English Carriages

In the United Kingdom, the name hackney carriage refers to a taxicab licensed by the Public Carriage Office in Greater London or by the local authority (non-metropolitan district councils or unitary authorities) in other parts of England, Wales, and Scotland, or by the Department of the Environment in Northern Ireland.

The word is still the official term used by city authorities to refer to taxicabs in certain parts of the United States, such as Boston.

The first hackney-carriages licenses date from 1662, and applied literally to horse-drawn carriages, later modernized as hansom cabs (1834), that operated as vehicles for hire. Note the distinction between a generic hackney carriage and a hackney coach, a hireable vehicle with specifically four wheels, two horses and six seats.

Electric hackney carriages appeared before the introduction of the internal combustion engine to vehicles for hire in 1901. During the 20th century cars generally replaced horse-drawn models, and the last horse-drawn hackney carriage ceased service in London in 1947. Horse-drawn hackney services in some other parts of the country continue to operate, for example in Cockington, Torquay.

Today the regulations define a hackney carriage as a taxicab allowed to ply the streets looking for passengers to pick up, as opposed to private hire vehicles (sometimes called minicabs), which may only pick up passengers who have previously booked or who visit the taxi operator's office.

At the beginning of 2004, the UK Government had started consulting local councils and taxi operators on abolishing the distinction between the two types of taxicabs, with a view to issuing only hackney licences.

The name 'hackney' derives not from the borough of Hackney in London, but from the Old French word haquenée (fem. 'an ambling horse or mare, especially for ladies to ride on'). The word 'hackney' in the seventeenth century meant 'a horse for hire'. The phrases 'hackney-horse', 'hackney-carriage' and even 'hackney-woman' (meaning prostitute) being in common use at the time.[1]

The New York terms "hack" (taxi or taxi driver), "hackstand" (taxi stand), and "hack license" (taxi license) are probably derived from "hackney carriage".

Carriage Driving: Enjoying Horses From a Different Perspective

Besides being just plain fun, carriage driving offers a way to get to know horses from a different perspective, especially if you want to learn to teach a horse how to pull a cart or buggy.

In the horse world driving is somewhat relegated to the background which is unfortunate as it's for just about everyone. Driving is challenging and a great deal of fun. You can do it for pure pleasure or take part in competitive events. You can take a pleasant little drive down a country lane at one extreme or try your hand at chuckwagon racing at the other. You'll learn about horses from an entirely different perspective (and I don't just mean from the rear).

As a youngster I had my cowboy heros. Later in life when I got my first horse, I knew I belonged in the saddle (it was actually the beginning of a second childhood of sorts). As far as driving was concerned, the movies taught me that if you were a man driving a buggy you usually got shot and if you were a woman you usually had a runaway team to deal with. Better to be the hero in the saddle!

While I was out and about doing my Roy Rogers thing, my wife began testing the horse and buggy waters. At her urging I took up the activity and found I really enjoyed it. After learning the basics of driving, we started training one of our Fjords to pull a cart. At that point I was hooked.

Carriage driving is an excellent way to continue to enjoy working with horses when riding has become difficult for either you or your horse, or if you just want to try something new and different. Two of our horses have been trained both for riding and driving. The one activity does not interfere with the other.

If you're into eXtreme sports you can always try Chuckwagon Racing. A visit to the Calgary Stampede (every July) will give you a first hand look at this exciting sport.

One thing you should never do is buy a cart and hitch it up to your favorite riding horse expecting the horse to know what to do. If it doesn't, the results will certainly be exciting and most likely downright dangerous.

Just as you have to get a horse to accept weight on it's back as a first step in training it for riding, you have to train it to accept something new and a bit noisy following along behind it when you have driving in mind. The horse needs to understand that what's following it isn't going to have it for breakfast.

You do it in stages. It's work but enjoyable work. Most horses don't seem to mind pulling a load, in fact they seem to enjoy it. It's the noise and unfamiliar pressures on the harness from the moving cart that the horse must learn to accept.

However, before worrying about training a horse to drive you need to learn to do it yourself.

Where to Start

Look for a driving club or organization in your area or someone who teaches the sport.

The internet can be a help here in finding a club or trainer near you.

Get in touch with the American Driving Society. You can contact them at -

http://www.americandrivingsociety.org/About_Carriage_Driving.htm

North of the border it's the Canadian Carriage Driving Society at -

http://www.norwestcontrols.com/cds/

and in the UK a good contact is The British Driving Society at -

http://www.britishdrivingsociety.co.uk/

Once you've become active in the sport you might want to participate in a carriage driving forum. A good one to subscribe to (it's free) is the Carriage Driving Forum at -

http://www.carriagedriving.net/cdl/cd-l.htmlm

Learning to drive is similar to dressage. You work on patterns, large circles, small circles, figure eights, serpentine though pylons, etc., learning rein and cart management as you proceed. It will be somewhat tense at first but before long you'll be out on the road moving along at a walk or nice little trot.

Equipment

A good harness costs roughly the same as a good saddle. maybe a bit more. There's more leather parts to worry about than is the case with the saddle but once you understand what each part of the harness does, remembering what goes where is not difficult. I'd suggest looking for a good used harness to start with.

A good source for new harnesses and accessories is at www.smuckersharness.com, the Smuckers Harness Shop web site. You'll find their catalog informative.

Skills

When sitting in a cart or buggy you don't have to worry about keeping centered and balanced, (i.e., maintaining a "good seat") as much as in the saddle. On the other hand you'll have to pay more attention to rein management as well as learning carriage management (so you don't sideswipe a tree or go off a cliff).

You'll find most horses tend to be one-sided, performing well going in one direction and offering some resistance when going in the opposite direction. This can be a particular problem (as I've found out) when attempting to match two horses for driving as a pair. You just can't hitch any two horses up together and always get good results.

One of the more challenging aspects of learning to drive is getting the proper amount of pressure on the reins. At first the horse will move in a saw-tooth pattern, weaving back and forth but will "straighten out once you've got your act together.

I'd recommend learning driving first with someone else's horse(s) under the tutelage of an experienced carriage driver. Then if you want to train your own horse for driving, get the necessary equipment and go for it or have someone else train the horse. Ground driving, where you walk (or jog) behind the horse under harness, while controlling it through the reins is a good workout!

Advanced Driving

Once you've mastered driving a single horse you can take a shot at driving pairs. I guarantee it's more than twice as involved and difficult as driving singles but persistence will pay off. As I mentioned earlier, one of the necessities of driving pairs is in finding two horses that are compatible with one another - not always an easy thing to do.

You can "go for broke" and try driving four-in-hand but that's a different league altogether - something I've yet to attempt.

Whether with one horse or more, if you like competition you can always work towards the show ring. And don't forget your local hometown parade. There's usually a spot for a horse and buggy there.

Books

I'm hesitant to suggest it as it may be out of print, but "On the Box Seat" by Tom Ryder is an excellent book on driving containing about everything you need to know on the subject.

Another book, from Canada, and definitely in print is "Breaking and Training the Driving Horse". This book will get you off to a good start, even if you don't intend to train your own horse - the basics are there for your information.

Take up the sport and you'll have some fun and also learn how to spell carriage correctly, a word I always have trouble with.

Equine evolution was characterized by a reduction in the number of toes, from five per foot, to three per foot, to only one toe per foot . Austria is known worldwide for its Lipizzaner horses, used for dressage and high school work in the famous Spanish Riding School in Vienna. Horses are oriented to be ridden or driven in a mass of different sporting events and competitions.

A number of equine breeds are used as draft horses with the variation being largely geographic. Draft horses are recognizable by their tall stature and extremely muscular build. Additionally, they are general for crossing to lighter breeds, especially the Thoroughbred, to create a good-minded sport equine for amateurs. Draught horses are versatile breeds used today for a multitude of purposes, including draft equine showing, farming, and for pleasure, but all share the traits of strength, stamina, health, longevity, patience and a docile temperament which made them indispensable to generations of pre-industrial farmers.

They tend to have short backs with very powerful hindquarters, again best suited for the purpose of pulling. They are also by and large used for cross-breeding, especially to breeds such as the Thoroughbred. These Shire horses are used to pull a Wadworth Brewery dray delivering beer to pubs in the Devizes area of Wiltshire, England. Today, draft horses are again valued as riding horses thanks to their temperament and stamina. The draught equine declined in economic importance following the end of the Second World War, and in the latter half of the twentieth century even the most well-known of the heavy breeds were on the verge of disappearing.

The vast majority of horses used in harness racing are of yet another breed, the Standardbred. They are used in carriage driving activities, pulling coaches, traditional and modern carriages, marathon vehicles, carts and gigs etc.