MEET THE TEAM

Community. Co-workers who are there for you. Not the family you were born into, but the family that you found; both two and four-legged. Education. Having the opportunity to share so much knowledge with people who come from all over the world. Not just about the history of Victoria, but also about draft horses. Anyone who knows me knows I can talk for hours about horses, and it is the best part of my day when someone comes to talk to us on the street about the horses. To ask questions about the different types of horses, their care, and how everything works within the company. I'd say one of my favourite things about speaking with the public is correcting the misconception that all draft horses are Clydesdales! Educating the public is so incredibly fulfilling.

Working for VCT is knowing that you are going to cry; with happiness and frustration, sweat; because you are working for your horse and for your customers - but thank goodness you get to feel the sun! And bleed; because working outside means working hard, but you know that you would never change a day of it. I would never trade the hardest days I've had with this company for a job at a desk. Victoria Carriage Tours will teach you dedication, and strength in the face of adversity. I love being here, and when you love what you do that love comes back to you. To me, this is the ultimate job. It will teach you how to be a strong, confident, well-presented young adult. From there, you will either grow roots into the company (like me), or you will have all the skills necessary to tackle anything you want to achieve throughout your life.

So what does Victoria Carriage Tours mean to me? Family, hard work, dedication, and having the pleasure of knowing and loving some of the most incredible horses that I've ever had the honour of taking care of.

Describing what Victoria Carriage Tours means to me in concise words is a challenge. This company is my home, my career, and my family. The horses first and foremost will always have a huge piece of my heart. Although I no longer work down town as a tour guide regularly, I will always be deeply involved with the VCT herd. I wouldn't have it any other way. 

The VCT family isn't just the horses. It is also the people who come together over their love of these magnificent horses. Victoria Carriage Tours is my second family. They not only employed me for all of my twenties in a job I loved, but they supported and welcomed my opportunities to further my education and carreer. Today I have them and their wonderful horses to thank for the Equine Assisted Therapy program I run on the VCT horse farm. They supported my dream and allowed my practice to flourish with the help of their retired carriage horses and their beautiful horse farm. My clients come and enjoy the peaceful tranquility of the farm, just as I have been able to do for all of these years; just being with the horses.

Victoria Carriage Tours gave me a job in my twenties, a career in my thirties, and a family for life. As I get married in October 2020, I do so on the Victoria Carriage Tours horse farm riding a carriage horse to the ceremony, in true "Carriage Industry Lifer" style. Our intimate ceremony will have the carriage company owners, employees, and even more horses on the guest list! And yet again, the next step into my future is taken with the Victoria Carriage Tours family at my side.

Victoria Carriage is a lot more than just a job. It’s a community and a family within itself. I know that the people around me will always be there for support. It’s provided me with so much happiness and extra knowledge. I’ve built many new connections and bonds with the people and horses. Something that will always stick with me is the happiness that our work can provide for people.

Victoria Carriage Tours is a family of educators, animal lovers and role models in our community.  Going to work has felt like going home ever since I first started.  I love seeing my coworkers (both people and horses) every day, and knowing how cared for they all are.  I researched the company before applying, and so knew that the horses were well cared for, but even still, I was so pleased to find out for myself how much the horses enjoyed coming into work every morning.  Trust me, they make it obvious!  

As a teacher, I have enjoyed learning all of the history about our beautiful city, and love sharing it all with visitors and residents alike.  I feel so fortunate to be a part of the VCT family!

VCT is a place where I am surrounded by empowering people from all walks of life, who just all happen to have a similar love for horses. Here at VCT we are one big family (hairy and hairless alike), and one that I would have never guessed I would gain, but one I wouldn't trade in for anything.

Being a tour driver for Victoria Carriage Tours is one of those rare jobs where going to work means spending the whole day with your best friend (well, if your best friend enjoys alfalfa cubes and drinking from a bucket, but the people aren’t half bad either!). The four legged and two legged members of the team have become my second family—that’s what makes Victoria Carriage Tours so special to me.

Victoria Carriage Tours for me has always been my family and my home. No matter what I look forward to coming to work to see my family, whether they have two or four legs. Even when I’m not supposed to be I find myself making the trip to come to work just to see everyone. VCT is a place where I always felt happy, safe and welcomed- no matter what.

When asked what Victoria Carriage Tours means to me two words immediately come to mind, LOVE and KINDNESS. I joined the company a few months ago as a stable hand and the love that this herd of horses gives off towards their two legged human friends is like none I’ve ever seen before. I have, on multiple occasions, found it difficult to get chores done because I am so kindly interrupted by one of the horses who has decided to actively come over for a visit. It is certainly the best kind of interruption one could ask for! On the other side of things, the word kindness comes to mind when thinking about the people who take care of the horses and run the company. I get to be with the horses when they are off work and it is evident that they are living the best horse life possible. It is the perfect combination, they get the stimulation, exercise and pride of being at work and then they get to come home and simply be horses. This is definitely a testament to the company as a whole. I have worked with horses for over sixteen years in a variety of different disciplines all over the world and I have never worked with horses so happy and loving as the horses from Victoria Carriage Tours. In a nutshell, when I think of Victoria Carriage Tours I think of a great company that incorporates kindness as a core value and in doing so creates an environment in which both the horses and the staff can thrive. I love coming to work and getting all the horse hugs one could ask for. 

What its like being a carriage driver. It’s having the best view, often of horses and sunsets. Meeting people from around the world and making their day a little brighter. It’s teaching people about our city and what makes it special, while also working with some of the best people and horses of course!

Working with VCT has given me the opportunity to work directly with the famous and beloved carriage horses.

It's fascinating to see the unique personality of each horse come out when they're roaming the acreage together. It's very humbling to be a part of.

VCT means family. The people we work beside and the horses we work with become much closer than coworkers. Since I have been with this company I have come to find that I can rely on everyone with anything in confidence.

VCT was my first real job and for the first time ever I got to learn what a work environment is and I’m glad I chose VCT. I have met some of the most interesting people from across the world. I’ve also gotten to work with some of the most amazing people many of whom I hope to be lifelong friends with. The horses I’ve gotten to work with are some of the best and in working with them have improved my own skill as a horseman.

VCT means taking care of our employees, customers and animals in a kind, respectful manner.  It means providing the most unique visitor experience possible when you come to our city, something you will hang on to long after you leave Victoria.

What does Victoria Carriage tours mean to me...

Let me say at the outset that this is a lifestyle; not a job and more of a home than a place of work.

I have been a horseman for nearly 40 years - most of my adult life.

I have worked for this company for the past 10 years.

I have been educated every day by the horses in the ways of patience, selflessness, calm and assertive problem solving, and respect in ways people cannot teach.

Any healthy environment and subsequent association with horses could have sufficed in part but not to the extent that Victoria Carriage tours has.

I was born 60 years ago in this city; my father was born here, as was his father. 

If you add our life experience together that's 242 years of stories of life and work that I and my family have lived day to day on this ground. 

My grandfather drove and rode horses on Douglas street when it was dirt and wood.

My father and mother lived through a world war here; he went to fight, she built ships as a welder.

 I have lived here since 1960.

I can speak with experience of new and old and what Victoria actually is and that experience deepens my connection to this company.

I see a sad progression in the culture of Victoria away from what made us desirable as a society of people and towards just another city on a map somewhere.

One thing has always grounded the temperament of Victoria and that is the daily presence of horses;

 They are the only thing left of all the work and accomplishments after the old wood has rotted and the brick has crumbled.

All that is really left of Victoria is stories and buildings and horses.

 But you can't touch or smell stories and buildings;

They have no soul....which leaves us with the only living breathing real experience that people can touch and remember

and that is our horses. 

The actual breath and sweat and sound people experience will stay in their hearts for a lifetime.

When people see pictures of this pioneering place they see 2 things - buildings and horses. 

The proof of this is the murals and archival photos we put on every street corner to remind ourselves,   Pictures paint a thousand words - just words.

Tourists I have spoken to want to reach back and experience the feeling of a pioneering city; why else would they come here ?.

Victoria carriage tours is one of only 2 places left here that allow all tourists - and our own residents for that matter - to experience what it means to live in ,or come from this city .

Because of the incredible importance of horses in our heritage we operate exactly the way all horses have operated in this city for over 150 years. ( possibly minus the man with the lantern stopping traffic to allow us into a lane)

What keeps me at Victoria Carriage tours is the steadfast dedication of its principle operators to maintain a place where the 30+ draft horses 

that comprise our family can be safe and relatively free of the progressive decisions people make on the headlong rush to make an old world city

into a modern thing.

Each day here begins with the horses' needs - before daylight - before traffic - before the first jet flies - various people are already here caring for these creatures who cannot care for themselves.

I ship the horses to the people of Victoria and lovingly pass them to our professional drivers who expertly navigate the streels that the ancestors of the horses literally plowed and built,

I have the privilege of greeting the residents of James Bay as well as the amazing diverse travellers from the cruise ships of Ogden point. 

I Laugh with the movie crews that frequent the crew parks set up at the terminal during their location shooting.

I watch our breathtakingly beautiful horses execute perfect takes in movie shoots.

Some days off - I just come here to converse, play, and often just be in their presence.

I cannot - not, be here. 

I feel the electricity when I place a child's terrified hand on a quivering nostril and feel the eyes widen and the heart open.

And I remember - from 40 years of dedicated study - why the great academies of learning included horsemanship beside mathematics, music, and literature in their curriculum;

because it produces people who can fearlessly deal with something that cannot be controlled - but can only be guided through mutual agreement. 

I want those people in my society - in my Victoria.

When we have lost horses in our daily lives we will have lost the last ability to teach our children while they are still in wonder years what the horses uniquely posses. - The inhuman ability to not destroy that which they do not understand.

Victoria Carriage tours allows me to participate in this ageless endeavor to rise above our vast knowledge, and learn the wisdom necessary to wield it.

That is what employment at Victoria Carriage tours really means to me.