Horse and Harness - c1920’s (Horse training and Equipment.)

$14.00

Cat No.:   CA0178-S:

This CD is a compilation of two books about the use of horses for motive power and for

transportation. Before the general use of the internal combustion engine almost the only

general, land based, alternate to human muscle was to harness the muscles of animals and the first choice of animals was the horse. As a result our ancestors built up a body of knowledge about the care, training and harnessing of horses in much the same way that we today, understand and care for our motor-cars.

The two books reproduced on this CD provide a look back at two aspects of this erstwhile “common” knowledge:

A New System of Horse Training or Education was written by Prof. H. D. Brush, and published in 1902. In his preface Prof. Brush explains that his objective in writing the book, apart from “earning a dollar,” was to record the essence of the system of horsemanship which he had developed, and “now” taught in his classes. He also wanted to put the information into a form that could be carried in the pocket for easy reference in the field.

For us this has left us a valuable resource which allows us to understand the essence of his ideas on training, or in his word, “educating,” the horse so that the maximum benefit can be obtained out of its great strength and stamina, while attending to its welfare and general health.

A well written, practical, to-the-point guide to the horse. As applicable today as it was 100 years ago - with the one proviso that expert advice should be sought before considering any of the “cures” and veterinary treatments described. While the training methods may still work veterinary medicine certainly has advanced and many of Prof. Brush’s “cures” appear highly undesirable today.

Harness Catalogue No.10 - Hugh Carson Co. Ltd. - c1920. The Hugh Carson company was one of a dozen or so harness manufacturing and supply companies in Ottawa at the beginning of the 1900’s. This catalogue is not dated, but based on various pieces of information in the catalogue a little research places its issue between 1910 and 1930.

This was the period when internal combustion powered vehicles were beginning to be serious competition to horse powered transportation and so represents what might be considered the pinnacle of the production and use of horse harness.

Approximately 2/3 of the contents of the catalogue is dedicated to full harness sets in weights ranging from the lightest buggy harness all the way through to the heaviest lumber hauling harness, both for single horses and for teams. Each harness is beautifully illustrated in use and supported with a complete description of the component parts.

The remainder 1/3 of the catalogue displays individual examples of some of the harness components and of many other necessities for care of and use of both the harness and for stock in general, including both horses and cattle. There is even, on one page, an illustration of a dog harness.

The gentleman who owns this catalogue refused to part with it on a permanent basis because he found it to be an irreplaceable source of details on the configuration of team harness for a project he had undertaken. He was, however, kind enough to loan it to us so we could make this valuable information available to you all. Please join with us in expressing our gratitude for his generosity.

To increase the value of this CD as a research reference we have made the text of the publications computer searchable and enhanced the search speed with our FastFind technology.

An invaluable reference to a body of knowledge which is slowly disappearing.

You can also reach the Sampler by clicking on the following link Sampler

You can return to this page by closing the Sampler Page when you are ready to purchase.

No. of CDs is:  1 ;   Format is:  PDF ;   Searchable?:  YES;

FastFind:  Yes;  ISBN No.:   978-1-897405-12-3 ;