Wednesday, March 07, 2007

Carriage Driving Basics- the nitty gritty stuff

So, I've taken up carriage driving. I am by no means "literate" about all of the different types of carriages, their parts, or harness. I can hook up a mini- with the cart and harness that I'm used to using, but that doesn't mean I can quote the parts or hook up another horse to another cart!

I'm a work in progress and will eventually get around to learning more of the nitty gritty. Right now, it's just fun to hook up and drive!

But back to the nitty gritty of carriage driving, I have run across some useful informtion that I'll pass along about driving. First let me simplify the types of carriages for fellow "simple-minded k.i.s.s. folk" like myself, here's a nice way to break down horse vehicles:

Cart - Two Wheeled vehicle
Buggy - Basic 4 wheel vehicle
Carriage - fancier 4 wheel vehicle
Wagon - Farm type vehicle - Pick Up truck of the day.

Now we're going to be really ambitious and tackle the parts of a vehicle. The most basic parts of any cart are as follows:

Shafts- the two metal or wooden poles that go along the sides of the horse.

Singletree (also called swingletree or whiffletree)- that wooden piece that sits above the shafts and has a pivot point in the middle of it. You attach the traces to these and the horse pulls from it.

Floor- the place where you put your feet

Dash- the section of the floor that curves upward toward the shafts.

Seat- do you really need an explanation of this one?

Wheels- again, you got it.

That's about it for your truly basic cart parts. Anything beyond that probably won't show up on anything but a championship level knowledge bowl.Now, for those of you who like pictures, don't think I'm going to leave you out. Here are some diagrams and links to various vehicle and harness parts!














No comments: