Carriage drivers protest exam

Some say new spooked-horse test unnecessary

John C. Ensslin, Rocky Mountain News

Published September 19, 2007 at midnight

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Some operators of downtown Denver's horse-drawn carriages are at odds with the Denver Police Department over a proposal that would require all drivers and their horses to undergo a revised test to keep their permits.

The issue will go before the City Council's safety committee today, but officials aren't exactly expecting a shootout at the OK Corral.

The proposed regulations spell out a test in which drivers would have to demonstrate their ability to handle a horse after a drum is beaten, a shot is fired from a starter's pistol and a person approaches with an open umbrella.

That's less severe than an earlier proposal that called for setting off a M-80 explosive and firing a gun.

But some operators question the need for the test.

Dennis Holzrichter, of DND Featherfoot Clydesdales, said there have never been any serious accidents involving the horse-drawn carriages since they began offering rides along the 16th Street Mall in the early 1980s.

"The original test was way over the top," he said. "It was way too stressful on the horses."

Holzrichter said he appreciates police officials listened to the carriage operators and modified the test.

But he still questions the need to retest all the existing permit holders when they haven't been involved in any accidents.

Bob Heine, of Occasional Carriages, said he is OK with the testing.

But he said he believes the requirement should be waived for horses and drivers who already have been tested. "I don't think it's necessary, because we haven't had any problems," he said.

Christie Fontaine, of Royalty Carriages, said she approves of the changes to the ordinance and likes the changes police made to the test.

But she questions how realistic the test is.

District 6 police Cmdr. Deborah Dilley said she agrees there have not been any major accidents involving a horse-drawn carriage in downtown. But Dilley said she does not want to wait until an accident happens to take reasonable safety precautions.

"I don't think it's necessary for someone to be run over and killed for the Denver Police Department to take action," Dilley said.

Dilley also said the department's aim with the test was to make it as realistic and as uniform as possible.

When the ordinance regulating the horse-drawn carriages was adopted in 1986, enforcement of those rules was delegated to the Denver Police Department's Mounted Horse Patrol.

The carriage trade by the numbers

26 active permits are currently issued. The number is capped. There is a waiting list of others who wish to apply.

$30-$40 per half hour, on average, for a carriage rideSource: Downtown Denver Partnership

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