Tandem (wagon)
A tandem is a usually single-axle team drawn by two horses walking one behind the other .
The horse in front should be lighter and more elegant than the fork horse walking between the displays directly in front of the carriage . The fork horse usually wears a kumt , while the front horse is usually harnessed to a breastplate harness . Most of the tensile load is taken over by the fork horse.
Tandem and the related random tension come from England and have the advantage over horses walking next to each other that even very narrow paths are passable. Due to the uneven distribution of tensile loads, the horse in front is hardly stressed and is available as a rested riding horse after the ride. For this reason, tandem and random tension were also often used during hunts : when they arrived at their destination, the front horses were saddled for the hunt.
In tandem tension, a single-axle cart or a carriage called a tandem cart with very large wheels is almost always driven.
Tandem tension is more difficult to drive than a four-in-hand car and places much higher demands on the skills of the coachman and horses than the tension of two horses side by side. Today it is only driven for show purposes.
