Karen Bassett is one of Britain’s top carriage drivers and has competed as part of the British Team on numerous occasions at the World Four-in-Hand Carriage Driving Championships. She is currently the World’s leading lady Four-in Hand Carriage Driver.  At Christmas 2009, her Horse Drawn Hearse business was featured in the ITV programme ’All the Queen’s Horses’, presented by Alan Titchmarsh, and Karen also drove Alan around Royal Windsor showground in her dressage phaeton.

For funerals she uses black Silesian or Friesian horses, or greys, which are all trained to stand quietly and are extremely reliable in .  She can offer any of these horses in a pair, a team of four, or even six in hand.  The horses are turned out to a high standard in English leather harness, with traditional collars.  They usually wear black, white, pink, blue or purple ostrich feather plumes, but other colours are available.  They also wear either black or white drapes.  The Driver and Groom wear traditional Victorian livery.

Shown below are a few examples of different turnouts, showing the varying hearses, and some of the numerous colour combinations available.