[drivingpairs] Re: Weighing carriages



Really interesting post Doug!
Thanks for a little history lesson!
Meredith
----- Original Message ----- 
From: <KDougk@xxxxxxx>
To: <drivingpairs@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: <drivingdigest@xxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Friday, July 28, 2006 7:54 AM
Subject: [drivingpairs] Re: Weighing carriages


>
>
>
> One additional issue.
> I do not believe that the weight of a carriage and its occupants to be is 
> as
> a significant factor in pulling as we make it out to be, within limits.
> Another major factor is road surface.
>
> Knowing that the following statement will not be agreed to by all, The
> difference to a horse in pulling 800 Lb. and 950 Lb., I believe is 
> minimal.
>
> I have a fair amount of experience with horses and coaches on long 
> distance
> drives involving 125 to 225 mile trips with four to five teams.
>
> A Ttypically loaded coach today will weight between 4500 Lb., and 5000 Lb.
> with the heaviest that I am aware of would run about 5600 Lb. That 
> suggests that
> horses we use today and are reasonably fit and trained can pull 125% of 
> their
> weight and do so over a number days, over lots of gravel and dirt roads 
> and
> in quite hilly terrain.
>
> The Amish certainly do this as matter of course every day and even in the
> heat as it was done 100 years ago.  Despite what may think, many of the 
> Amish are
> good horsemen and often have horses that they have for years. But their
> horses are in great condition.
>
> I have not found significant difference between my 16 hand thoroughbreds 
> and
> other teams. If anything the thoroughbreds tend to have more "bottom" than
> other breeds particularly the heavier breeds.
>
> On the 204 mile coaching run from New York City to Saratoga Springs, NY 
> trip
> I weighted my team at the beginning and the end and each day taped the 
> horses.
> Surprisingly each horses actually gained a bit of weight. Now that might
> suggest that I do not feed well at home but it certainly says that horses 
> are not
> overly stressed by such an event.
>
> Turn of the century when roads where not as good as much of what we now 
> drive
> on now, most of the coaching horses were 15' to 15' 2" hands in height.
>
> Road surface makes a huge difference. A turn of the century article I read
> many years ago side the difference between smooth hard surface and gravel 
> for a
> coach was like 6 times harder to pull and sand being 10 times greater t 
> pull
> then gravel.
>
> Many of you know that I had a pair of very light 15 hand horses, Chewick 
> and
> Chumnly that I used for 20 years both as a pair in CDE and in team. Their
> pulling power was legendary.
>
> Douglas & Queenie Kemmerer
> Middleburg, VA 20118
>
>
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