More About Us

Welcome! I’m Shari Erickson. I have had a passion for driving horses for most of my life, beginning nearly 50 years ago, when my grandfather fashioned a harness for my riding horse and turned an old Studebaker hood into a sled. I spent a summer or two on my seat, driving my mare around the neighborhood when I didn’t feel like saddling her up. Together, we’d fly down the road to the rhythm of her feet clip-clopping along–something one has to experience to truly appreciate! I continued to pursue this passion for the next 30 years for purely personal enjoyment.

It was around 2015 that I discovered that a large number of usable horses were going through the kill pens at auction barns, even here in Minnesota. I was told that many of these horses were headed to such a fate because they were either lame or simply had served no purpose to their owner. I knew I couldn’t save all of them, but I could save some of them. In July of that year, I saved my first horse. In September I bought another and in October I bought another. Now I had a full line of horses to work with. I’m proud to say these horses are the true rock stars of the show!

In 2020, with all of the turmoil and chaos in the world I wanted to give people the opportunity to enjoy these horses, as I do, as well as the opportunity to be whisked away to a kinder and gentler time – if only for an hour. Hence, Erickson Acres Carriage Company was born.