Taylor van Zyl and Mark Drummond are the owners and drivers of Pair a Dice Carriages, performing this Thursday, Aug. 7 at the Carbondale Wild West Rodeo (CWWR).
“There’s nothing quite as exhilarating as witnessing a gleaming stagecoach drawn by six big black Percherons thunder into the arena,” CWWR’s website describes. “The ground rumbles beneath the power of their hooves, and the sight of these majestic horses transports every onlooker back to the days of the Wild West and the legendary spirit of John Wayne.”
Wrangler, Mark (the horse), Ace, Levi, Ty and Houston are all Percherons, a breed of draft horse known for their calmness, steadiness and extreme athleticism.
Van Zyl and Drummond first met at Carbondale’s rodeo and later found themselves driving sleighs at the Pine Creek Cookhouse in Aspen. Both had rodeoed their whole lives and wanted to incorporate their shared passions for driving horse teams.
Thus, Pair a Dice is a commercial horse-drawn carriage service based in Arizona. In the winter they work weddings, parades, private events and Christmas festivities. Come summer, they travel with the stagecoach and six-horse hitch on the rodeo circuit where they get hired to be a VIP ride or as a specialty act.
“They’re just a lot of fun… when you learn all the trust and they learn to trust you and you’re able to drive,” said Drummond.
“He has a bigger grin driving six horses than I’ve ever seen,” van Zyl added.
“You’ve got 12,000 pounds in two hands,” Drummond remarked.
“The places I can go and situations we can put them in, most horses, you can’t do that with,” van Zyl said. “And even within the Percheron breed, to find six of these that can do what we ask our horses to do is…” she paused. “I mean, to go on the street and do carriage rides and then go to the arena with 10,000 screaming people… it does take a special horse. They’re extremely talented, extremely well natured.”
Mosey on over to the Gus Darien Riding Arena for this specialty performance and the third-to-last rodeo this Thursday, Aug. 7. Gates open 5pm, slack is at 5:45pm and grand entry at 7:30pm, sharp.
