Once the expression, “Don’t put the cart before the horse,” was a bit of commonsense wisdom well understood by a society dependent upon carts, carriages, sleighs, wagons and horses to ferry people and freight through busy city streets and down rutted country lanes. As recently as the 1920’s horse drawn wagons were a common sight in the countryside and peddlers continued to use horses in urban areas until after the Second World War. Today the horse and cart or horse and carriage are more often associated with a romantic ride around the historic district in a small city or through a lush park than they are with practical transportation. Only the Amish still use the horse and buggy to get from farm to town, and the sight of a hitching rail and a line of Amish buggies tied up outside a big box store is something of an anachronism. Even the races where jockeys in ultra-light sulkies press speedy Standardbreds around a fast track have largely disappeared, the real estate giving way to housing developments.
But we still love our horses, and particularly as equine enthusiasts age and riding becomes more physically taxing the allure of driving horses grows. For some horse owners the sport of driving may mean draft horse breeds like the famous Clydesdales, Belgians, or Percherons originally developed to pull heavy plows and farm equipment, hay wagons, or under the guidance of a skill teamster freight wagons from factory or warehouse or brewery to pubs or retailers or freight-yards. Heavy leather collars, breast straps, and reinforced harnesses remind everyone that a draft horse is about the serious business of moving heavy cartage. Other driving fans might discover the pleasures of the classic carriage horse working in teams of two, four, or six horses pulling ornate coaches and cabs. Standardbreds and heavier boned Throughbreds are favored. For the cart or carriage pulled by a single animal, recreations of Studebacker carriages and of course, buggies are very popular. A buggy with a Morgan Horse between the shafts looks as sleek and fashionable today, as it once did a Century ago in middle class neighborhoods with a carriage house out back behind a Victorian home.
Pony carts are also popular; many built on light frames of tubing and with tires that could come off a mountain bike. Large Welsh ponies, or Conamara’s give the rig style and elegance. With an ultra-light cart almost anyone can harness up and get the pony between the traces for an afternoon drive.
Technology is not to be ignored nor discounted in discussing horse drawn carriages and horse drawn carts. By the close of the era of horse drawn conveyance steel rimmed wheels were already giving way to hard rubber tires and rims, and to advanced braking systems sharing more in common with automobiles than with earlier carriages and wagons. Today’s modern carriages or buggies may include disc brakes and spoked wheels made of alloy metals. The typical Amish buggy today has headlights, taillights, and turn signals for maximum safety while traveling through town or down the highway.
For driving fans and horse lovers, “Don’t put the cart before the horse” is still pretty good advice.