Customer Focus - The Gentle Giants of Charleston, SC

Lizzie, Brittany, Jackson and me

I just came back from a trip to Charleston, South Carolina.  While I was there I got to visit one of my customers, Classic Carriage Works, or rather many customers  -  Elwood, Carson, Jackson, Berry, Larry, Bud, Dakota, Franklin and Gerald.  

There has been so much press around the carriage industry lately.  I’m not an activist for, nor am I against the carriage industry.  I’m simply a horse crazy girl.  So from a horse lovers perspective, I write this article, this customer focus, about nine lovely black Percheron horses who help show downtown Charleston to folks from a different perspective.  

Brittany, the barn manager at Classic, was kind enough to let me spend a good portion of two days with the horses.  During my stay, I was also taken around to see the other 4 carriage companies that serve Charleston.  Each barn had a different personality, even different kinds of horses - for example, Charleston Carriage Works has a fleet of beautiful chestnut Belgian Drafts, and Palmetto Carriage Works is the only company in town who drives pairs of mules.  

Carson on his way out of the barn

All the horses seemed happy and in good condition; I was allowed to go around and greet horses at every company.  The barns were clean, the atmosphere peaceful, the tack clean.  Again, these are just general horse crazy girl observations.  I didn’t see anything alarming or not right, anything that I wouldn’t see at any regular boarding barn with private clients.  

Jackson and his adorable droopy lip

But let's get back to my Percheron friends and Classic Carriage Works.  Classic has been an active barn longer than any other in Charleston.  It has stalls for six horses.  In combination with the city stable, the horses are rotated in and out of town to a lovely farm so that they all get some down time.  

Many of Classic’s horses came from less than ideal circumstances.  In fact, the majority of horses in the carriage industry were bound for the slaughter house.  To put it in a not so nice way, there is a lot of meat on an 18hh draft horse.  Brittany showed me the scars on Jackson from his previous life.  Jackson is one of their newer horses, and I’m glad to say some of our Simple Equine products are helping to heal him.  Given the tough life he came from, it was amazing to me that he could be so sweet and gentle.  Brittany said it’s taken him a little while to warm up, but he’s only been with them for a short time and I was amazed at his calm demeanor and friendliness towards me.  Not only that, but when he was hanging with me he had the most adorable and droopiest lip you’ve ever seen - a sure sign of a happy and relaxed horse in my books.  

Giant 18hh+ Carson

Carson taking me on my tour

Carson is a large 18hh Percheron, very handsome, and I think he actually believes he is hot stuff.  I went on a historical carriage ride with Carson all over downtown Charleston.  I’m not at all experienced with driving, but there were definitely similarities to riding.  The main differences to me were the importance of verbal communication with the horse and also making sure you swing far and wide so as not to hit any parked cars!  I could see Carson’s right ear turned back, listening to his driver, as we would make a left or right or pull to the side of the road to let cars pass by.  

Back at the barn, Brittany decided I should see what it’s like to pull a carriage.  Yes, me, little 100 something pound person, pull the same carriage as my 2000+ pound friend Carson.  To my surprise, it wasn’t very hard, and trust me I am not a very strong human being.  She also showed me what their special cushy shoes are like.  I’ve never seen special shoes like these- a thick piece of shock absorbing material with a little bit of extra grip on the bottom.  This shock absorber goes on after the regular metal shoe, and gets changed out frequently.  It’s one of the thing that gets monitored by the City of Charleston.  

And talk about monitoring.  Brittany showed me their book of rules and regulations.  Seriously, if all horses in the world were monitored like these gentle giants, the horse world would be a better place.  They can’t work if their shock absorbers are less than 1.5inches thick.  They can’t work if their internal temperature gets too high.  If it gets above 95 degrees or a heat index of 110 degrees no carriage rides are allowed.  There is a limit on the number of carriage rides each horse can do in a day.  They have to have a certain amount of rest time between carriage rides.  And the list goes on and on.  It’s not to say all horse owners need strict guidelines, there are plenty of well loved and well taken care of horses out there in the world, but there are also those who could use some governance.  I think it’s pretty cool that there is a governing body to ensure the horses are treated well.  And beyond that governing body, you have real horse loving folks working at Classic, and they go far above and beyond the rules.  

A horse girl in horse heaven with giant Elwood

The fondness all of the employees at Classic, and for that matter all the carriage companies I visited, have for the horses is quite evident.  Everyone of course has their favorite.  The employees  know the horses’ personalities, their likes, dislikes, what makes them happy, what they are scared of, even what might catch them off guard.  I’ll use Berry as an example.  Berry, I was told, takes his job very seriously.  He’s all business.  In fact, as Berry was about to head out on his final tour of the day, Dave, the head driver/trainer, did not want to switch up the tour guide so that Berry would not be too confused.  “It’s not that he can’t do it,” said Dave, “Of course he can.  But Berry thrives on routine and I don’t want to throw him off or cause him unnecessary stress.”  I really love how in tune each and every person seemed to be with the horses.   I have seen many riding programs and other horse programs over the years where people wouldn’t be nearly that thoughtful.  

 What do the horses of Classic Carriage Works like of the Simple Equine?  They all use the Warm Weather Comfort Spray (fly spray), pretty much year round.  Charleston is warm enough that the flies never completely disappear.  All of the new horses they get in show up with docked tails, so the Nourishing Avocado Tail Treatment is also a huge hit, and Brittany reports great growth in both tails and manes.  They also use the Healing Calendula Salve and Soothing Chickweed Cream on various boo boos and irritations, especially on the new horses as they often have lots of skin injuries.  The handsome Carson is a big fan of our Illuminating Sea Salt Polish, especially after he returns from a break - the bugs out in the pasture  bother him. 

Whether or not you believe horses should have a job or pull a carriage or have a rider on top of them, I really do believe these beautiful draft horses are treated with love and respect, and genuinely like what they do.  It’s almost as if they know they’ve been given a second, better chance at life and they are happy with and thankful for the cards they have been dealt.  It seems a shame that folks don’t put their efforts to other parts of the horse industry, like rescuing horses from slaughter and trying to re-home them, just as many horse sanctuaries, and the carriage industry (in general) are doing.  There are thousands of horses in dire need.  Sure, the world isn’t perfect and not every carriage company is good, but in Charleston they all seemed pretty darn decent to this horse loving gal.  

If you are interested in visiting Charleston and taking a tour with Classic Carriage Works, please visit their Website: https://www.classiccarriage.com/  Thank you Classic for pampering your horses with Simple Equine products!  

This post is based on experience, learning and opinion.  You may or may not agree with what is written, but we hope that you will be left with information to consider, mull over, laugh at, or even agree to disagree about.  Thank you for reading.

How to care for embellished tack in 3 simple steps

During the summer of 2015, when the heat was stifling and it was about 100 degrees out, I met Tiffany Donnelly at a horse show.  Tiffany owns Equus Couture, an amazing equestrian boutique (yay woman owned small businesses!) specializing in custom embellished tack.  She’s a true artist, bringing each and every horse (and dog) owners dreams to life.  Tiffany is awesome and we’ve stayed in touch ever since, and it’s clear she is an expert when it comes to both leather and embellishments!  

We have invited Tiffany to share her expertise on how to best care for embellished tack.  And a little shout out to Tiffany’s business, Equus Couture - please check out her wonderful work here. Thank you Tiffany for sharing your knowledge with us!  

How to care for embellished tack in 3 simple steps

We all know that tack takes a lot of abuse; horses sweat and barns have dirt! When using embellished tack, you are essentially subjecting jewelry to this harsh environment. There truly is no magic trick to care for your embellished tack; we promise it’s easier than it sounds. Follow these three simple steps and you will be golden!   
  
1. Maintain the integrity of your leather 
Let’s face it, you invest a lot of money in your tack, so you need to care for it as such. I think we are programmed incorrectly from the very beginning in terms of leather care. For the love of all things sacred, DO NOT use saddle soap! It will only dry out your leather. If you keep up with the following routine, we promise your tack will be pristine and hydrated!

Ideally, you should do this after EVERY ride. We realize while many of us have the best of intentions, this is not always possible, so stick to the following as often as you can possibly manage.

A simple wipe down with a wet rag will not only cleanse your leather of all the dirt and sweat that are inevitable, but it will restore your crystals to their original brilliant sparkle as well! A thorough wipe down with a damp rag is ridiculously simple, quick, and effective! You can be as rigorous as you’d like on the leather to remove any built up dirt, but when wiping any embellishments (metals or crystals) please be very gentle! Treat the embellished portion of your tack as you would fine jewelry. The damp rag will remove any sweat and dirt that is clouding your crystals and restore them to their brilliant shine!

Once you have thoroughly cleaned your leather with the damp rag, we recommend conditioning your leather with The Simple Equine's Love My Leather Balsam, (it is the official leather conditioner of Equus Couture! Did we mention how AMAZING it smells?). Be careful to condition around the embellishments and not necessarily on them, or you will cloud up your crystals again, making double work for yourself.  Then simply allow your tack to hang somewhere to dry.

There is literally no magic involved in maintaining the integrity of your leather. I think it is far simpler than we all think. Water and conditioner will keep your leather clean and hydrated, while the damp rag will remove any dirt or sweat that is clouding up your crystals. It’s amazing what a little cleaning will do to restore your tack to its original sparkle. If you can keep up with this routine after every ride, you won’t experience build up. This will cut your cleaning time down tremendously! 

2. Do not let your horse abuse your tack 

The biggest faux pas when it comes to any kind of embellished tack, is - do not let your horse rub while wearing the tack! Do not let them rub on the wall, the gate, you, or anything else! Any time you let them rub (which is just plain bad behavior), you are compromising the integrity of your embellished tack. If they are allowed to do this, you will likely pop a crystal or tear off a metal piece in the process. Teach your horse patience - to be attentive to you - as you stand with them or while you are removing the tack. Remember, you are their leader. Don’t tolerate bad behavior that could ruin your tack. You paid a lot of money for it and it is your job to protect it. 

3. Store your tack in a dry, safe place 
You can care for your leather all you want, but if you are not storing it in a safe and dry place, it will all be for naught. Make sure it is dry to prevent mold and safe to prevent someone or something else from damaging your tack and causing your embellishments to fall off.

Basically, just be sensible with your tack. Be vigilant in protecting it and be smart about where you store it. There are no unicorns or stardust; it is very simple to protect your tack so it will stay brilliant for years!