Portland Carriage Rides – Portland Horse Drawn Carriage

Portland Carriage Rides Guide. If you’re searching for horse and buggy rides in Portland, we’re here to help. Horse drawn carriage rides are popular because they offer an old-fashioned, nostalgic way to enjoy your special occasion. There are few things as beautiful as a horse, and what could be more romantic than being pulled along by a strong steed in a beautiful carriage?

Unfortunately horse drawn carriage rides are incredibly hard to come by in the entire state of Oregon right now. The closest you can get to that experience from Portland is booking a sleigh ride on Mt. Hood. Then we’ve found one other horse carriage company operating in Bend, Oregon and one in Baker County, Oregon. If you know of any others still operating – let us know!

Mt. Hood Sleigh Ride

Mt. Hood Sleigh Rides at Government Camp.
This is on our list of winter attractions as the most relaxing adventure and is definitely a ‘must do’ for winter things to do on Mt Hood near Portland, Oregon. Sleigh Rides are for all ages and can be a family adventure or a romantic getaway. The sounds of the horses hooves mixed with the jingle bells hung from the reigns brings out the true spirit of the winter season. Plan ahead because reservations for this adventure are limited and online booking is currently available.

Depending on the snow conditions at the time of your trip, a Large 7 seater sleigh or a covered Visavi carriage will be used behind our strong and beautiful Belgian Horses. We always plan to pull the Sleigh as we typically have a solid layer of snow throughout the winter season, but in case of low-snow years, the carriage offers a wonderful ride as well.

Bend, Oregon Carriage Rides

Cowboy Carriage Rides

Baker County Sleigh Ride

Baker County, Oregon Sleigh Rides

If you’d like an alternative, but perhaps equally fun and romantic way to enjoy Portland, you might consider a Portland pedicab ride instead. These “bike carriages”, or urban chariots are powered by humans instead of horses, and can give you a unique view of the city of Portland from the back of a pedicab. These Portland pedicabs are popular with tourists as well as locals and can be a fun way to get around town. There used to be a ton of options in town and now we can only find one:

PDXPedicab

Another fun idea is to get a group of friends together and go on a BrewCycle – a cycling tour of local breweries.

BrewCycle

Closed Portland Carriage Rides and other Surrounding Areas

No longer in business list:
Horsebrass Bar used to run a Peacock Lane Horse Drawn Carriage Ride – Portland, Oregon.
Whiskey Creek Outfitters – Welches, Oregon.
April’s Carriage and Wagon Rides
Chafin Farm Carriages – Sweet Home, Oregon.
Daybreak Carriage Services – Battleground, Washington
Fairy Godmother’s Carriage Service – Salem, Oregon
Horsepower Carriages and Wagons – Portland, Oregon
Eastwind Percherons – Corbett, Oregon

Portland carriage rides used to be offered from a few select locations such as Downtown near major hotels, because they were popular with tourists. But, in the past you can also find private stables that offer carriage rides in the surrounding areas such as Welches, Mt. Hood, Salem, Oregon wine country, and Washington that are willing to reserve carriages for your private event. They used to deliver their horse and carriage to you for your special event such as your Portland wedding. In fact, most of these stables used to offer Portland wedding carriage rides as one of their major services. That’s all gone now.

Additional Portland carriage rides used to be found at various times at local seasonal Portland Christmas events such as Zoo Lights and Peacock Lane Christmas Lights. Not anymore.

Horse Drawn Carriages – Should they be banned?

Any page about Portland carriage rides should mention the health and safety of those beautiful creatures. While most people who raise animals have an inherent love and respect for their four-legged friends, not all stables are created equal. Unfortunately, when it comes to using live animals as part of a tourist attraction, the care of the horses doesn’t always come first. There was a death of a Portland carriage horse in Downtown Portland in 2009 (read more about that incident here OregonLive.com), which cast a shadow over this whole industry and stirred up plenty of controversy around whether these animals are being given adequate and humane care. Many Portlanders and animal welfare groups simply want the Portland carriage rides to be banned entirely. It’s a good idea to check the references of your horse drawn carriage service to make sure there are no complaints or issues, and take care to notice whether the horses look healthy and being treated with respect and care.

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