Horse-drawn carriage business brings competitors together

By KARI KRAMER | East Texas Edition

Stan and Lyn Jenkins "knew of" each other since they had competitive businesses. They met and began helping each other with tasks such as loading the carriage and hooking up the team. Now married, they share their love of horses and horse-drawn carriages. -- Staff photo by Kari Kramer

Feb. 10, 2005 - Horse-drawn carriages have traditionally been an accent to many romantic settings, but for Stan and Lyn Jenkins, horses and carriages brought romance, and an income.

The Jenkins own Cowboy Carriage Company, a company that provides horse-drawn carriages for every romantic event imaginable in addition to parades and holiday events.

The pair did not always work together. Twelve years ago both Stan and Lyn entered the carriage business, as competitors.

Lyn's business evolved from my her love of horses. "Friends would ask me to do weddings and parties. I started doing commercial jobs for weddings and Renaissance fairs shortly after that and the business just took off by word-of-mouth."

Stan said in his "first few years of harness work, it was more a hobby than a business." He also worked many events and often crossed Lyn's path.

They knew of each other before doing a wedding show in Tyler eight years ago, but had never really met. Lyn had been told she would be the only carriage company at the show and was surprised that Stan, too, was also present at the event. She said she was furious.

"But I bought her lunch and she got over it after that," said Stan.

"I couldn't run Stan out of my territory, and he just kept getting more and more helpful. He helped me load my carriage at the end of my job in Canton one weekend. I helped him get his team hooked," said Lyn.

Providing a unique service for a variety of occasions, Cowboy Carriage Company is owned by former competitors. Stan and Lyn Jenkins now share their love of horses and carriages, and generate income from their endeavors. -- Courtesy photo

Then, while riding on the carriage together, the two were caught in a huge downpour of rain.

"I never laughed so hard in my whole life," said Lyn. "Then at one Christmas parade, he got just plum cute. So, 30 days later, we got hitched. My horse, his carriage, he drove, as he does so well, and I am perfectly qualified to make sure he does."

The two, who have now been married for over six years, share the romance horse-drawn carriages brought to their lives with others.

"People hire us most for weddings and Christmas light tours. Most months we have a carriage job every weekend, and months like June and December we are double- and triple-booked each day," said Lyn, who is still also employed as a registered nurse. Stan is a lab technician.

The carriages are always appropriately decorated for the event. For Christmas time, the carriage is decorated with red and green and strung in a vine of flowers. At weddings, pastel flowers and vines wrap the carriage and the carriage is crowned with a "Just Married" wreath, if the bride and groom wish.

"We generally meet and exceed the expectations of the customer as far as decorations go," said Lyn.

Stan said regardless of the event, the horses always capture the attention of the crowd.

"We steal the show every where we go," said Stan.

"Usually people clap and cheer when the horse and carriage bring the bride. That is very satisfying. I can always count on people 'oohing' and 'aahing' these beautiful creatures," added Lyn.

The horses easily capture attention. With some of them having weights exceeding a ton each, they are hard to miss. Their large bodies and breezing hair can captivate an observer. The Jenkins have over 20 horses. The breeds include English Shires, Percherons, Morgans, Quarter Horses, Tennessee Walkers, a Shire and Percheron cross, and four draft-cross Paint horses.

"We get many specific requests for the white horses at weddings, Paint horses for parades, or Ellie the gray dapple Percheron," said Lyn.

Stan said they are usually able to meet the color requests when events are booked ahead of time, but sometimes have to bring different horses because something happens to the animal.

The animals are trained to work alone or with a team. Training starts at birth through constant handling, but continues from there.

"We do lots of ground work, lots of harnessing and unharnessing, and finally hook a young horse to a training cart built like a light chariot," said Lyn. "When they are going well, we usually put them in a team with an older horse and take them out in public, on trail rides and for pleasure, to let them see the traffic and crowds."

Stan said the training is important.

"I need a horse that will stand still," said Stan. He recalled an event where a young toddler ran up to the horses and latched on to a rear leg of one horse. The horse braced and stood still. He said most people do not realize that with the blinders on, the horses cannot see what is approaching them from the sides. According to Stan, the biggest mistake people make is not walking to the horse's head first, and trying to feed the horses.

At the Jenkins property, Shady Lake Ranch, near Starville in Smith County, the horses are trained and cared for. They are fed twice daily, and allowed to run in the pasture like any other farm horse.

"Caring for harness horses is much like the care of any other active horse, with the exception that their feet must be shod with shoes outfitted with borium for traction to work on slick surfaces like brick and asphalt. They receive continued training to stay fit," said Lyn.

She also believes even these valuable creatures should be allowed to run.

"They are turned out all the time, except for feedings. This reduces anxiety-induced vices and illnesses that stalled horses are prone to. Pastured herds learn how to socialize well and it keeps a horse mentally healthy," said Lyn, who also noted that it provides exercise for the horses on days they are not working.

The coupled agreed the horses would rather be working than roaming the pasture.

"They have definite opinions on how they like to be treated and which jobs they like best. Most of them are quite content to work and most like the people who pet and scratch them," said Lyn. "Ellie the Percheron would rather trot than eat, she's a powerhouse. Sky and Sapphire, the English Shires, love to be swarmed by the kids. That way, they get several people scratching them at a time. They almost get too relaxed."

The horses are not the only ones who love the work. Stan and Lyn both enjoy the supplemental work, and the experiences that accompany it.

"I have fun with the carriage business out here," said Stan, speaking of their business in East Texas.

Lyn said there have been many happy times in the carriage business, but one still sticks out in her mind.

"At the Azalea Trails one year, I was finishing up when a mom stopped me to say that her handicapped child had a dream of riding a horse-drawn carriage and she had no idea where to find one. She had brought this child for a ride, and then she just sat there in her wheelchair afterward staring at the Percheron I was driving that year. Goliath (the horse) put his head down to nuzzle her. Everybody cried. I still cry thinking about it," said Lyn. Goliath eventually retired with the hippotherapy program at the St. Louis School in Tyler.

Many of the Jenkins horses are sent or donated to therapy programs when their days of pulling carriages are over.

"Several of my horses have lived out very easy and well cared for lives at those programs," said Lyn.

While working, the horses and the Jenkins stay busy. They usually request people to book six months in advance. With a unique business, the demand is high.

Stan and Lyn have created a successful business that delivers romance from their love of horses and each other.

Lyn understands the appeal.

"In this fast-paced world, people associate a horse-drawn carriage with a simpler, less complicated era, where chivalry was the rule, not the exception; where men were protectors and women could be soft. If that's not romantic, I don't know what is."

The Cowboy Carriage Company can be reached at 903-877-3928.