San Antonio City Council members and members of the public discussed the future of horse-drawn carriages in San Antonio during a council committee meeting on Tuesday.
A council vote on the issue won’t be held until later this year, but members of the council’s Transportation and Infrastructure Committee held a briefing about the proposed policy to end San Antonio’s horse-drawn carriage industry and establish a “just transition” for workers employed in those businesses to find other work.
District 3 Councilmember Phyllis Viagran, who co-authored the proposed policy with District 2 Councilmember Jalen McKee-Rodriguez in 2022, sent a note to the committee meeting saying she was open to options beyond banning the industry outright.
“As a longstanding advocate for small minority-owned businesses, I want to work with the five companies that employ over 115 workers collectively to ensure they have as many options as possible, such as continuing education for their staff through Ready to Work, or finding creative ways for riders, operators, and horses to continue to coexist in their downtown footprint,” her statement said.
The statement signals that while Viagran has not completely turned her back on a ban, she's no longer certain it's the right path, putting in question the policy's viability at council.
There are five permitted horse-drawn carriage companies that operate in downtown San Antonio, and each has permits for five carriages, for a total of 25.
Owners and drivers of horse-drawn carriages said there was misinformation circulating about their horses’ wellbeing, driven by social media videos and a lack of information about horses.
“Animal activists, some of which are here today, don’t have a clue about my horses and how we treat them,” Yellow Rose & H.R.H. Carriage Company owner Stephanie Garcia said. “Yes, they catch a horse with its tongue out. Yes, they catch a horse with foam around its mouth. You don’t realize that that foam around its mouth is because the horse is playing with its bit. It’s happy.”
Garcia said the videos of horses foaming around their mouths were used to falsely claim they were dehydrated.
City ordinance requires that carriage drivers offer horses water and provide a 10-minute break between rides.
Katie Jarl, an animal welfare advocate focused on horses, said the horses experienced harmful working conditions and that horse-drawn carriages should be banned.
“San Antonio’s downtown streets have outgrown the ability to accommodate the horse carriages safely,” she said.
Jarl and other opponents said the carriages caused more congestion and blocked emergency vehicles. They also claimed horses were being forced to inhale bus and vehicle fumes and withstand higher temperatures.
City ordinance prevents carriages from operating when it is hotter than 95 degrees or during the main part of the day on Air Quality Health Alert Days.
An equine veterinarian contracted by the city who checks on the horses said he had not seen any health problems of the horses associated with being around vehicles. District 6 Councilmember Melissa Cabello Havrda said she wanted an independent veterinarian to review the animals in the next few months.
McKee-Rodriguez and Cabello Havrda both said they felt a ban was necessary. They asked city staff to develop plans to find current carriage employees other work. The city is researching the viability of electric carriages as one option.
Other council members seemed inclined to find a way to compromise with the companies, which is what the Transportation Advisory Board, a council-appointed group of residents who discuss and give recommendations on transportation issues, unanimously recommended that city council do.
Garcia said she understood the industry couldn’t stay the same. She said that she and her colleagues wanted to work with the council, whether it meant reducing their hours of operation or some other regulations.
“We want to compromise. We want to work together,” Garcia said. “Please make this happen. The carriage horses belong in downtown San Antonio.”
City staff will return to the committee in August with several options for what phasing out horse-drawn carriages could look like, if that is the decision the full council ultimately makes.
