Canal horse

Canal horses were those work horses that were used in the 19th and partly until the middle of the 20th century to pull canal boats ( towing ). The canal boats carried cargo or people. There was no uniform type of canal horse. Mostly they were strong horses, light draft horses or small specimens of the heavy draft horses. Due to bridges or tunnels, the horses were no taller than 1.60 m. In their work, the horses had to overcome fences or change sides of the canal on simple humpback bridges. The average speed was around 3.3 km per hour. On the Thames center attracted the 18th century teams of up to 14 horses barges of up to 200 t the Thames high.

On Shropshire channel and the Grand Union Canal in the 19th century Quick services have been introduced. They transported passengers or cargo in small ships with a draft of only 46 cm. These were pulled by two horses at a gentle gallop. The rear horse was ridden by a postilion, who was able to drive the front canal horse. This express service reached an average speed of 16 to 19 km / h. The horses were changed every 5–8 km. These "flying boats" had the right of way and had scythe knives at the bow that cut the ropes of barges that could not make room quickly enough.

When the canals were frozen, up to 20 canal horses pulled wide icebreakers, mostly at a gallop.

In the 20th century, the horses were gradually replaced by internal combustion engines.

literature

• Elwyn Hartely Edwards. The FSVO encyclopedia of horses. Munich 2000. Pages 252-253