The victorian streets were full of horses and special horse troughs were placed at the side of the roads so the horses could drink when they were thirsty. Horses were used in every facet of life. There were small pony carts which carried vegetables and huge beer wagons pulled by Shire horses, horses pulled the wedding AND the funeral carriages, they pulled the cabs and the plow for the fields plus they delivered the mail. They were used to pull the stagecoaches for travel and the carriages for social events and many families had a pony for a pet. They were an important part of victorian life. |
PHAETON: A four wheeled carriage with a high seat,requiring a ladder,drawn by two or sometimes four horses and came in several styles. CURRICLE: A curricle was a two wheeled carriage with a folding hood for protection from the elements drawn by two horses and later, in the Victorian period, supplanted by the cabriolet, which was more economical in that it only needed one horse to draw it. BAROUCHE: The carriage for the man of means was a large, four passenger carriage pulled by four horses. It had a folding hood that could be raised to cover two of the passengers. This feature made it popular as a summer carriage. LANDAU: The Lincoln Continental of carriages, similar to a barouche in that it held four passengers and was pulled by four horses, but a landau had two folding hoods that could be raised to cover all four passengers or left open to take in the sights. This was the carriage you used when you took an afternoon ride in the park while you showed off your finery - and showed off that you could afford a landau. TOWN COACH: In the mini-series "Pride and Prejudice" Lady Catherine deBurgh drives to the Bennett house in her large and luxurious town coach, very like a landau, but it had a hard top. Only the very rich could afford this one and the nobility put their coat of arms on the door.  The above pic sent to us by McGee showing horses in Boston, Ma. Horses pulled all sorts of wagons in the U.S. BROUGHAM: This carriage became popular in Queen Victoria's day. It was like a town coach in that it had a hard top, but it was not as large and could be pulled by a couple of horses. Broughams had a staid and dull image, which is why they were popular with the staid Victorian middle class.  GIG: This was a very popular vehicle in the country. It was a light two wheeled cart that held one or two persons and it was drawn by one horse. A gig is what the old country doctor drove around in to visit his patients, or what the squire used when his gout acted up so that he couldn't ride. DOGCART: It was not a carriage drawn by dogs. The dogcart, like the gig, was a two wheeled vehicle that got its name because it had a ventilated box under the seat for the squire to put his hunting dogs in when they drove to the fox hunt. The box was also very handy to transport supplies as well. The dogcart held two people and had a folding bench that would seat an additional two if needed. Most people who lived in the country had a dogcart or two. CABS:The cabs, although they could be expensive, were often used. They had two wheels, one horse and seated two people. The driver stood at the back and guided the horse from over the roof.
In 1850, horse buses were popular because they were cheap. There were no bus stops. You stepped out into the road and put up your hand. On the bus was a driver and a conductor.The conductor helped you onto the bus. You paid your money to the conductor. The conductor tried to get as many passengers as he could on his bus. At first, passengers would sit back to back on two long benches. Later, the seats were fixed so that the passengers faced the way they were travelling.
Narrowboats or barges were pulled by horses. Heavy goods went on the canals.
The canal horses were large Shire horses. It would have a leather harness and polished brass decorations
 Anna Sewell's story of Black Beauty is one of the most famous and best loved books of all time set in Victorian England. Due to a leg injury suffered as a child, Anna Sewell knew a life dominated by pain. She was a gentle person and wrote of her only book...."I am writing the life of a horse ...Its special aim ... is to induce kindness, sympathy and an understanding of the treatment of horses". The treatment of horses she saw then was less than ideal in the streets of the growing industrial world of the late 1800s. Horses powered almost every form of transport, from coal wagons to carriages for the very wealthy. During the 1890s, there were over 11,000 hansom cabs alone on the streets of London, needing twice that number of horses to operate yet working horses were often victims of cruelty and neglect. Using the life story of a handsome black Thoroughbred (played by a Quarter Horse in the movie)and told in his words, Black Beauty describes the experiences - both good and bad -that horses endured. Beginning his life in the fields of a kind owner's stable with equine friends, Black Beauty finds himself passing through a variety of homes, becoming by turns a riding horse, fancy carriage horse and later, a lowly cart horse. The black horse's friends are the fiery chestnut mare Ginger, who tells her tale of rough training, and the gentle pony Merrylegs, from a happy and caring home. The lives of Black Beauty and Ginger intertwine as they encounter all kinds of owners and in one case, find themselves the equine servants of high society. In this role, subjected to painful bits and the dreaded "bearing rein", which forced their heads high in a tight, uncomfortable position, the story tells vividly the life of Victorian carriage horses. It was partly thanks to Anna Sewell that this cruel device was eventually banned from use. Although Black Beauty has a happy ending, the reality for actual working horses of this fictional horse's time was a different story. They often died in harness due to overwork and lack of care, or in the words of Black Beauty's friend Ginger, broken and dispirited at the end of her life, horses were simply "used up".
Information from Horsepower, August/September 1999 by Margaret Bennett.
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