Page 33 - The Hunt - Spring 2021

For no reason that he can remember, Don Rosato became enamored with carriages when he was about 40. He learned from Dr. Clarkson “Bud” Addis Jr., one of Chester County’s legendary horsemen, at his Tally Ho Farm in Birchrunville, Pa. “Bud was a kind, soft-spoken man, and it was a pleasure to be in that kind of learning situation,” says Rosato. “He started me on my first carriage and told me how to get it restored.”
That first one was a four-wheeled runabout, with a single seat for two people. Rosato bought it in 1975 at a sale in Lancaster County. “It was a wreck, but because of that it was cheap,” Rosato says. “I had it brought back to the barn and started to restore it. Six months later, the barn burned down.”
The fire didn't douse Rosato’s interest in carriages. His current barn at St. Matthews Place is filled with them in various states of disrepair. Many are fully refurbished. “I bounced back by getting two carriages,” he says.
To start, Rosato got one or two horse carriages and
gigs (two-wheeled versions pulled by one horse). He also acquired more runabouts. One of his favorites is a spider phaeton, a convertible carriage that seats two passengers and has a groom’s seat on the back. “A patient gave it to me because it was a wreck,” he says. “After we refurbished it, it was gorgeous. Hope Scott loved that carriage.”
Along with nine carriages, Rosato has four sleighs that are pulled over snow by one or two horses. “I started with a one-horse open sleigh—as the song goes—and it was a ball. I graduated to a two-horse sleigh so we could take more people on rides,” says Rosato. “We used to be able to ride on the roads, but now they’re salted and plowed right away, so we have to go cross country. But it’s still great fun.”
Riding in a carriage is equally fun—and the horses seem to enjoy it, too. When Rosato tells them to walk on,
they slowly but purposefully head down the driveway of St. Matthew's Place, ready for another trip down the
quiet Chester Springs Road. TH
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