A horse-drawn carriage accident left 15 people injured over the weekend in Oconomowoc, and another local ranch was stressing safety after the incident.
Paradise Ranch stopped offering carriage rides in public years ago, opting instead for the controlled environment of their ranch in Cedarburg.
Owners Sid and Katie Prom talked with TODAY'S TMJ4 following this weekend's accident between horses, a carriageandvehicles.
The Proms know the owner of the horses involved in the crash, saying the carriage community is a small one. The horses were injured but will recover.
While the Proms believe that offering horse and carriage rides in public can be done safely, they decided not to.
"We thought you know what, let's lower the risk," Sid said. "Do it in a controlled environment, we do it right here on our farm. We have trails cut through the woods where our horses go. We know where they are going to go. Our biggest risk is a deer."
The horses in Saturday's incident were believed to have been spooked. Generally, the Proms believe when a horse is spooked it is human error.
"They are not trying to create danger, they just don't know," Sid said. "So if they would ask us, 'hey can I take a picture next to the horse?' I'd tell them where to go next to the horse that is safest."
The Proms now offer sleigh rides with the horses on their property. They think depside recent public backlash the public will continue to enjoy carriage rides in the city.
"I think the public still wants us to do it...There's nothing more beautiful than a horse pulling a carriage through town," Sid said.
