Kleiner’s Korner: Preparing the Horse for the Automobile (Part 2)
As the automobile grew in popularity in the early 1900s, the problem arose of how could a horse and the auto safely coexist. Numerous articles described methods to harness (no pun intended) the danger that posed both animal and machine (and humans too).
Part two of my series on horse and automobile interactions provides instructions if you had been driving on Old Country Road around the turn of the last century and encountered a horse drawn carriage. Other horse and auto related fodder (again no pun intended, well actually yes, pun intended) is also provided.
Enjoy!
Art Kleiner
Accidents Involving Horses (all from "The Motor World", May 1902)
A French newspaper conducted a study in 1902 detailing the number of injuries and fatalities due to different modes of transportation.
Accidents due to horses were significantly higher (maybe because there were so many more horses!).
Accidents were mainly due to the horse swerving away from the auto.
The Proper Way to Coexist (all from "Harper's Weekly" Jul. 5, 1902)
Eight simple instructions were given by "Harper's Weekly" to demonstrate how a horse could be cured of swerving.
An auto approaches at 12 miles per hour and is 300' away . . .
The horse notices the auto and backs away, the coachman losing control . . .
After the auto's fourth try at passing the horse is still frightened . . .
Another horse is brought in and looks on from the other side of the road . . .
The chauffeur gets out of the auto and holds the frightened horse . . .
The auto is then run close to the horse at a much slower speed . . .
After fifteen minutes of doing the same the horse is brought close to the auto . . .
Finally, the horse is driven quietly back to the auto which is purposely made to be noisy . . . and the horse is cured!
Horse Fodder
Horses were not the only ones needing to be cured! (The Motor World Nov., 1901)
A new criteria for judging horses: steadiness of nerves. (The Horseless Age Oct. 29, 1902)
Ordinances to help ease the horse's nerves. (The Motor World May, 1903)
A horse has had enough! "At any rate, blows were exchanged and then the horse resorted to mayhem". (The Automobile Jul. 26, 1904)
Followed by a race in mid-town Manhattan. (The Automobile Jul. 26, 1904)
Beware, the next time you come across a horse when driving your automobile be careful not to cause the equine psychological harm! Or you might be held liable! (The Motor World, 1906)
Comments
Like how time and patience trials were done for Horses to become more at ease. And the Horse had the best legal team I ever heard of : )
Well, in the early 1900’s a sighting of an automobile by a horse may have been as odd as seeing a spaceship landing. So kudos to that horse for passing the desensitizing trials passing that motorcar. (We’ll just have to trust the writer of that story that it succeeded as well as it did.) As for me, I spent over 10 years as an NYPD mounted policeman in midtown manhattan, so I can sympathize with such circumstances. Although a specially qualified mount is indeed key, it is amazing how some horses are able to adapt and even thrive in an urban and heavily trafficked environment. Knowing the limits of yourself and your horse is important. A safe tour for him was my top responsibility and an apple at the end of his shift was his reward that he never failed to earn.
Thanks for the insight David! And Brian, I’ll try to get the name of the legal team the horse used just in case!
Here’s an interesting comparison the Maxwell company used to justify the use of the automobile over the horse. Check out the gas and oils costs for the auto. Wonder what the comparison would look like now.
Art, Brian, The lawyer representing the horse was Henry B. Culver.
Very interesting to read, it had to start somewhere,,,