City considering a halt to horse-drawn carriages
Council members, operators differ on effects on animals
Horse-drawn carriages in downtown San Antonio could become a thing of the past.
Several City Council members are pushing to phase them out, citing concerns for the horses’ well-being and environmental problems of idling cars and slowed traffic. But carriage operators say their horses are well cared for and that removing carriages could harm the animals, drivers and tourism.
A proposal submitted by Councilman Jalen Mckee-rodriguez and Councilwoman Phyllis Viagran phases out the use of horses and transitions
to the use of electric carriages and pedicabs by next December.
Mckee-rodriguez said that every time he sees the carriages downtown, he thinks the hot weather
and exhaust from cars in front of the horses can’t be good for the animals.
“There’s a lot going on that makes this a very outdated method of transportation,” he said. “So you have to think about whether the novelty experience of a horsedrawn carriage ride is worth the experiences that the animals are going through and the impact that there is on the environment.”
Mckee-rodriguez said he hopes existing workers could be transitioned to new carriages that don’t use horses.
There are five carriage companies currently operating in San Antonio, according to the San Antonio Police Department, which oversees the permits for the companies.
The response to the proposal has been overwhelmingly positive, Mckee-rodriguez said.
But carriage companies and council members don’t see eye to eye on the matter.
Conflicting concerns
Stephanie Garcia owns two carriage companies — HRH and Yellow Rose — each of which is allowed to have five medallions, essentially license plates for the carriages. Between the two companies, she has 23 horses that she rotates out daily to give the horses pasture time. There are about 30 independent contractors that work between the two businesses.
San Antonio municipal code allows the horses to work up to eight hours a day, but Garcia said her horses usually work fourhour shifts.
Between the regular vet checkups, hoof maintenance and visits from a chiropractor, Garcia said, her horses are “treated like royalty.”
“If we’re not here to do what we do to take care of the horses, these horses are going to end up being slaughtered,” Garcia said. “They’re going to have to be euthanized because there’s nobody there that’s going to be able to do what we can do. And we need to do the business that we do to look after these horses.”
Kevin Dodd has similar
fears. He is president of Bluebonnet Carriage Co. and managing partner for Lollypop Carriage Co. Though he said company leaders would do their best to find rescues to send horses to, he worries that some would have to be euthanized because it could be difficult to find homes for the animals.
Dodd said Lollypop and Bluebonnet have more than 20 horses between them that are regularly rotated between a downtown barn and a pasture when they are off. He said the horses are
bathed and groomed almost daily.
Dodd takes issue with some of what is stated in the council’s suggested policy change that insinuates the horses are exposed to extreme weather conditions. He noted the city prohibits the horses from going out on days hotter than 95 degrees and said they aren’t taken out in poor weather conditions such as rain.
Shane Stephens is a carriage driver for Lollypop and Bluebonnet. He said drivers develop close bonds with the horses.
One of them was even a groomsman in his wedding.
Many people who ride the carriages tell Stephens and other drivers that they specifically came to San Antonio for a carriage ride, so he thinks phasing them out could cause a drop in area tourism.
Councilman Manny Peláez is one of three council members who signed paperwork supporting the policy change. He said he and Mayor Ron Nirenberg have for years talked about the need to
end the use of horsedrawn carriages. The majority of his constituents want to see them banned, he said.
“I’ve never heard anybody say, ‘Gosh, I’m so happy that there’s horses pulling carriages downtown on really, really hot days.’ I’ve never heard anybody say that,” Peláez said. “In fact, I hear the opposite. All people say is, ‘That makes me sad. Why do you guys allow that?’”
Joanna Grossman, equine program manager for the nonprofit Animal Welfare Institute, said having horses in downtown spaces can be dangerous for them. In some cities, she said, horses have collapsed, sustained injuries and been hit by cars or overturned.
“These are animals that deserve and would much rather be out in pasture and have access to fresh air,” Grossman said.
A petition on change.org to ban horse-drawn carriages in San Antonio has garnered 1,325 signatures in the past eight months. There is also a petition to keep the carriages in town, led by The Cavalry Group, an Oklahoma-based company that aims to “protect and advance the constitutional and private property rights of law-abiding animal owners.”
San Antonio wouldn’t be the first city to ban horse-drawn carriages in
urban areas, if it does. Chicago has banned the practice, and efforts are underway to do the same in New York City.
The process
But the push in San Antonio is still in the early stages. The proposal, which was also signed by council members Adriana Rocha Garcia and Ana Sandoval, still needs to be picked up by the Governance Committee, where it could potentially be sent to another committee to be fleshed out before it gets a shot at going to City Council.
And the time frame could change. Mckee-rodriguez said he has seen items take close to a year to get on a Governance Committee agenda. Nirenberg — who chairs the committee and therefore plays a major role in determining the timeline of policy changes — expressed interest in doing away with horse-drawn carriages at a November council meeting, which is part of what inspired council members to bring forth the proposal.
“I am fully supportive of the effort to move away from horse-drawn carriages on city streets,” Nirenberg said in an emailed statement. “I hope that we can work with the providers on a transition toward a just solution that is mutually beneficial to the providers and the horses.”