Search Wikipedia Search Create account Log in

Horse-drawn vehicle 17 languages

Contents hide Article Talk Read Edit View history Tools

(Top) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

General
A horse-drawn vehicle is a piece of equipment pulled by one or more horses. These vehicles typically have two
Basic types or four wheels and were used to carry passengers or a load. They were once common worldwide, but they have
Vehicles primarily for carrying mostly been replaced by automobiles and other forms of self-propelled transport but are still in use today.
people

Vehicles primarily for carrying General [ edit ]

goods
Horses were domesticated circa 3500 BCE. Prior to that oxen were used. Historically, a wide variety of
Rail vehicles
arrangements of horses and vehicles have been used, from chariot racing, which involved a small vehicle and
Boats four horses abreast, to horsecars or trollies,[note 1] which used two horses to pull a car that was used in cities A horse tram (horsecar) in Danzig,
before electric trams were developed. Germany (present day Gdańsk,
Agricultural and other implements
Poland)
War vehicles A two-wheeled horse-drawn vehicle is a cart (see various types below, both for carrying people and for goods).
See also Four-wheeled vehicles have many names – one for heavy loads is most commonly called a wagon. Very light carts and wagons can also be pulled by
donkeys (much smaller than horses), ponies or mules. Other smaller animals are occasionally used, such as large dogs, llamas and goats (see draught
Notes
animals). Heavy wagons, carts and agricultural implements can also be pulled by other large draught animals such as oxen, water buffalo, yaks or even
References camels and elephants.
Citations
Vehicles pulled by one animal (or by animals in a single file) have two shafts which attach either side of the rearmost animal (the wheel animal or
Sources wheeler). Two animals in single file are referred to as a tandem arrangement, and three as a randem.[1] Vehicles which are pulled by a pair (or by a team
External links of several pairs) have a pole which attaches between the wheel pair. Other arrangements are also possible, for example, three or more abreast (a troika),
a wheel pair with a single lead animal (a "unicorn"), or a wheel pair with three lead animals abreast (a "pickaxe"). Very heavy loads sometimes had an
additional team behind to slow the vehicle down steep hills. Sometimes at a steep hill with frequent traffic, such a team would be hired to passing wagons
to help them up or down the hill. Horse-drawn carriages have been in use for at least 3,500 years.

Two-wheeled vehicles are balanced by the distribution of weight of the load (driver, passengers, and goods) over the axle, and then held level by the
animal – this means that the shafts (or sometimes a pole for two animals) must be fixed rigidly to the vehicle's body. Four-wheeled vehicles remain level
on their own, and so the shafts or pole are hinged vertically, allowing them to rise and fall with the movement of the animals. A four-wheeled vehicle is
also steered by the shafts or pole, which are attached to the front axle; this swivels on a turntable or "fifth wheel" beneath the vehicle.

From the 15th century drivers of carts were known as carmen, and in London were represented by the Worshipful Company of Carmen. In 1890 there
were 13,800 companies in the United States in the business of building carriages pulled by horses. By 1920, only 90 such companies remained.

Basic types [ edit ]

Cart - Two wheels, one Chariot - Two wheels, Carriage - Four wheels Wagon - Four wheels, Coach - Private or hired,
horse two or four horses, driver agricultural or delivery several passengers
usually standing

Omnibus - Urban
transport for numerous
passengers

Vehicles primarily for carrying people [ edit ]

Ambulance: much the same purpose as the modern sense. Details of the design varied but would be a lightly
built and well-sprung, enclosed vehicle with provision for seated casualties and stretchers.
Barouche: an elegant, high-slung, open carriage with a seat in the rear of the body and a raised bench at the
front for the driver, a servant.
Berlin: A four-wheeled covered carriage developed in the 17th century.
Brake: Describes several types of vehicles. A large, four-wheeled carriage frame, circa late 19th and early
20th century.
Britzka: A long, spacious carriage of four wheels, pulled by two horses. A horse and buggy c. 1910
Brougham: A specific, light four-wheeled carriage, circa mid 19th century.
Buckboard: A very simple four-wheeled wagon, circa early 19th century.
Buggy: a light, open, four-wheeled carriage, often driven by its owner.
Cabriolet: a shortening of cabriolet. Joseph Hansom based the design of his public hire vehicle on the
cabriolet so the name cab stuck to vehicles for public hire.
Calash or Calèshe: see barouche: A four-wheeled, shallow vehicle with two double seats inside, arranged
vis-à-vis, so that the sitters on the front seat faced those on the back seat.
Cape cart: A two-wheeled four-seater carriage drawn by two horses and formerly used in South Africa.
A cab designed by Joseph Hansom
Cariole: A light, small, two- or four-wheeled vehicle, open or covered, drawn by a single horse.
Carriage: in the late eighteenth century, roughly equivalent to the modern word "vehicle" [Walker]. It later
came to be restricted to "passenger vehicle" and even to "private, enclosed passenger vehicle" [Britannica].
This last is the sense adopted by the linked article.
Carryall: A type of carriage used in the United States in the 19th century. It is a light, four-wheeled vehicle,
usually drawn by a single horse and with seats for four or more passengers.
Chaise: A light two- or four-wheeled traveling or pleasure carriage, with a folding hood or calash top for one
or two people.
Charabanc: A larger wagon pulled by multiple horses.
Cidomo: a form of horse-drawn carriage popular in the Lesser Sunda Islands of Indonesia. Traveling in France or Le départ de
la diligence; drawing by George
Clarence: A closed, four-wheeled horse-drawn vehicle with a projecting glass front and seats for four Cruikshank (1818)
passengers inside.
Coach: A large, usually closed, four-wheeled carriage with two or more horses harnessed as a team,
controlled by a coachman.
Coupé: The horse-drawn carriage equivalent of a modern coupe automobile.
Covered wagon: the name given to canvas-topped farm wagons used by North American settlers to move both their families and household goods
westward. Varieties of this wagon include the Conestoga wagon (larger wagons able to carry large amounts of goods and primarily used on flat trails,
for example the Santa Fe Trail) and prairie schooner (smaller wagons more suited for mountainous regions, for example the Oregon and California
Trails).
Curricle: A smart, light two-wheeled chaise or "chariot", large enough for the driver and a passenger and usually drawn by a carefully matched pair of
horses.
Diligence: a French stagecoach. The 19th-century ones came in three sizes, La petite diligence, La grande diligence and L'impériale.
Dog cart: a sprung cart used for transporting a gentleman, his loader, and his gun dogs.
Dos-à-dos
Drag (carriage)
Droshky or Drozhki: A low, four-wheeled open carriage used especially in Russia.
Equipage
Ekka - a one horse cart of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
Fiacre: A form of hackney coach, a horse-drawn four-wheeled carriage for hire.
Fly: A horse-drawn public coach or delivery wagon, especially one let out for hire. Resting coachmen at a Fiaker
(fiacre) in Vienna
Four-in-hand coach
Gharry: A horse-drawn cab especially used in India.
Gig (carriage): A light, two-wheeled sprung cart pulled by one horse.
Gladstone
Governess cart: a sprung cart with two inward-facing benches, high sides and entry at the back. The upper part of the body was often of wicker.
Growler: the four-wheeled version of a hansom cab
Horsebus
Hackney carriage: A carriage for hire, especially in London.
Hansom cab: a one-horsed, two-wheeled, manoeuvrable public hire vehicle.
Hearse: The horse-drawn version of a modern hearse.
Herdic: A specific type of horse-drawn carriage, used as an omnibus.

Jaunting car: a sprung cart in which passengers sat back to back with their feet outboard of the wheels.
Karozzin: a traditional Maltese carriage drawn by one horse or a pair
Kid hack: a van used in the US for carrying children to and from school.
Landau: A low-shelled, luxury, convertible carriage.
Limousine
Meadowbrook (carriage): An unpainted (natural wood) cart
Omnibus
One-horse shay: a light, covered, two-wheeled carriage for two persons, drawn by a single horse.
Outside car: another name for jaunting car
Phaeton: a light-weight horse-drawn open carriage (usually with two seats); or an early-nineteenth-century
sports car
Post chaise: A fast carriage for traveling post in the 18th and early 19th centuries.
Ralli car: a light two wheeled sprung cart (gig) with two forward-facing and two rear-facing seats back-to-
back, and a sliding fore-and-aft seat adjustment to allow the vehicle to balance with different numbers of
Irish jaunting car, or outside car
passengers.
(1890–1900)
Rig
Rockaway: A term applied to two types of carriage: a light, low, United States four-wheel carriage with a fixed
top and open sides that may be covered by waterproof curtains, and a heavy carriage enclosed at sides and rear, with a door
on each side.
Sleigh: a vehicle with runners for use in snow
Spider phaeton: Of American origin and made for gentlemen drivers, a high and lightly constructed carriage with a covered A mid-19th-century
seat in front and a footman's seat behind engraving of a
Sprung cart: a light, two-wheeled vehicle with springing, for informal passenger use. Its name varied according to the body Phaeton, from a
carriage-builder's
mounted on it. See dog cart, gig, governess cart, jaunting car, and trap.
catalogue
Stagecoach: a public coach travelling in timetabled stages between stables which supply fresh horses.
Stanhope (carriage): a light, open, one-seated carriage: originally with two wheels, later also with four.
State Coach: a very grand coach used for royal state occasions. For example, Gold State Coach, Irish State
Coach, Lord Mayor of London's State Coach, Scottish State Coach and the Speaker's State Coach.
Sulky: a very light two-wheeled cart for one person, especially used for harness racing.
Surrey: A popular American doorless, four-wheeled carriage of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, usually
two seated for four passengers.
Tanga: a light horse-drawn carriage used for transportation in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh.
Tarantass or Tarantas: A Russian four-wheeled horse-drawn vehicle on a long longitudinal frame.
Stagecoach in Switzerland
Tilbury: A light, open, two-wheeled carriage, with or without a top
Training cart or training trap: a simple sprung or unsprung two-person modern cart for training a harness
horse on smooth roads. Often made of steel with motorcycle wheels, and sometimes with adjustable shafts for different-sized horses.
Trap: an open sprung cart. Often used in a general sense to cover any small passenger-carrying cart.
Troika: a sleigh drawn by three horses harnessed abreast. Occasionally, a similar wheeled vehicle.
Vardo (gypsy wagon): a vardo is a traditional horse-drawn wagon used by English Romani Gypsies.
Victoria: a one-horse carriage with a front-facing bench seat. The body was slung low, in front of the back axle. Driven by a servant.
Village cart
Vis-à-vis: Refers to the seating arrangement, with a rear seat facing forward and the forward seat facing to the rear.
Wagonette: a four-wheeled vehicle for carrying people, usually with a forward-facing seat at the front and two rows of inward-facing seats behind.
Whim
Whitechapel: a two-wheeled horse-drawn cart similar to a dog cart. Lightweight and versatile.

Vehicles primarily for carrying goods [ edit ]

Bow wagon: A simple agricultural wagon with laths bowed over the wheels in the manner of mudguards, to
keep bulky loads such as straw from contact with them. An Australian design.
Cart: Particularly in Australia and New Zealand, an un-sprung cart. In Britain, even in the 18th century, the
name came to be associated with brewers' deliveries so that the later vehicle that was more correctly called a
trolley also came to be known as a brewer's dray. These are still seen at horse shows in Britain.
Also a sledge used for moving felled trees in the same way as the wheeled skidder. (See implements,
below). It could be used in woodland, apparently with or without snow, but was useful on frozen lakes and
waterways. [OED]
A basic, un-sprung cart in Australia.
Chasse-maree: A four-horse adaptation of the cart principle for the rapid delivery of fish to French markets.
In that country and in New Zealand,
Chuckwagon is a wagon working as a field kitchen. the term dray is applied to this type of
Conestoga wagon: A large, curved-bottom wagon for carrying commercial or government freight. See vehicle in addition to a four-wheeled
wagon.
covered wagon.
Float: A light, two-wheeled domestic delivery vehicle with the centre of its axle cranked downward to allow
low-loading and easy access to the goods. It was used particularly for milk delivery.
Lorry: A low-loading platform body with four small wheels mounted underneath it. The driver's seat was
mounted on the headboard.
Mail coach: A stagecoach primarily for the carriage of mail, though also carrying passengers.
Mophrey: An un-sprung cart which could be extended forwards with the addition of front wheels. It was used
by small farmers as and when dense or bulky loads were to be carried (muck-spreading and harvest). An
eastern English design.
Wagon
Pantechnicon van: Originally, a van used by The Pantechnicon for delivering goods to its customers.
Prairie schooner: The name given years later to the canvas-topped farm wagons used by North American
settlers to move their families and capital goods westward. See covered wagon and Conestoga wagon.
Telega: A Russian coach, crudely made, usually unsprung.[2]: 160
Travois: An A-frame of poles, its apex resting on the back of the horse and dragged on the ground behind it;
the space between the poles bridged to carry a small load.[2]: 182
Trolley: Like a lorry, but with slightly larger wheels and slightly higher deck. The driver's seat was mounted on
the headboard.
Trolley and lift van: A standardized trolley and a lift van, a standardized box, designed to fit each other or any
other of the same sort. The lift van was the direct counterpart of the modern container in the materials and
size appropriate to its time.
Travois, 1890s
Un-sprung cart: A simple two-wheeled vehicle for workaday use in carrying bulk loads. It was usually drawn
by one horse.
Wagon: See also twenty mule team
Wain: Early English name for a wagon, especially those used in farm work.[2]: 171

Rail vehicles [ edit ]

See also: List of horse-drawn railways

Horsecar or streetcar (US) or tram (outside the US): public transport vehicle on rails
Wagonways: horse drawn trains
Slate waggon or slab waggon or rubbish wagon: a small four-wheeled rail car for carrying blocks of slate out
of a quarry
Dandy waggon or dandy cart: an additional small rail car added to a gravity train to transport the horse
downhill, after which the horse would pull the line of cars (often slate waggons) back up the hill.[3]

Horsecar in Germany, 1972

Boats [ edit ]

Horse-drawn boat: a general term relating to broad or narrow canal boats for passenger or freight carriage
Narrowboat and widebeam boats: pulled by a single horse walking on the towpath adjacent to UK canals
Flyboat: a boat operated on the UK canals pulled by a running horse along a stretch without locks, causing a
shallow boat to plane across the water

Agricultural and other implements [ edit ]

Harrow
Hay rake Horse on towpath pulling a
Manure spreader narrowboat

Plough or plow
Potato spinner
Reaper
Reaper-binder
Seed drill
Skidder
Snowplow
Thresher[4]

War vehicles [ edit ]

Chariot
Ratha - an ancient Indo-Iranian chariot.
Scythed chariot Turning the soil with a
plough
Gun carriage
Horse artillery
Limbers and caissons
Tachanka
War wagon

See also [ edit ]

Cart Guard stone Horse artillery—rows of limbers and

Combined driving Horse harness caissons, each pulled by teams of six
horses with three postilion riders and
Draft horse Naturmobil
an escort on horseback
Municipal horse Wagon
Driving (horse)

Notes [ edit ]

1. ^ The term horsecar is used primarily in the UK to refer to a rail-based vehicle drawn by horses. In the US, the term streetcar or trolley is used, but those same
terms could refer to the electric versions as well.

References [ edit ]

Citations [ edit ]
1. ^ "Definition of randem" . www.merriam-webster.com. Retrieved January 12, 2018.
2. ^ a b c Smith, D.J.M. (1988). A Dictionary of Horse Drawn Vehicles. J. A. Allen & Co. Ltd. ISBN 0851314686. OL 11597864M .
3. ^ Vaughan, Adrian (1997). Railwaymen, Politics and Money. Trafalgar Square Publishing. p. 28. ISBN 0719551501. OL 10532606M .
4. ^ "Horse-Drawn Harvester-Thresher | Photograph | Wisconsin Historical Society" . www.wisconsinhistory.org. Retrieved July 3, 2017.

Sources [ edit ]
Encyclopædia Britannica (1960)
Ingram, A. Horse-Drawn Vehicles Since 1760 (1977) ISBN 0-7137-0820-4
Oxford English Dictionary (1971 & 1987) ISBN 0-19-861212-5
Walker, J. A Critical Pronouncing Dictionary and Expositor of the English Language (1791)

External links [ edit ]

The oldest surviving horse drawn tramway operating in Douglas on the Isle of Man Wikimedia Commons has
Articles about Horse-drawn Carriages media related to Horse-drawn
vehicles.
National Carriage Collection - Cobb and Co Museum

· · Horse-drawn vehicles [hide]

Araba · Bandy · Barouche · Berlin · Brake · Britzka · Brougham · Buckboard · Buggy · Calash · Cariole · Carryall · Chaise · Charabanc ‡ ·
Chariot · Biga · Clarence · Coach ‡ · Concord coach ‡ · Coupé · Diligence ‡ · Dos-à-dos · Drag · Droshky · Fiacre · Fly · Four-in-hand ·
Carriages
Hackney carriage ‡ · Hearse · Herdic · Horsebus/Omnibus ‡ · Horsecar ‡ · Jingle · Karozzin · Kibitka · Landau · Mail coach ‡ ·
(four-wheeled)
Marathon carriage · Park Drag · Phaeton · Post chaise · Ratha · Road Coach · Rockaway · Runabout (carriage) · Sled/sleigh · Sociable ·
Spider phaeton · Stagecoach ‡ · Stage wagon ‡ · State Coach · Surrey · Tarantass · Triga · Troika · Victoria · Vis-à-vis · Vozok · Wagonette
Cabriolet ‡ · Cape cart · Chariot · Chasse-marée · Cidomo · Croydon · Curricle · Dogcart · Dokar · Ekka · Float · Gari · Gharry ‡ · Gig ·
Carts
Governess cart · Hansom cab ‡ · Jaunting car · Kalesa · Limbers and caissons · One-horse shay · Ralli car · Red River cart · Sicilian cart ·
(two-wheeled)
Sjees · Sprung cart · Stanhope · Sulky · Tanga · Tilbury · Trap · Tumbrel · Two-wheeled calash · Un-sprung cart · Volante · Whiskey
Wagons & drayage Chuckwagon · Conestoga wagon · Covered wagon · Float · Lorry · Telega · Trolley · Trolley and lift van · Vardo · Wagon

Coachbuilder · Front axle assembly · Hammercloth · Shaft bow · Swingletree/singletree · Undercarriage · Wainwright · Wheelwright ·
Vehicle construction
Whippletree/double tree

Harness Bearing rein · Blinders · Breast collar · Breeching · Bridle · Collar · Crupper · Horse brass · Lines · Saddle · Terret · Trace

Coachman · Footman · Postilion · Livery · Driving · Draft horse · Driving club · Tandem · Travois · Museums and collections ·
Related
Equestrian use of roadways

Categories Carriages · Carts · Coachbuilders · Carriage museums · Horse driving · Images

‡ indicates vehicles that were used historically in public transport services

· · Public transport [show]

Authority control databases: National Germany · Israel · United States · Japan

Categories: Animal-powered vehicles Horse driving Wagons

This page was last edited on 17 February 2024, at 00:02 (UTC).

Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 4.0; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit
organization.

Privacy policy About Wikipedia Disclaimers Contact Wikipedia Code of Conduct Developers Statistics Cookie statement Mobile view