Late 19th Century

Heavy work harness

This kind of harness (right) was in use from the beginning of the 19th century until the middle of the 20th for horses who had to work with heavy carts on the land or in towns. The broadly padded saddle, with its channel for a ridge chain carrying the shafts, gave plenty of load-bearing surface to save the horse's back.

The museum also has a pit pony saddle of similar type (left), which was found in a peat bog by Mr Douglas Kent. Mr Kent was taking some boys camping near Middleton in Teesdale, and as they dug into the peat to sink their "loo" they came upon a perfectly preserved saddle only a few inches below the surface - only the horsehair had gone. A brass disc with the maker's name responded to cleaning: he was J W Walton of Middleton.

These saddles are made to carry the weight of solid cart shafts. Compare these heavy saddles with the plain backband used with the snigging horse (right). He wears the same simple harness as a plough horse. Neither of those jobs requires the horse to bear any weight on his back.

Agricultural Shows - horses, cobs, Hackneys, Galloways and ponies

Local shows - mostly held in September after the hay crop had been cleared from the fields - divided classes for horses and ponies into various types: Agricultural horses (ie, Clydesdales and their crosses and others suitable to pull farm equipment); cobs; Hackneys; and ponies. These "ponies" were not defined as a breed but usually the classes specified height limits such as "under 14 hands" or "under 13 1/2 hands".

A late depiction of the Galloway Type?

A Victorian poster dated 1859, showing the 18th C Scottish poet Robert Burns as a ploughman with a pair of small horses in Ayrshire, possibly harks back to the old Galloway horses of SW Scotland. We are dependant on the artist's skill and understanding of Scottish farming here...

victorian poster of rabbie burns

The outer images include (bottom centre) "Tam O'Shanter" on his grey mare "Meg".

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