Calèche ban on Plains of Abraham bad for horses, bad for tourism, operators say

The familiar clip-clopping of horses' hooves could be absent from the Plains of Abraham in Quebec City this summer because of a rule banning calèches, or horse-drawn carriages, from the national historic site — and that has calèche operators worried.

"It's one of the prerequisites for tourists," he said. "They ask if we go to the Plains of Abraham because the park is nice and because of the history."

"It's the highlight of our tour."

Carriages hard on asphalt

The National Battlefields Commission issued the ban last October, after the city decided it would no longer maintain the roadway.

"Last fall a coachman told us he nearly fell off a calèche during a tour with clients because of deep ruts in the pavement," said the commission's executive director, Michèle Gagné.

But Gagné said when she contacted the city to undertake repairs, she was told the municipality would no longer do it.

In an email to Radio-Canada, the city said the Plains of Abraham is federal territory, and as such, an agreement should be drawn up identifying what work needs to be done, whose responsibility it is to carry it out and how costs are to be shared between the two bodies.

Gagné said her priority is the conservation of Battlefield Park — and calèche operators don't pay to take tourists into the park.

Doyle said he feels calèche operators are being held hostage by the dispute over repairs.

"We figure that if city would put up the money for the asphalt, we'd be back out there right away," he said.

And he said keeping the horses off the Plains of Abraham won't be good for them.

"That's where the horse feels at home. He's in the pasture; he sees the grass. There's no traffic. There's no stress. So that's one of the highlights for the horses," he said.

Doyle said his company has strict criteria to ensure the horses' well-being, including not making them work for more than five hours at a time when tours are busy.

For the horses, a trip around the Plains of Abraham is almost as good as a break, he said, giving them some time to relax and get some fresh air.

Doyle said not having access to the Plains is going to be tough on his business, as well.

"We're in competition with double-decker buses, which are allowed in the park," he said. "We definitely need the Plains."

More calèches on city streets

Doyle said the carriage operators and their horses will be forced to spend more time on city streets, battling with traffic which he points out could create more of a problem than incurring the cost of repairing pavement in Battlefield Park.

"Replacing the asphalt in an urban area is a lot more difficult than replacing the asphalt in a park,"  he said. "You've got to manage the traffic, and the road will have to be closed."

Doyle said he's working with city officials to map out a new route for calèche operators for the summer.

The city said it wasn't its decision to ban calèches from Battlefield Park, but it's working towards coming to an agreement with the National Battlefield Commission on the matter within the next month.