Coach horse

“ The horse trainer, on the other hand, develops high knee action by putting on heavy shoes, the toes being left long; by trotting and galloping the horse in plowed land, deep snow, or a deep bed of straw. He also frequently taps the legs back of the knees with a whip or light stick as the horse takes daily walking exercise. Soon the animal learns the trick of high stepping, and thus is ready to match with one of like kind and gait, for sale at a high figure to some rich man in the city.
A coach horse with extraordinary high knee action was sold by a dealer to a city man for $400. ”

“ For from sixty to eighty guineas, the best of any man’s stock may be picked; and a sound, well-broke coach-horse is not dear at that price. The coach-horses of gentlemen should be high in flesh, as it enhances their appearance, and is no obstacle to pace. A sound five-year-old horse, with good legs and feet, and driven only in harness, will last, on an average, from six to ten years in gentlemen’s work, and will afterwards be very useful for other purposes. ”

“ A clear-winded coach horse will always keep his condition, and consequently his health, because he does not feel distress on a reasonable length of ground. The hunter or racer is good or bad, chiefly in proportion to his powers of respiration, and such equally applies to the coach horse. The food most proper, then, for a coach horse in fast work is that which affords ample support, without having a pernicious influence on his wind ”

“ That which is true of the coach-horse, is equally true of every other. Let each reader apply it to his own animal, and act as humanity and interest dictate.
Many a horse used on our public roads is unable to throw all his natural power or weight into the collar. ”

“ I am no horsewoman, and 'tis too far for a coach.' 'Too far!' says he; 'no place is too far for a coach-and-six. If I carry you out, you shall travel like a duchess.' 'Hum', says I, 'my dear, 'tis a frolic; but if you have a mind to it, I don't care.' Well, the time was appointed; we had a rich coach, very good horses, a coachman, postillion, and two footmen in very good liveries; a gentleman on horseback, and a page with a feather in his hat upon another horse. ”

“ There are other causes of unsoundness, such as crib-biting, which are no detriment to a coach-horse, though lowering their value in the market.
Then, again, if a horse fell and chipped his knees, whether it arose from any fault or not, he was, as a general rule, sold out of a gentleman's stable; and I once picked up an excellent horse merely for fear he should break his knees. He was a very well-made animal, with the exception that he turned his toes in. ”

“ Another day is nearly gone, and there are two sketches—a view of the side of the coach, and a more elaborated study than usual of "Vanilla." This horse has a coat like floss silk: another has wavy hair on its legs which resembles without colour the markings on a zebra. To-day was visitors' day, and I had to stop work at half-past two. I did the coach first, and when the stables were in order worked on the horse. The grooms are very attentive, and look after me well. One stands by to keep the horse in order. ”

“ No connoisseur in coaching matters would condescend to travel as a regular thing by a three-horse coach, and so those supporters were alienated, and, against their will, driven to the railway; and the “Swallow,” badly winged, carried only frightened old women who looked upon steam-engines as wild beasts. As they died away, no one took their places, and the old concern became a pair-horse coach. ”

“ The post-coach and the heavy-draft horse are there to be met with upon the same ground. The post-coach horse is, to be sure, bred a little everywhere; his temperament and the conditions in which he is placed, prepare him for this specialty.
It is, as we see, at the two extremities of the ellipse (especially where the pasture grounds are) , that the mares are found. In the center, at Mauves, Regmalard, Lougny, etc., etc., the inhabitants turn their attention to bringing up the colts. ”

“ In slow, heavy work, however, coach-horses will do their ground every day, barring accidents or illness.
In slow work, the average duration of coaching stock may be from six to seven years, provided they are at first fresh, and firm on their legs. In fast work, their time may be from three to four years, or scarcely perhaps so much. Coach proprietors on a large scale should have a break for their young horses, previous to going into regular work. The practice of putting a young horse unaccustomed to harness into a coach laden with passengers is most reprehensible ”

“ A young horse, when first put to a coach, should be turned to the pole very carefully, to prevent its touching his hind quarter, which might make him kick. When he has been driven long enough to be steady, he should be taken up in his bearing-rein, put down lower on his bit, and driven in a wide circle, or figure eight—keeping the inner horse well up to his collar and bit. ”

“ It is not desirable to hold horses too hard, but if a lot of slack is out a coachman is helpless if a horse falls or anything else goes wrong. Moreover, horses generally go better for being well held together. A coachman driving a coach, such as they used to be, who loosed his horses' heads, was generally soon brought to the use of his whip, whilst the same horses, well held together, would be fresh at the end of their stage. ”

“ All waggons are now vans, cart horses machiners, and must trot at least six miles an hour. We now take for our model the Clydesdale and the Suffolk in preference to the Flemish and the Yorkshire. Even in agricultural work the style of horses and the rate of ploughing is widely different from that of half a century ago. In this particular the afternoon of the worn-out coach horse or hunter is rendered less irksome to him than formerly, as he can more readily accommodate himself to a good fair walk than to be always snatching at the chains only to find he must come back to his partners. ”

“ It is fortunate for breeders of horses that a perfect form is not necessary to a good coach-horse. Some of those, indeed, which the London dealers sell at high prices for gentlemen’s work, are such brutes, when out of harness, that no man would ride them for their worth. The strong and lengthy shoulder, with well-bent hind legs, are not absolutely necessary ”

“ It was a fine sight to see six or eight good horses spread out, marching along in each other’s steps, and see how quick they were to mind the driver’s voice. Good drivers always spoke to their teams in a low voice, never shouted. The teamsters walked beside their teams, twenty miles a day the average. The reins were done up on each horse’s hames, allowing them to spread apart with ease, a check-rein from the bit over the hames to keep them where they belonged. You could never teach a horse anything that wasn’t checked up. ”

“ This principle of allowing the horses greater freedom for action is well worthy of the attention of coach-builders. The manner in which our horses are confined by tight, heavy strapping and traces, by tight pole chains, by bearing reins, and the indiscriminate use of blinkers to the bridles, has been much overdone in England. If a horse with a heavy load and driven fast over slippery roads should stumble, it is most difficult for him to recover himself. ”

“ No man with a hard, heavy hand can ever make a good horseman or driver. Neither will a nervous man ever be safe on a [194] coach-box, for presence of mind and strong nerve are there very often called into action.
The air and manner of a coachman have been cleverly described by some periodical writers. Let us, say they, suppose the horses put to their coach, all ready for a start—the reins thrown across the off wheel-horse’s loins, with the ends hanging upon the middle terret of his pad, and the whip thrown across the backs of the wheelers.—The coachman makes his appearance. ”

“ This was what is termed on the road a long fall of ground, and the coach rather pressed upon the horses. The temper of the race-horse became exhausted: breaking into a canter, he was of little use as a wheeler, and there was then nothing for it but a gallop. The leaders only wanted the signal; and the point of the thong being thrown lightly over their backs, they were off like an arrow out of a bow: but the rocking of the coach was awful, and more particularly so to the passengers on the roof. Nevertheless, she was not in danger: the master-hand of the artist kept her in a direct line ”

“ It is a mistake, however, that fleshy horses cannot go fast in harness; they are more powerful in draught than thin ones; and, having only themselves to carry, flesh does not injure their legs, as in riding. In a fast coach, then, a horse ought not to work more than four days without rest, as he becomes leg-weary, and wears out the sooner; and he becomes also too highly excited. A horse a mile, reckoning only one side of the ground, is about the proportion. Thus we may suppose that ten horses work the coach up and down a ten-mile stage, which gives eight at work, and two at rest. ”

“ In one of his letters on ‘the Road,’ he says, ‘If the coachman be driving with the short wheel rein, and a horse fall beyond recovery, he had better open his hand, and let the reins fall out, than run the risk of being pulled off the box.’ With all due deference to such authority, I cannot subscribe to this, as it frequently happens that a horse falls, is dragged along the ground for a short distance, and recovers himself the moment the coach stops, and then starts off at full gallop, the other horses following his example. ”

“ The Time of working each Stage is to be reckoned from the Coach's Arrival, and as any Time lost, is to be recovered in the course of the Stage, it is the Coachman's Duty to be as expeditious as possible, and to report the Horse-keepers if they are not always ready when the Coach arrives, and active in getting it off. The Guard is to give his best assistance in changing, whenever his Official Duties do not prevent it. ”

“ Then Sir Hubert came to my coach door and spoke to me.
'Mistress Margaret Brown,' he said, 'I am pleased to find that I can escort you as an outrider, as far as you are going. When my men come up with my horse, which they have recovered, we will ride by your coach. ”

“ This unbounded admiration and approval do not at all deteriorate from the merits of the well-appointed four-horse coaches leaving Piccadilly every morning (Sundays excepted) , as there is as much difference between a stage-coach and a four-in-hand as there is between a mirror and a mopstick.
Horses for a road-coach should have sufficient breeding to insure that courage and endurance which enable them to travel with ease to themselves at the pace required, and if they are all of one class, or, as old Jack Peer used to say, “all of a mind,” the work is reduced to a minimum. ”

“ The carriage, horses, harness, and the whole equipage being now ready, the coachman attends his master or mistress for orders, if not previously received.
When the time is nearly arrived at which the coach is ordered, the helper or assistants harness the horses and put them to, while the coachman is dressing himself. He then narrowly inspects the whole equipage—sees that the coach, horses, harness, and all things are in order; when taking his whip and the reins in his left hand, a man standing at the heads of the horses, he mounts the box, on the near side, and drives off to the door. ”

“ The old man’s knowledge of the requirements necessary to make both man and horse comfortable, acquired for him a just reputation, and tourists (especially with their own horses) frequently made the Coach and Horses their headquarters from which to make expeditions into the country. Two fast coaches changed horses, up and down, daily, serving as antidotes to the usual dulness of a country inn.
Some years ago I was making a “drag-tour” through that part of the country, and, one of my wheelers having picked up a nail, I was compelled to halt for some days at the Coach and Horses. ”

“ With stage-coach horses, mouth is not of so much consequence, because they are always running home, and there is no turning and twisting, as in gentlemen’s work, which is often in a crowd. A whistle, or a click with the tongue, should make a gentleman’s leader spring to his collar in an instant: one that requires the whip should be discharged.
With wheel horses which are steady, and hold well, a coachman may almost set his leaders at defiance ”

“ A little way on, down the Borough High Street, the coachman was obliged to suddenly pull up the horses to avoid running over a gentleman on horseback, whose horse had bolted into the middle of the road. The sudden strain on the pole, already, it seems, splintered in the affair with the dray, broke it off. It fell, and became entangled with the legs of the wheelers, who became so restive and infuriated that attempts were made to put on the skid; but before that could be done the coach overturned. ”

“ Let us attempt to follow a professional “Jehu” over a stage or two of his ground.
His coach loaded and passengers placed, he [Pg 28] takes a careful look round to see that every part of his harness is in its place and properly adjusted, and, if reminded by seeing any particular horse that he had gone uncomfortably on his last journey, to endeavour to find out the cause and have it altered. ”