» Who We Are and What We Do
About Us
Surrounded by the magnificent Selkirk mountain range, right on beautiful Kootenay Lake.
Services:
Kootenay Horse & Carriage provides carriage tours within the historic town of Nelson, British Columbia. Nelson is nestled in the magnificent Selkirk mountain range, right on beautiful Kootenay Lake. An ideal destination to visit, with much more than just carriage rides to experience.
We also cater to private events such as weddings, birthday parties, and corporate events throughout the entire West Kootenay region.
For information about our services and rates click here or contact us for any other inquireis you have.
Our Mission:
Kootenay Horse & Carriage’s mission is to provide an insightful and relaxing experience to people of all ages who want to create an unforgettable memory together, highlighting Nelson’s heritage and the natural beauty of our mountain oasis.
Our hORSES:
We are a small family run business, and currently only have one driving horse named "Hero", though we plan to eventually expand our business to have two running horses and carriages. Hero is an 11 year old Percheron Gelding, and is our most well trained horse to date. He is incredibly trustworthy, very affectionate, and especially good with children. Though he is larger and more powerful than most horses, he is also exceptionally gentle, always respectful of his surroundings, and we in turn are respectful of him.
Draft horses, like Hero, have been bred over centuries to work. In fact, without steady physical exercise and a sense of purpose, because of their size they would not only be prone to sickness and disease, they could also sink into a state of depression. They need to work. When our Clydesdale Jack had to be retired, he became somber and we had to find other ways to keep him busy, though nothing worked as well as the carriage driving that he was used to.
However, it is also important to cater to any horse's ancestral instincts from before they were domesticated. We have found that Hero benefits from at least three days of work or exercise a week, and we make sure that he has time off to be in the pasture time with other horses in order to fulfill his natural herd instinct.