Layer Marney Horse Drawn Carriages Blog

Introducing Layer Marney Horse Drawn Carriages

Family run and fully insured business Layer Marney Horse Drawn Carriages is based south west of Colchester. Taking pride in being a very friendly business, Layer Marney Horse Drawn Carriages thrives on making your day special and giving a very personal service.Coachman Alan has over 30 years of carriage driving experience, and has passed The British Driving Society ‘Code of Practice Road Driving Assessment for both Pairs of Horses and Teams of Horses in Rural & Urban Environment’.

As passionate horse enthusiasts, the horses used to pull the array of carriages are not just ‘tools of the trade’ but very much loved family members. Their health and welfare is paramount and they love the role that they play on your special day.

Alan and his wife Paulette decided to go into providing horse drawn carriage services as they wanted other people to be able to experience and enjoy the timeless quintessential beauty that carriage horses provide.

Alan Coe

Alan grew up in Layer Marney on his family’s dairy farm. He was brought up with horses, driving and riding competitively as a child. He rode in point to points from the age of 16, winning many championships, and later in his early twenties he rode against professional jockeys. Alan had to retire from race riding due to one too many injuries, which sadly comes with the territory, and the struggle to keep his weight down. He is also a registered farrier and has run his own farriery business for over 18 years.

Alan returned to his early love of carriage driving, breaking in all of his own horses as well as many for other people. He now does all of the driving for the business and has the relevant qualifications to drive up teams of horses commercially.

Paulette Coe

Paulette is the main person behind the scenes looking after all of the horses on a day-to-day basis: mucking out, grooming and daily exercise. Paulette plaits and turns out the horses to a very high standard. She loves being around the horses and caring for their every need, making sure they are all happy and healthy. This is shown by the huge bond that she has with each and every one of the ‘boys’ and their mutual affection for her.

Paulette’s other great love in life is dogs – especially her beautiful black Labradors that she breeds and has four generations of. They are never far from her side! Her favourite thing in the world is to combine her love for her dogs and horses,by taking trips around the beautiful English countryside (especially the New Forest) in the carriage with the dogs at heel.