North Star Carriage owner Brian High looks at one of his horses on his ranch in Krum on Thursday, Jan. 4, 2024. City Council members began publicly discussing a possible ban on horse-drawn carriage rides in early December and will continue deliberating this year. If Dallas is going to move forward with a ban, the city should allow North Star Carriage to operate under a grandfather clause.
If you live or work in the downtown Dallas area, you’ve probably seen these carriages trotting down the street with couples or groups of tourists aboard. It’s not a burgeoning industry, however. In the whole city, North Star Carriage is the only permitted operator, with five carriage permits, and it has been the sole operator for many years.A City Council committee recently recommended that Dallas ban horse-drawn carriages.
Sure, horses can be unpredictable sometimes, but every Dallas driver knows humans can be, too. We agree with council member Paul Ridley’s assessment that this isn’t a major traffic issue. At any rate, incidents involving horse-drawn carriages seem to be few and far between. Council member Adam Bazaldua cited a few examples of incidents from his own research that occurred in the last 10 years, but a couple of them were in Highland Park,Dallas tourism would survive just fine if horse-drawn carriages were to ride off into the sunset after a ban. But absent any proof that North Star Carriage is violating health and safety rules, then it should be allowed to continue to operate..