Say What??

It’s always easier to see things from an insiders perspective, but I think what we do is fairly self-explanatory. We use one or 2 horses to pull a carriage. 

With a bit more thought, one could realise that a horse is not comparable to a car and we won’t travel at a comparable speed, or cover a comparable distance.

To me, it’s also very obvious that horses are living, breathing, thinking creatures, that will take training, maintenance and care. And that at any situation or location, they may poo, wee, fart or misbehave.

If there are any queries about any of these things, one could always head to our website, or even do a bit of a google search, to realise what is possible, or even feasible with a horse. 

What I am learning as I muddle my way through life and business, however, is that ‘common sense’ is well…. Just not that common. 

When I get wedding enquires, quite often I get asked to cover over 20kms distances, and potential customers almost get offended when told no. One of my favourites was for a wedding, that fortunately didn’t eventuate into booking. The conversation went something like ‘I’d like to go from Aberfoyle Park to Glenelg’. I recall informing them that we couldn’t possibly cover that distance. I gave the reasons that the roads are too busy and it is too steep. I was then told that it wouldn’t be busy, as it would be at 11 o’clock at night, after the reception.

This was very early on in my business when I thought I had to please everyone, so was quite disappointed that I could not find a way to accommodate their requests. 

A year or so ago, I was watching the Royal Jubilee and saw the magnificent gold carriage. That thing is amazing! But it is huge! I posted a link of it on my personal Facebook page and it was mentioned I would want it. Ha! My biggest team is a pair, which would clearly not pull it- especially with my hesitation to make the horses work hard. I would perhaps like the team of horses, the team of workers to prepare the horses, or especially the budget to support all of these things.

It reminds me of a time though, when I had a call from a very enthusiastic young man from the city. ‘I would like 5 white horses, pulling a chariot to take my wife to her 40th birthday from x to x’.

I inform him that the distance isn’t achievable in the time frame given and that the most horses I can do at once is 2. Also that I don’t have a chariot, but do have some other lovely styles of vehicles. 

Obviously not swayed from his vision, the young man asks how many horses I have. I reply honestly, to which he then retorts ‘can’t you just get them all and strap them together?’

In the space of a short phone call, I can’t possibly explain why this is just not a viable option. I was possibly a bit shell-shocked at even the suggestion. But then I guess from the outside to someone who doesn’t work with horses, I guess that is a reasonable assumption of what we could do? 

Enter overthinking brain here, but 5 horses side by side wouldn’t even fit into one lane?!? And goodness, the logistics of it makes my mind boggle. But wow wouldn’t it look spectacular if we could pull it off! I think what amazed me most though, is his surprise that I wouldn’t even contemplate strapping a few horses together.

We love to accommodate peoples desires. We will go above and beyond to try and tailor an experience to individual needs, but sometimes it just isn’t possible or even realistic. 

We are however more than happy to educate, demonstrate and explain any facet of what we do. Once I start on an explanation, the challenge you will find is to get me to stop talking in far too much detail.