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Historical harness question

928 views 9 replies 4 participants last post by  SheriH 
#1 ·
Hi. I'm an author and know mostly nothing about horses. The novel I'm currently writing is set in 1857 England. There's a large private stable. How do you think they'd go about harnessing a horse to a small gig? Are carriages stored in a separate building (carriage house) and the horse taken there to be harnessed to the gig? Or would conveyances be in a storage area in the stable, rolled into the aisle and the horse harnessed there? Any idea? I appreciate your help immensely!
 
#4 ·
I agree, just based on my deceased husband's family farm, settled by his German immigrant great-grandparents. The horses were stalled in one large barn, but the carriage barn was closer to the main house and had an area to hitch up the horses, large enough to do an 8 horse hitch if needed.
 
#5 ·
Many English horses are/were stabled on open yards not in barns - other than places where working horses were kept tied in stalls inside a long covered building with a narrow walkway behind them
The more expensive carriages would have been kept in a covered area - the style and quality dependent on how wealthy the owners were. My Grt grandpa's driving cobs were harnessed up on the yard and the 'traps' and carts stored side by side in an open fronted 'shed'
 
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