MTFCA Forum

Thanks to Charlie Russel for the painting.
Just a sobering reminder that the transition into the “motor age” wasn’t without its casualties.

A reminder for 21st century drivers to be cautious and courteous if you find yourselves sharing the road with horses. They are not machines, and their riders or drivers have to share control with the sensibilities of their animals !
T drivers especially can empathize with horsemen, dealing as we do with an environment that’s often hostile to our “mounts”.

Gorgeous print Rich! Really lifelike colors etc. And how the lady's hat is about to fly off. Shows action!

I get your parallel nowadays...with "modern iron" vs. "our mounts"..i.e. our T's...seems every day I deal with some impatient idiot risking lives rushing past me in a no passing zone only to barely clear me and the oncoming car.
But then it's often offset by the motorist in the next lane at the traffic light going gaga over Clara's beauty...so that makes up for it I guess.

I grew up with horses. Since you never know what will cause them to "shy" I always appreciated it when motorists would slow down and pull over to give us a bit more room when passing. One time I was riding a young filly that we were in the process of getting used to the saddle when a guy in an old beater came by in the opposite direction, too close and sounding his horn. The horse reared up, dumped me on the hood of the car, put a dent in his fender and took off riderless for home at high speed. He stopped the car with me still on the hood, jumped out and shouted "is the horse OK? Did it break it's leg?" The horse was fine physically....I was bruised a bit. It took that filly a long time to get used to having cars around but she turned out to be the best horse I ever had.

One thing that bothers me is then there is a slow lane on a hill so the faster cars can pass. I need to keep up my speed or will have to use a lower gear the rest of the way and someone pulls up in the passing lane and slows down to take a picture just before my lane ends so I have to stop and then for the rest of the way up the hill I am in low or Ruckstell, even slower than before!
Norm

I deal with this sort of thing in Amish country. Horses that are well broke for modern traffic can freak out at a model T putt putting toward them. Not sure if its the sound, speed or the face like headlights but Ive had them jump off the road with the driver doing their best to control them. Passing from behind doesnt seem to phase them.

My sister has a cane which was used by our great grandfather. I found a letter which was written by her mother to my grandmother telling them why they would not be coming to Los Angeles when they had planned. They lived in New York State. He was unhitching the buggy when the horse pulled him over and he injured his knee. After that he walked with a cane.
Norm

Dallas Landers wrote: ↑

Mon Jun 03, 2024 10:01 pm

. . . Horses that are well broke for modern traffic can freak out at a model T putt putting toward them . . .

My own horses, thoroughly accustomed to modern iron of all shapes and sizes, besides farm equipment, came thoroughly unglued at their first sight of our Lizzie under her own power. That was once. They love her now !

I moved to where I'm at 30+ years ago because of my families love of horses. The daughter & wife grew up & moved away from home I went
from antique motorcycles to antique cars because they are better suited for grandkids. Half of my neighbors are into equestrian ( cow boys &
gauchos & the others are into racecars & hotrods.) We have a very good relationship with each other but still get people that come threw our
neighborhood that think they should blow their horn to let someone on a horse know they are coming & we get 2 or 3 thrown & hurt every
year.
Craig.

I have read many accounts of early cars causing horses to bolt and
other stressing issues. An angle to this I had never thought of came
to me in a story of an ancient neighbor sharing a story of seeing an
automobile for the first time in 1905. It was in rural Minnesota and
at night. What he explained was his extreme fear of this unknown
object with bright lights on it, making a helluva racket of sounds
totally unfamiliar to a 19th century human. It was that unfamiliarity
angle that I had never considered. He said imagine having never heard
a jet engine or a rocket, and suddenly such a noise and lights like you
had never seen coming at you in the dark !

I would imagine that in a day when automobiles were just beginning
to appear on the roads, that those noises would alarm horses in the
same way. Once acclimated to cars, horses probably came to just see
them as part of the normal landscape. My horses had always been around
motorized vehicles, so were unfazed by them, unless they came around
them too fast or surprised them. I have firsthand experience of horses
bolting and trying to gain control and simmer them down. A freaked
out 1000lb. ball of muscles can be pretty scary.

Here’s another fun painting ! As we know, early on there were some pretty stringent anti-automobile statutes passed in some localities before motorists got the upper hand. Here, the rules of the road require motor vehicles to yield to horses, livestock and pedestrians, but it seems most motorists are either ignorant of the law, or choose to ignore it. Might makes right ?