hannon Cole has had the privilege of being with horses for her entire life. The affinity that she has established with these magnificent creatures has given her a remarkable sense of responsibility, spirituality, and a greater overall understanding of people and animals. They are truly her passion!

he grew up on a cattle ranch in southwest North Dakota. Her father also had 120 Thoroughbreds that were bred and raced throughout the US and Canada. It was on that farm that she began taking riding lessons at the age of 3 from her older sister, Dr. Joy Cole, DVM, a former competitor with the Equestrian Team of the University of Tennessee, and who is currently a veterinarian in Virginia. Shannon competed in rodeos and playdays in North Dakota ,and was active in 4-H until she moved to Kentucky at the age of 10 where she began English riding lessons and competed with hunter-jumpers (she trained her own horse to jump) and equitation under saddle well through her teenage years. She lived and competed in Florida for a year before moving to Texas in 1990 at the age of 15, where she has remained ever since.

hile in attendance at Texas Women's University majoring in psychology, she worked part time as a wrangler and riding instructor in McKinney for Jolabec Stables. While in this position, she was approached by a carriage driver and given the reins where she promptly fell in love with driving horses. She drove for Dallas Surrey Service for 3 1/2 years until she purchased her own horses and carriage for what has become Happy Trails Carriage Service (formerly Happy Trails Horse-Drawn Carriage Service) on February 5th, 2001. As of January, 2006, she has relocated her service to historic downtown McKinney, Texas.

s. Cole has had over 11 years' worth of continuous driving experience and a lifetime of horse experience. She is actively sought throughout the Metroplex for services including:

• weddings

• parades

• proms

• surprise engagements

• anniversaries

• birthday tours

• children's birthday theme parties

• Punjabi matrimonial ceremonies

• romantic cruises through downtown

• television and film productions

... and just about anything else one can imagine, within the realm of safety to her horses and passengers of course.

The Business Partners AKA The Horses

uttermilk and Trigger, the original pair who the company was named for, were purchased on December 30th,2000 from the late Charles Smith, who owned Dallas Surrey Service and was the father of the carriage industry in Dallas. They are full siblings and registered Missouri Foxtrotters, both born born in March, a year apart from one another. They are both incredibly intelligent (they even know the traffic lights and routes!) and great with children. Buttermilk is also used for Baraat ceremonies and recently rode CEO Dave Dewalt of Mcafee into the ballroom of the Mariott at Legacy in Plano. Shannon has been driving these two downtown from July 3rd, 2000 while employed by Dallas Surrey Service until she relocated to McKinney, and today continues to operate in McKinney and other areas of North Texas.