In the kind of news that hasn't made headlines in years, three people and a draft horse are mending this week after a car totaled a horse-drawn carriage near Sacramento's waterfront.

Police are still searching for the silver Toyota sedan that rammed into the carriage on Third Street as it circled Crocker Park Sunday night, Sacramento Police spokesperson Norm Leong said.

One of Old Sacramento's horse-and-carriage businesses may be out an $8,500 replica French carriage unless the driver steps forward.

The car struck without warning near O Street. The carriage rolled, sending driver Rick Newborn and two passengers flying to the ground. The impact broke the carriage into pieces. The roughly 1,600-pound horse ran off, dragging what was left of the carriage behind him, said Newborn, who owns the commercial horse-carriage business Top Hand Ranch with his wife, Dianna.

"Never heard it coming. Never seen it leave," said Newborn, who is bruised and sore from the accident.

Fox — a 9-year-old cross between a Percheron draft and a paint horse — is on antibiotics after suffering cuts and minor lacerations in the back legs. Four stitches were needed for one cut.

A couple was enjoying a special holiday ride when the accident took place. Their minor injuries were treated at a nearby hospital.

Newborn was only 12 when he and his father started the commercial horse-and-carriage operation part-time in 1970. Top Hand Ranch is one of three carriage companies working regularly in Old Sacramento. Licensed to travel on streets throughout Sacramento, they also offer trips that start in Old Sacramento and travel out along the Sacramento River, around Crocker Park and up to the Capitol.

A car hasn't hit a Top Hand Ranch carriage in more than a decade, said Newborn, who lives in Rescue.

"It's a very rare occurence," Newborn said. "Normally, the cars are pretty respectful of the carriages."

The car driver fled the scene. Other cars pulled over and people got out, but Newborn was too busy attending to the couple and then finding the runaway horse to know whether passersby offered assistance. Fox ran all the way to T Street and headed west. Newborn found the horse between Third and Fourth streets.

"He was shaken up a little bit," Newborn said.

Percherons are known for both their strength in pulling loads and a grace fit for pulling carriages, according to the Percheron Horse Association of America. Fox was taken home and stabilized Sunday night, then transported to the vet Monday. The horse stands 16 hands tall and is spotted bay, white and black. He was eating well Tuesday.

"Right now, we expect him to come back to work with not much complications," Newborn said. "He'll recover physically. We just want to see how the mental part is."

Newborn doesn't know if he'll be able to replace the carriage. The company has liability insurance, but no insurance coverage for carriages. On Tuesday, the couple was shoeing another horse which will return from a work break and take over for Fox.

Top Hand Ranch is based in Elverta. The company, which became a full-time business in 1982, also offers hay rides, a horse-drawn hearse for funerals, and carriage services for weddings and other special occasions. Rick and Dianna Newborn do most of the driving. However, they also have two part-time drivers and Dianna's mother and sister also work in the family business.

The company owns four French replica carriages that carry up to six people and American wagons that carry 12 to 20. Horse-drawn carriage rides in Old Sacramento are $10. A 20- to 30-minute ride from there to Crocker Park is $30. A 45-minute ride to the Capitol is $50.

Top Hand Ranch also can pick up passengers at houses citywide for $100 an hour.

The company does history re-enactments at Sutter Fort and elsewhere. They once were hired by a couple who had a mock royal court wedding. The bride and her knight in armor rode off in the carriage. The Newborns travel "all over," and have been hired for events as far as Nevada, the Sierra Mountains and San Francisco. There's no real limit to how far they'll travel, Newborn said.

"It depends on how much they're willing to pay to get me there," he said.

In photo, Thunder pulls a Top Hand Ranch carriage in Old Sacramento Tuesday.