What some Lowcountry cities are doing after a carriage horse slipped on ice

Savannah officials amended city ordinances this week to say that horse-drawn carriages may not operate in “adverse cold weather.”

On Jan. 6, a horse from Historic Savannah Carriage Tours slipped on ice that formed amid a rare and bitterly cold winter storm that left 4 inches of snow and ice across the Lowcountry.

Neither the horse nor the passengers were injured, according to the Savannah Morning News.

The city temporarily suspended carriage tours until Jan. 9, and some animal advocates said they’d bring before the council a petition to ban horse-drawn carriages in the city, according to Fox 28 television station.

A news release from Savannah on Tuesday said adverse weather is when it is snowing or sleeting or if freezing rain is falling, the temperature is below 35 degrees, and conditions are a threat to the health or safety of the horse and the public.

The ordinance says the horse must be returned to a stable by the most direct route.

On Jan. 2, a Charleston carriage horse slipped on a patch of ice, WTOC-TV reported. The horse was not injured. The city shut down tours until routes could be inspected.

Nichole Myers with Sea Island Carriage Company said neither of the two tour companies based out of Beaufort ran tours during the recent winter storm.

“We made our own decisions to stay home and not operate,” she said about Sea Island Carriage Company and Southern Rose Buggy Tours.

Beaufort’s ordinance regulating such tours says, “Carriages shall not be operated in adverse weather conditions,” but it does not offer specifics about winter weather.

However, Beaufort’s operators are subject to city rules for caring for the horses during hot weather. The tours are halted for the day when the temperature reading reaches 91 on a device at City Hall that accounts for temperature, humidity, wind speed, sun position and cloud cover.

Charleston reduced its heat limit for carriage horses to 95 degrees after a horse tripped and fell at the start of a tour last April.

Savannah limits tours when temperatures are above 95 degrees or the heat index reaches above 110 degrees.

This story was originally published January 20, 2018 at 11:32 AM with the headline "What some Lowcountry cities are doing after a carriage horse slipped on ice."