Tally-Ho's legacy dates back to spring 1903 when Anton Henderson started the first horse-drawn transportation company in Victoria, BC. At that time the carriages were pulled by 6 horses, as seen in the photo showing the Tally-Ho stage coach rounding Shoal Bay in 1903 ~ we don't advise travelling at this speed via horse-drawn carriage anymore!

It's amazing to look back on these historical photos and see how many people would cram onto the stages. No wonder it took 6 horses to pull them! This photo was taken in 1905. Did you notice the third horse in the front row? We don't often see a 5-up hitch at the county fairs these days.

We highly recommend you take the time to "click to enlarge" this old timetable. A stage from Mt. Tolmie to Victoria would have cost you 15¢ back then - wow, we can't even imagine our horses travelling that distance with no stops today, especially loaded down with all those passengers and luggage! Did you also see the bottom line in this poster: "The above stage is the finest running out of Victoria... being well adapted for [among other things] shooting parties". Sorry to disappoint anyone, but we no longer offer "shooting party" services! For those of you whom plan to visit the Royal BC Museum while in Victoria, look for this poster in the Olde Towne section.

In the late 1940's, under the ownership of Gordon Argyle and Art Knapp, Tally-Ho switched from a transportation to tourism company offering tours involving over two hours of travel. This photo, taken in 1944, shows an old 4-horse hitch collecting passengers in front of the Empress Hotel.

Later in the 1940's, the ownership of the company changed and Art Knapp welcomed John Olson as a new partner (Victorian's may recognize the Olson name as affiliated with the Strathcona Hotel - yes, they're one in the same people).

In 1964, John Olson hired on his 14 year old nephew, Bruce Wright, to help with odd jobs. Bruce's face is synonymous with the Tally-Ho today as he remained actively involved with the company until 2006 - most Victorians will have a memory or story about Bruce! He is well travelled and has led a very colourful life. Bruce can spin a tale that will have anyone glued to his or her seat to find out the ending. This old newspaper photo from the 1980's shows Bruce with a couple of his 'old boys' at the farm.

Eventually, technological improvements in horse-drawn vehicles meant the company no longer needed four to six horses to pull the wagons. This 1967 photo shows a convoy of Tally-Ho wagons at Victoria's inner harbour. Back then there were so many tourists and families travelling to Victoria that 13 of these wagons would operate each day - today, we operate only 4 private carriages and the occasional wagon. The company sure has had to adapt to changing times over the years!

In 1982, Bruce hired a young boy of 15 years (just like his uncle had done with him), to feed and water the horses after school and on weekends. This young boy, Larry Friedlander, would be next in line for an ownership role, and in 1990 became partners with Bruce and his former wife, Joanne. Now, over 25 years later, Larry is operating the company on his own and still loves his "job" (really, how hard could it be to walk out your door every morning to these beautiful steeds lazing in the yard?).

It wasn't until the late 1980's that Tally-Ho started to experience competition. Since then, two other carriage companies have opened their doors and government regulations have resulted in all three carriage companies operating 10 feet from one another. Of course we like to think our horses, staff and experience give us an edge, but that's just our humble opinion. It was due to the changing competitive market that in the early 1990's Tally-Ho switched gears again to offer both horse-drawn carriage and wagon tours.

Our archive of newspaper articles and collection of old brochures and knick-knacks on the Tally-Ho would, we guess, start to bore you after awhile, but we had to share just a few more pieces of memorabilia before you click off this page! These post-cards were created by "Cowboy Bob", an old Tally-Ho driver from the 1980's!

Perhaps one of our best moments was making it into this August 1989 issue of the "Betty and Veronica" comic book series.