Philadelphia’s last carriage company cleared out its stables, but are its tours returning?

A group of animal rights activists gathered at Sixth and Market Streets on Saturday afternoon to protest the city’s only remaining carriage-horse tour company — a familiar scene surrounding a part of Philadelphia tourism that some see as a touch of colonial charm and others as cruel and dangerous work for animals.

The group had heard the rumors in recent weeks that 76 Carriage Co., which has been offering horse-drawn rides through the city’s historic district for more than 40 years as well as bus and trolley tours, suddenly ceased carriage tours. Still, protesters such as Tiffany Stair of Revolution Philadelphia, a nonprofit animal rights organization that has been organizing protests for two years and calling for a city ban on carriage horses, could not yet believe it.

The horses were gone.

“We just thought it was strange, like, ‘OK, maybe they’re going to get here,’” she said.

A company tour operator offered no answers.

Stair called the number listed for the 76 Carriage Co. stables on Hancock Street in Olde Kensington. It had been disconnected.

Stair drove to the stables, which had been sold and slated for development in 2021 but where the company had at least until recently housed its horses.

The stalls were empty.

“The horses were gone,” Stair said. “There were guys cleaning out the warehouse. The warehouse used to have a ton of carriages in it, but they were all gone. Everything was gone.”

Stable managers offered few answers. Neighbors told the group the company had cleared out of the stables earlier in the week without explanation, with trailers coming to take away the horses.

With Philly’s other carriage company having closed in 2017, a question quickly emerged at the center of a divide between tour operators and animal rights activists: Has Philadelphia, at least for now, seen its last carriage ride?

The answer to that question remains murky, a not totally surprising development in an industry defined by deep-seated rife.

Michael Slocum, president of the 76 Carriage Co., did not respond to numerous requests for comment. Employee at the stables would not comment. But at least two others who identified themselves as former drivers used social media in recent weeks to share emotional goodbyes to a company they said was closing for good — and to jobs and horses they said were loved.

On Monday, hours after The Inquirer posted a version of this article online, the 76 Carriage Co. posted an all-caps statement on Facebook: “WE ARE MOVING OUR STABLES. PLEASE CHECK BACK IN LATE SPRING FOR OUR REOPENING DETAILS. OUR HORSES ARE OFF ON VACATION AT OUR FARM.”

Sarah Barnett, executive director of ACCT Philadelphia, the city’s animal care and control service provider, said the company also contacted her agency Monday, after having not responded to calls Sunday.

“We received notification today that they did retire several horses — and that they intend to move to a new location in the spring,” she said, adding that the company has not yet filed for a 2023 operating license and that any new site would first need to pass inspection.

In recent weeks, company tour operators have told customers carriage rides could restart in spring.

(When initially asked about the rumors last week at the Sixth and Market stand — where the company’s Big Bus Tours and trolley rides remain available — a tour operator said carriage drivers had been surprised to learn tours were ending and they were being laid off. After learning that he was speaking with a reporter, the operator stepped away to make a phone call, then said tours would restart in a few months.)

Councilmember Mark Squilla, who represents Old City, where carriage rides are offered, said Sunday he had not yet talked to Slocum but did not believe the carriage company was closing.

“The last I heard, they were just moving the stables,” he said. “I think I would have known.”

A developer has proposed a six-story, mixed-use building on the carriage stable site with 110 residential units, 14,500 square feet of commercial space, and an underground parking garage.

One thing is clear amid the uncertainty: For the first time in decades, the familiar sight of trundling carriages and clip-clop sound of hooves have been gone from the cobblestone streets surrounding Independence Park.

“I am still not sure I have fully grappled with the shock of it,” wrote Pamela Rickenbach, a former driver at the company, in a recent Facbook post, lamenting the “unbearable decision” her former bosses had faced in closing. In an interview Monday, Rickenbach she had spoke to some of the laid-off drivers — all work as independent contractors — who said owners told them they hoped to soon rehire them.

“It’s a really difficult thing when you love something and you love an animal,” she said of out-of-work drivers.

After seeing the empty stables on Saturday, advocates such as Stair and Stephanie Curson from Ban Horse Carriages Philadelphia issued a statement demanding to know what happened to the 10 horses previously housed there.

“Oftentimes these horses are sent to auction for their ‘retirement’ or sold to people involved in the carriage industry,” said Stair. “We have several reputable and trusted sanctuaries that are happy to give these horses loving forever homes.”

Barnett, of ACCT Philadelphia, said she believed five of the company’s horses had been re-homed in recent weeks, including two sent to a carriage company in Massachusetts. She didn’t know whether the animals had been sold or leased for a possible return.

Unlike the Philadelphia Carriage Co. — closed in 2017 by a court injunction at the urging of advocates and Squilla, and whose horses were all sent to an animal sanctuary — the 76 Carriage Co. has no history of violations and passed a recent inspection without issue.

“There were no really issues with them violating any of their requirements,” Barnett said, adding that she was not surprised by the company’s remained quiet in its action.

“Given the contentiousness of the issue and the fixation on where the animals go, it would not be not surprising that a company would close its stables and move the horses as a last step to avoid scrutiny,” Barnett said.

For his part, Squilla said he continues to work with advocates to find alternatives to horse-drawn carriages, such as electric horseless-carriages, but had not found anything viable for Philadelphia.

With carriage-less streets at least a temporary reality, Stair and Stephanie urged Squilla to take deeper action.

“The time is now for … Mark Squilla to introduce legislation so that horse-drawn carriages are banned for good in the city of Philadelphia,” said Curson.

On Hancock Street Sunday, Stacey Morris, owner of the Haven Wellness Center across the street from the stables, said the stable managers did not share much about the company’s plan with neighbors.

She said she was conflicted when she saw the horses leaving last week. She and her dog, Herbie, always stopped to see them on their walks.

“It’s kind of a mixed emotion,” Morris said. “I don’t think it’s healthy for horses to be in the city. But I did like seeing the horses. I think that’s the consensus around the neighborhood: Everybody is kind of happy, but also sad to see them go, because a lot of people would just come to say hello to them.”