can't use, you know, you can't use horses basically during the summer months except for after a certain like I think it's 5 or 6pm so we just went to mules completely.

You know, during the winter months they have to have at least a 15 minute break in between rides.

During the summer months they have 30 in between every ride.

They all go back to the square.

And when they're brought back to the square, if they are showing having any issues or seem to be hot, we will then put them underwater and get them cold.

When we have, we have misters at the front and back of our square for us to do that with.

It kind of ties together, but at the end of the day, yeah, it's different here.

The ordinance states that you have to use mules.

With a mule, if he decides he's got too much weight on him or it's too hot or whatever, generally they'll stop.

Something I never saw people do with horses that I've seen people do with mules is take a hot mule and put him in a stall with feet in it.

You would never put a hot horse in a stall with feed in it because you'd be afraid to go over there and call it because that feed, that concentrate is going to go into his belly.

He's already hot.

Then it's going to make his gut heat up with that corn and, and that, you know, whatever you have in there, rolled oats, molasses, depending on what type of feed you use.

So it's like mules are just a lot more self regulating.

But yeah, they are literally by ordinance, mules are to be used in the city of New Orleans for commercial work.

Tommy, talk about, you know, we talked about the welfare questions, talk about the drivers and how you, what are the requirements for hiring drivers or, or grooms or other staff that help you around.

That'S hiring is challenging.

You know, it's no different in my business than, than probably most, you know, I've got extremely diverse group.

You know, when it comes to my drivers.

I've got three lawyers that got tired of it that drive carriage for me.

Got a college professor that works at one barn shift a week and goes and visits Ben on her off time to drive mules down there in New Orleans.

Retired financier that had a show on CNN for a long time that lives in Charleston, a master gardener guy that's a doctor as his doctor, a doctorate for the oboe.

And I guess that didn't pan out so well.

So, so he got into horses.

Know I've got a teen mentor program that I do over the summertime where I have three teens that work in the barn, give them access to paycheck and messing with the animals.

But you know, I, I've, I've done it long enough to know that it's different personalities.

People come to it for a lot of different reasons.

Some want history, some want to be able to work with animals every day.

Some need a paycheck, some don't need a paycheck.

It's, it's all makes and models.

So I, I, I'm not going to sit here and tell you exactly, I know exactly what it is.

But we've got a six to eight week training program that starts off classroom that goes over to you know, basic horse care, to driving, to driving a carriage with no customers, to eventually driving for another driver, to eventually going solo, like I said, usually takes six to eight weeks, some a little longer, some a little less.

In Charleston they have a tour guide exam that I require.

It's not required by the city, but they require that within a year of hire that all of my tour guides become city certified tour guides.

So you know, Ben touched on it a little bit.

I'm not an animal trainer, I'm an animal tuner.

You know, we get animals that the ones That I get are we can harness.

They've been driven on the road and we run them through about a, anywhere from an 80 to 150 hour course.

The animals now here in Charleston and, and see if they're, if it's a good fit for them.

Again, it's not a hard job, but they got to have a noggin to, to work in the city.

And so you take that animal and then you take the personalities that want to try to drive, carrying, to try to mesh it together.

I've got one lead trainer and then I've got two or three guys that, that work with the, the drivers and the other staff individually.

But you know, it's a wide array.

You know, the youngest that I had, the youngest carriage driver that's out there soloing today for me is 19 and the oldest just turned 75.

And then we've got every make and model in between.

So it's, it's, it.

The carriage driving is a unique lifestyle.

Emily, I think you touched on hard work, you know, the glamour and the easy part is when you, you go out the barn and you got your customers and you're driving.

But all the hard work that went to get it to that point is, is not appealing to everybody.

Yeah, yeah, I think we can all feel that in, in all aspects of the industry.

Yeah.

Ben, what about you?

Are there specific requirements you have for your drivers or your staff?

Again, a little bit different than, than Tommy in New Orleans.

I mean in, in, in Charleston.

So since, since I've taken over, I've developed a training program that's a little different.

They used to get not a whole lot of time.

It's actually kind of crazy.

But we've changed that.

Originally I allowed drivers to ride with like new drivers to ride with other drivers and I would pay a driver trainee type deal.

Deal.

I found that you got too many people learning bad habits and so we had to kind of change some things up.

So every person that goes through rural carriages goes through me first.

So I interview and, and, and it's like Tommy said, you know, you think you and people ask this question all the time.

You think you get a lot of equine people, but we're in a city, most equine people live on dirt.

I kind of joke and I say this often.

You know, I grew up on a dirt road.

I have lived on asphalt as well as on grass.

And so when you look at it, a lot of equine people don't want to live in the city.

I got here as I Joke all the time by accident.

I. I would have laughed at you 15 years ago if you'd have told me I would have ended up training mules in New Orleans.

I would have laughed.

Nobody could come up with anything crazier than that.

So, yeah, you know, going through.

With.

Them, they have to be licensed as a tour guide to go on the street.

Like, there has to be a licensed tour guide in the carriage for them to be able to operate.

We also do a carriage permit.

And the way that works is basically think of a cdl, like federal background check, drug screen, all that stuff.

So they have to pass those things to, you know, I.

Through the city of New Orleans, basically to prove that they're not going to be a liability to the city of New Orleans.

The tour guide test is something that we just, like Tommy, helped develop.

It's kind of funny, we.

Some of the higher ups complain now, but they're the ones that put it in place just because it is a lot to get them through.

You know, obviously anytime you have to go through a city government, it takes a long time with some things.

And permitting, you know, used to be in person, now we do everything over the, you know, the Internet.

It's all done, you know, through scanning documents over.

They literally only go into city hall to take their test.

This is one thing I will say we do really well.

We have an online training program.

So basically you go in and do modules.

It teaches you everything from how to pass the test to all the different stories to routes that you know, how to dress your mule and questions about that.

So.

So I'm able to put them through that module.

And of course, at any point during their working time here, they can use that system, but they go through that rural university and then they go through me.

And same thing with Tommy.

You know, they're.

They start off with, you know, how to pull a mule out of the stall, how to brush, you know, how to do all these things, understanding warning signs.

If they go to walk into their stall and their mules laying down and he hadn't eaten any feed, you know, come get in touch with somebody immediately.

Those little things, you know, what does colic look like?

What is, you know, what.

What does severity, dehydration look like?

So, you know, go through those things and then, you know, explaining how all the gear works, why we do things the way we do, and.

And then going through the process as far as teaching them how to.

Because with us, Tommy, they have a group.

I'm pretty sure this is correct.

Tommy has barn Staff that actually puts everything together with our people.

They pull their mule out, they put their, you know, clean their mule, put their gear on and hitch to a carriage with help, of course.

But as far as getting their mule out and taking care of everything, they do all that on their own.

This has been a great conversation and we're gonna get a little short on time.

So I'm gonna do two things.

I'm gonna tell the listeners that there are a lot of economic benefits for a carriage operation and a community.

Charleston, New Orleans, whatever city you're in, and you're running a carriage operation, you're generating hospitality dollars, you're generating all kinds of income, you're providing jobs, lots of pluses there, there.

If you want to learn more about that, contact me at the American Horse Council and I can tell you more all about that.

But to wrap up this episode, the question that Emily and I have always wanted to know is what's one of the strangest or the funniest things that have happened on a tour?

Tommy, and I'm certain you've got lots of funny stories, but just pick one.

Yeah, I'll tell you what, I'm going to tell you two great things.

Number one, we're not great things.

Number one was terrible.

I did a marriage proposal and the gal didn't say yes.

And let me tell you what, he was not too happy.

And yeah, it was a quiet 30 minute ride.

Oh, God.

So that was no fun.

But I'll tell you, in all the years I've done it, I had probably one of the best experiences last April.

I was, it was a crappy day here in Charleston and April's a big month for us.

I mean, that's, that's when a rake and hey, with rain and, and my sister and I were standing at the front of the barn kind of just looking.

Two little kids come running in the barn, just like it happens all the time.

They want to come see the animals.

So I stopped the kids and get ready to take the show.

Then in behind walks their father, who's Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister of England, showed up in my barn, bring his kids to take a look at the horses, and then ended up taking a carriage.

So that was one of the, the coolest things that would happen.

I, I've given Jim, Jim Carrey, Kevin Costner a tour, both of them.

So that was super cool.

But it's been life to me.

That's fantastic.

Okay, Ben, what's one of the funniest ones you've had?

I think that I Think probably the funniest one that I've had.

So I had a mule out during the super bowl that I was just doing a little bit of remediation on, just working on some things.

But.

But he had gotten.

He gotten pretty solid.

And you know, the super bowl in New Orleans, there's people filming and doing all sorts of stuff.

Well, I go to turn on to Decatur, which is the.

The main drag that goes in front of the.

The cathedral on the riverside and lo and behold, quarterback for the New York Giants.

He was a quarterback for the Saints at one point and.

And was here for several years.

I guess this past year would have been with Cleveland maybe.

But anyway, now he's with the Giants.

He was down here after the season was over.

He was done with his season and a free agent and was doing all sorts of things for the Super Bowl.

And Jameis Winston.

I went to Clemson, he's a Florida State guy.

Was not a fan.

But when I came to New Orleans, I fell in love with the Saints.

You kind of have to.

A little bit.

We don't have that on the East Coast.

We like colleges because there's no big.

At least where I was, there wasn't any big NFL teams.

So anyway, I'd go to turn the cor corner and he's there doing a little newscast with a pedicab, you know, like a bike taxi.

And I goaded him.

I was just like, hey, what are you doing over there?

And he's like, oh, no.

And I said, I bet you can't beat me in a race.

He goes to take off, he's.

I can't let his horse beat me.

Now they're.

They're filming him.

I ended up making the highlight reel the.

Of the NFL week.

He comes up.

Now, they don't.

They don't show you the whole part, but he's racing me and he loses control of the pedicab and runs into the side of the carriage.

I almost killed James Winston.

Thank God the mule had.

The mule had been through my program and that it worked.

And when he ran into that carriage, that mule stand like a statue until Jameis got his bicycle out from under us.

But no, that was.

It was pretty funny to get.

I got.

I got made some NFL super bowl highlight reels with that one.

And just watching him like a kid pedal that bike.

Try to keep up with me.

It was hilarious.

Oh, that's great.

Okay, guys.

Well, we so appreciate your time today, Emily and I feel like we could probably do a whole second episode.

Episode just to talk to you guys about some other things we'd love to we'd love to share with folks but thank you so much for coming today.

And folks, you will find their contact information in the show notes when the episode comes out and we encourage you to check them out.

And if you have questions about where all there are carriages and carriage operations across the country, look out carriage operations of North America or Kona and you can find lots and lots of locations where you can go take a carriage ride in all kinds of of different beautiful settings.

So thanks guys.

Thank you so much.

Okay, so our legislative and regulatory update is brought to us today by Piranha One brand with several effective insect control solutions, a longtime favorite.

You can keep your home, your horse, your yard, your barn and your pets free from pest with piranhas, sprays and misting systems.

And now you can keep your home, barn, kennels, livestock areas and more or free from stink with their line of odor management products.

So Piranha, try it.

It works.

Today's ledge and Regulatory update.

We're zooming in and zooming out for a global topic on biosecurity.

You've probably heard the phrase high health, high performance floating around in the equestrian circles, but if you're not from the equestrian community, what does that actually mean and who does it apply to?

Emily yeah, it sounds kind of like a tagline, right?

But it's actually a really important concept in the horse world.

And high health, high performance or HHP for short, is a risk based approach to managing the international movement of competition horses horses.

So basically it's about making sure that when what we call elite horses, so like FEI level horses or really high level racehorses travel across international borders for competitions that they don't bring any unwanted hitchhikers or infectious diseases along for the ride.

Yeah, exactly.

And this isn't just some random idea.

It's endorsed by the World Organization for Animal Health, or woa.

And the whole thing is built around strict biosecurity, health monitoring and disease control measures.

And we think of it as this kind of world class plan that helps keep horses safe while still allowing them to globe trot to all these big events.

And most importantly, the American Horse Council has been pushing for, we'll say decades to get the USDA to frame US regulations more in line with the high health, high performance.

And there are some really Clear benefits to doing that.

Right.

So let's break that down a minute.

First.

We're getting enhanced biosecurity.

Horses would go through rigorous health monitoring and safety checks, which lowers the risk of spreading diseases.

Horses already go through standard import health inspections.

But high health, high performance health inspections really up the ante a bit and standardizes them across countries.

So everyone is following the same exact protocols and we're all on the same path page.

Yeah.

And.

And that's really the key point, getting everybody on the same page.

Right.

So the US Is kind of doing its own little thing.

It's in line, but not as much as we would like.

So in that vein, this really streamlines the import process.

If the US Adopts these internationally recognized standards, it can really cut down on quarantine times, which also reduce costs for owners and competitors.

And the cost and time associated with quarantine can be a huge barrier for competitors.

It really starts to rack up, particularly those coming from developing countries.

We want to make sure everyone has a fair chance.

When we're talking about global events like the Olympics and the Pan American Games.

Horse showing is really expensive enough as it is, so we want to do what we can to kind of reduce those expenses.

Absolutely.

All countries should have a chance to compete.

And cost is that big factor that we're talking about, about when we were shipping horses internationally.

Related to that.

If we followed high health, high performance, and enhanced biosecurity and streamlined these processes, that sets us for this third benefit, which is international recognition.

Aligning with the high health, high performance shows leadership in econ health and builds trust with global partners.

So kind of in general, countries will be more willing and excited to compete in the US if we get on board with the standards adopted globally, this kind of cumulates in our final benefit of taking on high health, high performance.

And that, as Julie loves to talk about, is the economic advantages.

So making it easier for high performance horses to come here helps the breeding and the training and the competition sectors thrive.

And I know you love focusing on the economic benefits, Julie.

Yeah, you got me there.

So the easier we make it for international competitors to come to the US the more intense our competition will be, the more exciting exciting our competitions will be for spectators and for the horse industry overall, it just elevates everything.

Competition is 30% of our industry, with racing being another 30.

So both of those sectors rely heavily on international competition and competitors who travel to the US and not only does making sure that their horses can easily compete in the US make competitions more exciting, but with them comes an entire, entire entourage that spends significant dollars here and increases spectators and enthusiast participation.

And I just wanted to kind of like make this relatable for everyone.

So I remember being a kid and in my bunk beds, you know, on the underside of the top bunk, I had ripped out all these pages from, you know, my magazines, like Horse Illustrated and all that, and I had taped them up.

And so along with my US greats like Karen and David o' Connor and my Kimberly Severson, my Beezy Madden, I also had Pippa Funnel and Lucinda Green and Philip Dutton and Pessoa.

And we want to make sure our homegrown horse kids have their own posters of these great international competitors to inspire them.

And to do that, we need them to come to the US and compete.

So, Emily, what is the regulatory ask then that we have?

So everybody that listening knows what we are asking.

So the big ask is to help us keep kind of hounding on USDA APHIS to get on board with continuing to update the US Import regulations to kind of be within the high health, high performance guidelines for these competitors.

We're slowly but surely chipping away at them.

But now with the Olympics coming up, we have a really hard deadline that we want to make sure we're at by game time.

And I know we keep focusing on the Olympics, but it's important to remember that in getting to the Olympics, these competitors also need to qualify.

And that means a lot of competition both in the US and globally, which means a lot of travel leading up to the big ship show.

Yeah, the American Horse Council is going to keep advocating on this.

And because aligning with high health, high performance isn't just about making travel easier, it's also about protecting the horses.

Strengthen our international partnerships, and at the end of the day, that means healthier horses, smoother travel, and stronger US Equine industry.

Thank you for joining us today.

We'll provide more numbers and links in our show notes.

We invite you to support our beloved industry and join the American Horse Council.

You can earn a free subscription to our monthly newsletter, also a magazine of your choice.

We have several options there.

All of this to share the latest in all our legislative happenings, federal and state, as well as much more information for horse owners like you that just need to be in the know.

And you can follow the American Horse Council on social media.

You can find us on Facebook, Instagram X and LinkedIn.

And you can also subscribe to this podcast's RSS feed.

You can subscribe to Horses in the Morning on any podcast.

Player and find all the shows and including ours on the Horse radio network@horsedradionetwork.com thanks for listening.

And as we always like to say, we are here for horses.