Marty Knowles and his wife live in Riviera, and about two to three times a week they head to the beach with one of their many miniature horses.
“We harness them up and we’ve got this wagon so we go up and down the beach on the water line,” said Marty Knowles.
For the past four years, Knowles has offered children and sometimes adults free rides on his wagon drawn by his miniature horse, Sugaray.
“Usually four or five [years old], sometimes 12, and once in a while a crazy older person will jump on,” said Knowles.
He doesn’t charge money, but he does accept donations. But last week Knowles was told he could no longer offer rides unless he registered with the city as a vendor, and paid the vendor permit fees
“Never had any trouble, we’ve worked with beach Parks and Recreation before and they were more than happy to let us do it,” said Knowles.
We reached out to the Department of Parks and Recreation regarding the rules for vendors, they responded saying someone is considered a vendor the moment money exchanges hands.
“There is also a city ordinance in place regarding horse-drawn carriages, if it’s horse-drawn then they need to have extra liability insurance,” said Knowles.
They added that if Knowles chose to ride his miniature horse by himself on the beach, he would not be breaking any rules.
