COACH-HORSES.
A great change has lately taken place as to the English coach-horse; and this is the foundation of many other accompanying changes. Fifty years ago, the putting a thorough-bred horse into harness would have been deemed preposterous. In the carriages of gentlemen, the long-tailed black, or Cleveland bay—each one remove from the cart-horse—was the prevailing sort; and six miles an hour was the extent of the pace. Now, however, this clumsy-barrelled, cloddy-shouldered, round-legged animal, something between a coach and a dray horse, as fat as an ox, and, with all his prancing at first starting, not capable of more than six miles an hour, and rendered useless by a day’s hard work, is no more seen; and, instead of him, we find a horse as tall, deep-chested, rising in the withers, slanting in the shoulders, flat in the legs, with more strength, and with treble the speed.
The animal formerly in use cost from 30l. to 50l.— Two hundred guineas is now an every-day price for a cabriolet horse; and 150 guineas for a coach-horse, for a private gentleman’s work. A pair of handsome coach-horses, fit for London, and well broken and bitted, cannot be purchased under 200 guineas; and even job-masters often give much more for them to let out to their customers. The origin of this superior kind of coach-horse is still, however, the Cleveland bay, confined principally to Yorkshire and Durham, with perhaps Lincolnshire on one side, and Northumberland on the other, but difficult to be met with pure in either county. Cleveland indeed, and the Vale of Pickering, in the East Riding of Yorkshire, are the best breeding counties in England for coach-horses, hunters, and hackneys.
When the Cleveland mare is crossed by a three-fourth or thorough-bred horse of sufficient substance and height, the produce is the coach-horse most in repute, with his arched crest and high action. From the same mare and the thorough-bred of sufficient height, but not of so much substance, we obtain the four-in-hand, and superior curricle horse. From less height and more substance, we derive the hunter, and better sort of hackney. From the half-bred, we have the machiner, the poster, and the common carriage-horse.
The best coach-horse is a tall, strong, over-sized hunter. The hackney has many of the qualities of the hunter on a small scale. There is some deception, however, even as to the best of these improved coach-horses. They prance nobly through the streets, and they are capable of more work than the old clumsy, sluggish breed, but still they have not the endurance that is desirable; and a pair of poor post-horses, at the end of the second day, would beat them hollow.
In this carriage-horse, the bending of the upper joints, and the consequent high lifting of the feet, are deemed an excellence, because they add to the grandeur of his appearance; but this is necessarily accompanied by much wear and tear of the legs and feet, the effect of which is very soon apparent. The most desirable points in the coach-horse are—substance well placed, a deep and well-proportioned body, bone under the knee, and sound, open, tough feet.
One part of the old system, however, remains—namely, that although little horses, well bred, are the fashion, large horses are still employed in heavy work. It must indeed be so. Horses draw by their weight, and not by the force of their muscles, although these, by carrying forward the centre of gravity, assist the application of that weight. It is the weight of the animal which produces the draught, and the power of the muscles serves to direct it. The hind feet form the fulcrum of the lever by which this weight acts against a load, and the power exerted is in proportion to the length of the lever, if the weight remains the same. Large animals, therefore, draw more than small ones, though they may have less muscular power, and are unable to carry weight so well. Nothing can better show that horses draw by their weight than the frequent occurrence that a horse is unable to draw a cart out of a slough until a sack of corn is thrown on his back, when he has little difficulty in doing it. Thus it is, that what are technically called lobbing-goers take more weight with them than horses of better action.
As the application of the weight or force proceeds from the fulcrum formed by the hind feet, good hind legs and well-spread gaskins are essential points in a coach-horse. We even sometimes see that a waggon-horse, when brought to pull, will not touch the ground at all with his fore feet. Another reason why little horses are unfit for heavy work is, that they will seldom walk and draw at the same time; for if they walk, they catch at their collars, and do but little. They never take anything like an even share of draught.
By calculations as to the mean strength of animals, it appears that a horse drawing horizontally, and at the rate of two miles and a half in an hour, can work for eight hours in succession against a resistance of 200 pounds. If that pace be quadrupled, he finds an eighth part of the time sufficient. Thus we can pretty nearly measure a horse’s power in harness. Whether we are carrying supposed improvement too far, and sacrificing strength and endurance to speed, is a question not difficult to be resolved.
A horse at a pull is enabled, by the power and direction of his muscles, to throw a certain weight against the collar. If he walk four miles in the hour, part of the muscular energy is expended in the act of walking; and consequently, the power of drawing must be proportionally diminished. If he trot eight miles in the hour, more of that energy is expended in the trot, and less remains for the draught; but the draught continues the same, and, to enable him to accomplish his work, he must exert his energies in a degree so severe and cruel, that it must speedily wear him out. Hence, there is no truth so easily proved, or so painfully felt by the postmaster, as that it is the pace that kills. Moreover, many a horse used on our public roads is unable to employ all his natural power, or to throw his weight into the collar, in consequence of being tender-footed, or lame. Being bought, however, at little price, he is worked on the brutal principle that he may be “whipped sound!”—and so he is apparently. At first he sadly halts; but, urged by the torture of the lash, he acquires a peculiar mode of going. The faulty limb keeps pace with the others, but no stress or labour is thrown upon it; and he gradually contrives to make the sound limbs perform among them all the duties of the unsound one. Thus he is barbarously “whipped sound,” and cruelty is for the time undeservedly rewarded. After all, however, what is done? Three legs are made to do that which was almost too much for four. Of course, they are most injuriously strained, and quickly worn out; the general power of the animal is rapidly exhausted; and, at no remote time, death releases him from his merciless persecutors.
Happily, art is doing what humanity refuses. Railroads are rendering draught comparatively easy. An instance has been described of the power of a horse when assisted by art, as exhibited near Croydon. The Surrey iron railway being completed, a wager was laid that a common horse could draw thirty-six tons for six miles along the road, drawing his weight from a dead pull, and turning it round the occasional windings of the road. A numerous party assembled near Merstham to see this. Twelve waggons loaded with stones, each waggon weighing above three tons, were chained together, and a horse taken promiscuously from a timber cart, was yoked to the train. He started from a house near Merstham, and drew the chain of waggons with apparent ease almost to the turnpike at Croydon, a distance of six miles, in one hour and forty-one minutes, which is nearly at the rate of four miles an hour. In the course of the journey he stopped four times, to show that it was not by any advantage of descent that his power was facilitated; and, after each stoppage, he again drew off the chain of waggons with great ease. A person who had wagered on the power of the horse then desired that four more loaded waggons should be added to the cavalcade, and with these the same horse set off again with undiminished pace. Still further to show the effect of the railway in facilitating motion, the attending workmen, to the number of fifty, were directed to mount on the waggons, and the horse proceeded without the least distress. Indeed, there appeared to be scarcely any limit to the power of his draught. After this trial, the waggons were taken to the weighing-machine, and it appeared that the whole weight was as follows:—
| tons. | cwt. | qrs. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 | waggons first linked together | 38 | 4 | 2 |
| 4 | ditto, afterwards attached | 13 | 2 | 0 |
| Supposed weight of fifty labourers | 4 | 0 | 0 | |
| 55 | 6 | 2 | ||
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; and a good head and tail, with a little high action, are all that is essential.
The following are useful hints for purchasers of coach-horses:
No gentleman should purchase a horse without a good trial of his mouth and temper. To be perfect in the first respect, he should be what is called on the road “a cheek horse,”—that is, should require very little curb, should always be at play with his bit. and yet not afraid of it, and should have each side of his mouth alike. To a gentleman’s leader, a good mouth is most essential, and then, the higher his courage, the safer he is to drive. 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; but if they are otherwise, danger is at hand. It is not a bad plan to purchase wheelers out of coaches, after they have been about six months in regular work. 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.
The average price of horses for fast stages is about 23l. Fancy teams, and those working out of London, may be rated considerably higher; but, taking a hundred miles of ground, well horsed, this is about the mark. The average period of each horse’s service does not exceed four years in a fast coach—perhaps scarcely so much. In a slow one, it may extend to seven. In both cases, horses are supposed to be put to the work at five or six years old. The price named as the average may appear a low one; but blemished horses find their way into coaches, as do those of bad temper, &c. As no labour, while it lasts, is harder than that of coach-horses in fast work, it is wrong to purchase those which are infirm, as many proprietors do. Generally speaking, such horses are out of their work half their time, and are certain to die in their owner’s debt. As the roads now are, blind horses are less objectionable than infirm ones. A blind horse that goes up to his bit is both pleasanter and safer to drive than one with good eyes that hangs away from his work. Blind horses, however, work best in the night.
A horse cannot be called a coach-horse unless he has good legs and feet. As a wheel-horse, he is never to be depended upon down hill, if he has not sound limbs. He cannot resist weight, if he be weak in his joints. To bad legs and feet are owing numerous accidents to coaches, many of which the public hear nothing of. If horses, on the contrary, have good legs and feet, they will last, even in the fastest work, many years, provided they are shod with care, and well looked after. Proprietors of coaches have at length found out that it is their interest to be humane and liberal to their horses, because the hay and corn market is not so expensive as the horse market. They have, therefore, one horse in four always at rest; in other words, each horse lies still on the fourth day. Generally considered, perhaps, no animal toiling solely for the profit of man, leads so comfortable a life as the English coach-horse: he is sumptuously fed, kindly treated, and if he does suffer a little in his work, he has mostly twenty-three hours in the twenty-four of perfect ease; he is now almost a stranger to the lash, nor do we ever see him with a broken skin. No horse lives so high as a coach-horse. Hunters, in the hunting season, do not eat the quantity of corn that coach-horses do; for the former are feverish after their work, which is not the case with the latter, as they become accustomed to this almost daily excitement. In the language of the road, the coach-horse’s stomach is the measure of his corn—he is fed ad libitum[75]. The effect of this is that he soon gathers flesh, even in this severe work,—for there is none more severe while it lasts; and good flesh is no obstacle to speed, but the contrary.
[75] Some coachmasters give their horses all manger-meat; but this is wrong, as it often produces indigestion and disease. A certain portion of long hay is necessary.
It is not found, however, that (barring contagious diseases) where their owners are good judges of condition, coach-horses are much subject to disease. After a hot summer, coach-horses are most liable to derangement; and the month of October is the worst in the year for them, in consequence of it being their moulting season. Coach-horses, indeed, are certain to sweat three days out of four, which keeps their blood pure, and renders almost unnecessary medicine, of which, in general, they have but a small portion—perhaps less than they should have. 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. Every horse, then, rests the fourth day. 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; and when injury is sustained by it, it should be visited by the severest penalties the law can inflict.