Horses

Roderick Smith wrote: Roderick.

Operator defends horse-drawn carriages after vehicle overturns 20 February 2018.
The operator of a horse-drawn carriage that tipped over has said his animals are treated ''like gold'' after the incident near Crown Casino left one of them with cuts to its legs.
An image of the animal lying stricken on the road was posted on social media by activist group Melbourne Against Horse-Drawn Carriages, which is campaigning to ban the operation of the wagons in the CBD.
A horse that had fallen near Crown Casino while pulling a carriage. Photo: Melbourne Against Horse-Drawn Carriages
Operator Peter Hunter, of Elite Carriages, said the incident happened at about 2pm on Monday when the horse slipped on tiles that line the pavement of Queensbridge Street near the entrance to Crown.
As the horse fell it caused a second horse to come down on top of it, he said. Police helped divert traffic as the harnesses were removed from the horses.
"It's a very stressful thing because once they're down they can't get up; you have to get their harnesses off them as quickly as possible," he said.
"They were thrashing around while they were down. Once I calmed them down, they realised that they couldn't do anything and then they got back up when the harnesses were off."
The fall left one of horses with minor grazes on its hind legs, he said.
"I've been over there this morning to give them a bath. She's walking around perfectly," he said.
Kristin Leigh, campaign manager at Melbourne Against Horse-Drawn Carriages, said the group had been sent videos of blood marks along nearby tram tracks.
She said that even if Mr Hunter's account was correct, it still represented the risks of using horses to pull carriages in an urban environment.
"It's certainly not the first time it's happened, and if the authorities don't act it won't be the last," she said.
She said the group was seeking to have VicRoads change the definition of a vehicle to no longer include horse-drawn carriages.
"They continuously break road safety laws; we get messages on a daily basis," she said.
Last year, the City of Melbourne said it would stop granting permits to horse-drawn vehicles to park or offer rides on Swanston Street because of safety risks.
Mr Hunter said the horse falling over was a "freak accident" that had happened only once before in his time in the industry.
He said activists trying to get the industry banned had "nothing better to do".
"These horses are our bread and butter, so of course we look after them," he said.
"It's absolutely ludicrous. All the other operators, the horses are treated like gold. You can't take a horse into the city if they're not looking right."
< www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/oper...20180220-p4z0yq.html >

I have heard about a group of fruit loops trying to ban the horses in the city , it would appear that no matter what part of the transport industry your in people are unhappy

This is one sector I thought would never have a problem, shows how smart I'm not


Paul

180305M Melbourne Herald Sun - Clydesdale safari.
Roderick.

Here are a few horses with trucks

Roderick.

End of an era as Clydesdales deliver their last brew
Herald Sun March 28, 2018.
Scott Goodall with Murphy, Henry, Al, Parker, Hamish and Andy. Picture: Nicole Cleary.
THE famous Clydesdale horses of Carlton & United Breweries are hanging up their reins and retiring.
The “Clydies” have been much-loved ambassadors for the beer company and have captured hearts across the nation for 65 years.
But the retirements of Murphy, Harro and Andy will bring an end to all that.
Trainer Glen Pate will also step down after working with the horses for 34 years.
Andy and Murphy lead Henry, Al, Parker and Hamish. Picture: Nicole Cleary
Senior teamster Scott Goodall with his team. Picture: Nicole Cleary
“I’m very proud CUB has kept a working Clydesdale team longer than any other brewery,” he said.
“They’ve brought so much joy to so many Australians.”
The horses started as transport animals, but soon became synonymous with the company.
“There are some very sad people around here,” CUB’s Sabine Wolff said.
“Everyone loves them because they’re beautiful and sweet-natured animals.”
Mr Pate is working to find each horse an appropriate, caring home.
< www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/end-o...f0622ff38a79818f0500 >

See also:
www.victorianworkingdraughts.org.au/about (preserving and displaying draught horses)
www.btm.org.au (Ballarat Tramway Museum runs its horse tram with hired Clydesdales on special occasions; the next is Subn.8.4.18).

Thanks Lang,
for the piece on CUB's Clydesdales. Truly the end or an era, as quoted.
Can only hope that these magnificent animals find a safe secure home to see their days out.
Dave

180329Th Melbourne Herald Sun - Clydesdales.

Roderick.

WOW thats amazing, Im guessing from reading the article that CUB cant find people to work the horses anymore ???

thanks for sharing Rod

Paul

Scroll back in this thread to 14.3.13 and ~10.1.13 for four photos from me of Clydesdales pulling horse trams.

Roderick

It is sad to see the end of an era. I guess the real reason is the cost of maintaining the horses, their transport vehicles and full time staff.
When I was President of the HCVCA, we wrote to CUB several years in a row inviting them to display the draft horses at our Annual Rally but they did not reply.

A great history piece.

Roderick.

Melbourne history: early cab drivers and shelters in the city.
Herald Sun April 13, 2018.
BEFORE almost everyone had a car, and long before Uber, Melburnians turned to horse-drawn Hansom cabs to get around.
And while today’s horse and carriage is more for tourists than transport, a small part of the horse-drawn cab industry was preserved.
Two of the 13 cab shelters built to protect drivers from Melbourne’s changeable weather are still standing.
The cab rank in Carpentaria Place, East Melbourne in 1910.
The first cabman’s shelters were built in Melbourne in 1898 and were portable, timber structures, designed to give cab drivers a place to wait for passengers.
The shelters were built around the city from South Yarra, Hawthorn and St Kilda, but the oldest surviving example is the Grand Rank Cabman’s Shelter, now in Yarra Park.
The shelter was originally located just south of Parliament House in Carpentaria Place, East Melbourne.
Designed by Victorian architect Nahum Barnet, the 5.3-metre by 2.3-metre structure was modelled on a shelter constructed in St James Square, London circa 1896.
The shelter and accompanying rank took its name from the nearby Grand Hotel, now Windsor Hotel, and was open from 11am to 2.30pm and 4pm to 1am daily.
Carpentaria Place was demolished during the construction of the City Loop in the 1970s and the area is now known as Gordon Reserve.
The Grand Rank Cabman’s Shelter was relocated to Yarra Park, along Brunton Ave in Jolimont where it can still be found today.
The Grand Rank Cabman’s Shelter in Yarra Park.
Little is known about when or how it ended up there; only that it was donated by an anonymous parliamentarian.
While its slate roof has been replaced with corrugated iron, the shelter has retained some original features including all of its furniture, a hitching rail which cabmen used to tie their horses up to and a dovecote.
And the rule that shelters could be used only by cabmen was enforced by law.
In 1916, three men were charged in Hawthorn for “having used a cab shelter without being the driver of a licensed cab”.
The men were fined two shillings and six pence for their crime.
While particular about who used their shelters, cabmen reportedly had superstitions about the types of passengers they picked up.
“A cabman never likes to drive a red tie first thing in the morning. It means he will have bad luck all day. A white top-hat brings luck; so does a man who hails a cab with his hand touching a lamppost. An old man with plaid trousers is as good as two pound any day,” an article in a 1906 issue of The Herald read.
GETTING POPULAR. Although the two-wheeled carriages made their way to Melbourne in the late 1840s, it was not until the 1870s that they became a popular form of transport in the city.
By 1884, just over 1600 Hansom cab licences had been issued.
The cabs seated two passengers who would enter the carriage through a folding door at the front, while the driver’s seat was elevated at the back of the carriage, leaving them exposed to the elements.
An average cabman would work nine to ten hours a day, earning about £4 a week, according to a story in The Herald in April 1914.
Melbourne Town Hall and Swanston St. Painting by Jacques Carabain in 1889.
Although drivers had to provide a reference when applying for their licence stating they were “of good repute”, countless complaints were made about their conduct including theft and assault.
In 1891, Richard Morrison, a cabman visiting from Hobart, hailed a cab at South Wharf to take a box of his possessions worth £15 to the Adelaide Hotel on King Street.
While the cabman took the job, Morrison’s possessions did not arrive at his hotel, and the cabman disappeared.
FAIR FARES. Many stories and letters to the editor were published in Melbourne’s papers on the subject of passengers being overcharged by cabmen.
A letter to the Argus in August 1874 claimed that families were leaving the Brunswick area given it was too far to walk to the city and the cost of a cab was so high.
The letter claimed Brunswick residents were charged seven to eight shillings per week for cab hire when customers in other suburbs were charged only three pence per journey.
“We all suffer from the present high cab fares, and the cab owners appear to have entered into a combination to crush out the welfare of our borough,” the letter stated.
Hansom cabs around Parliament House in 1904. Picture: Cyril Robert Stainer
The rise of Hansom cabs in Melbourne also resulted in a number of accidents causing injury and even death.
In what must’ve been one of Melbourne’s first hit-runs, a cabman drove into a group of young men walking along St Kilda Road, before speeding off towards the city in May 1889.
Volunteer firefighter John Howard was knocked down and run over, sustaining severe internal injuries.
He was taken to Alfred Hospital by passing nightcart drivers, but was pronounced dead upon arrival, leaving behind a widow and child.
The only description Howard’s friends could give of the Hansom cab was that it had a yellow undercarriage.
The Herald reported that the cabman “appeared to be quite indifferent to the damage he had done, and his only anxiety seemed to be to get away as fast as possible.”
PHONE TENSIONS. While apps like Uber were over 100 years away, there were still some fights over telecommunications during the horse-drawn cab era.
In 1901, the use of the shelter’s telephone line caused tension for some patrons of the Grand Rank Cabman’s Shelter.
A petition signed by 60 drivers was lodged with the Hackney Carriage Committee demanding the 22 cabmen who paid the line rental between them allow others to contribute to costs so they could use the phone.
They argued that the monopoly over the phone caused “serious loss to the others on the rank, as well as the inconvenience to the public who may wish to employ them”.
FLINDERS STREET STATION IN PICTURES: A MELBOURNE ICON FOR 162 YEARS.
A LOOK BACK AT THE HISTORY OF MELBOURNE’S CHINATOWN.
< www.heraldsun.com.au/lifestyle/melbourne...a891b6699d2ca2334d78 >
* there are old Covenants on Titles in Toorak area saying only single horse drawn carriages are allowed down Toorak Road between the hours of 7pm and 2am.
* The good old days when you could run down a group of pedestrians and get away with it.
Nowadays you'd at least have to get legal-aid.
* My G-G-Grandfather ran his Hansom Cab business from his home in McPherson St, Carlton North back in the late 1800s and early 1900s. His sons, including my G-Grandfather, were also deeply involved in the business and had another
'depot' at their home in Drummond St, Carlton.