The city closed two downtown carriage tour zones after a horse slipped and fell on a patch of ice on Market Street Tuesday morning.
“The horse was returned to its feet and walked back to the stable,” according to a statement from Charleston director of communications Jack O’Toole.
The horse will not be giving tours until he/she/they is cleared by a vet.
Currently, no temperature is too low for a horse to take a break from trudging a slew of tourists on its back.
Horses must come off the streets if the city records four consecutive readings of 95 degrees or higher, or four consecutive heat indices of 110 degrees or higher. Temperatures are recorded every 15 minutes from a Weatherbug thermometer above the Doubletree Hotel on Church Street. Horses can only go back to work after 30 consecutive minutes of cooler weather.
But on days like today, our neighing neighbors seem to be S.O.L.
“We do not have a lower end temperature,” O’Toole said.
The city now makes $1 per person for every tour given in Charleston, including horse carriage tours. The 2018 budget passed by City Council last month raised the tour head tax by $0.50.
Charleston C.A.R.E.S., an advocacy group composed of carriage tour companies Charleston Carriage Works, Old South Carriage Company, and Palmetto Carriage Works, announced in a press release Tuesday afternoon that its companies would close early and re-open on Thursday.
An official report of this morning’s incident will be released following an investigation.
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