.
“Horses used for driving are
very verbal animals,” says John, “They respond to voice signals because no one
is riding them. So communication is all in your voice and in the lines, which,
by the way, are not called reins. The horses understand “gee” which means go to
the right and “haw” meaning go to the left. I always call out the horse’s
names, I’ll say to my team ‘Amos, back’ or ‘Amy, walk on’ because horses can
pick up words that other people say. So if they hear someone say, ’Let’s walk
over there.’ They’ll start walking.”
As for speed, pleasure
driving requires that one drives at a walk, trot or extended trot, never a
gallop. John says that once they get the carriage started, it’s easier for the
horses to maintain its momentum at a trot than at a walk.
The driver will watch the
horse’s ears and if one is cocked to the side, he knows that the horse hears
something on the side of the road.
“Back in the old days,
stagecoaches weighed around 2,500 pounds and carried up to 10 people plus bags
and mail,” he says. “So they needed a team of several horses. The rule of thumb
is that it’s always better to have too much horsepower than not enough because
these massive vehicles were drawn between 40 and 60 miles per day. One team
would haul the coach about 12 miles, which took them approximately 2 1/2 hours.
Then a fresh team would be hitched. Each team would have one day off and then
work the next day. It was of great importance to take good care of the horses, as
they were often the source of a person’s livelihood.”
John says carriages had
bells and sometimes horns to let people know that they were on the road. When
one would hear “team bells,” they’d know that a big wagon was coming and they’d
pull their smaller vehicles off the road for them to pass. The sleigh bells let
people know you were coming, even in a snow storm when
visibility was poor.
Horses are serious about
their jobs, and fire horses were a fascinating example.
“In the old days, when the
horses’ harnesses were taken off, the Dalmatian dogs kept them together and
made sure no stray dogs bothered them,” he says. “I’ve also heard several
stories about retired fire horses hearing the fire bells go off, and then
jumping over their pasture fences to gallop to the fire with the rest of the
team.”
He learned these things from
35 years of experience driving horses and meeting fascinating people such as
Prince Phillip, whom he once conducted on a tour through our Carriage House.
He has also attended conferences
all over the country, founded the Santa Ynez Carriage Club and served as groom
to the man who drives Queen Elizabeth of England in her carriages.
John’s father raised
hunter-jumpers and was the Master of the Hounds at West Hills Hunt Club. When
the family moved to the valley, his father worked for Barney Ruben at Running
Springs Ranch in Happy Canyon.
As a teenager, John enjoyed
driving the Standardbreds around the Running Springs racetrack. He also
sometimes drove the Landau carriage for the Danish Inn.
Now John has a new
adventure: The idea of giving stagecoach rides around the valley surfaced when
Art Lacerte bought a small stagecoach. He suggested to John that it would be
fun to offer rides to visitors and valley residents. John and Dave Gonzales agreed,
and now they actually take passengers along our original stagecoach routes.
But they will go just about
anywhere, with almost anyone. The coach is pulled by a pair
of blond beauties that are a quarter Belgian and three-quarters quarter horse.
“These Amish-broke horses
have been trained to stay on the road,” he says. “When we first hitched them
up, we found out that they always want to have their assigned side, and don’t
go well if mixed up. Amy wants to be on the left, and Amos is on the right.
“They probably weigh about
1,300-1,400 pounds each and stand about 15.2 hands. A horse should be able to
pull his own weight, so this team can pull close to 3,000 pounds with no
trouble. They are brother and sister; Amos is 6 years old and Amy 7.
“We also have access to a
17,000-acre ranch,” says John with a big smile. “So we can take picnic lunches
out on this beautiful ranch. We also take parties to wineries or to Mattei’s
Tavern and will go out of the valley to big public events.
“We have a selection of
carriages that range from a large wagon that can carry 12 people, to a smaller Bronson wagon for a single horse.”
For more information about
this unique experience e-mail: syvstageline@gmail.com or call (805) 588-5960 or
(805) 354-9669.