The Good Ol' Days

"Many people have sighed for the 'good old days' and regretted the 'passing of the horse,' but today, when only those who like horses own them, it is a far better time for horses."

C.W. Anderson

This quote was found at http://www.quotegarden.com/horses.html and it inspired me to talk about the use of horses today compared to 1600’s. Earlier I talked about the use of horses in the Civil War, also during that time horses were common for transportation. This continued until the invention of the automobile.

When horses were used as the main source of transportation, their life was tough. Because, as Anderson stated, everyone, including those who didn’t like horses, owned one. Sure the “good old days” were great and its romantic to think of horse drawn carriages and such, but when you look deeper things aren’t as pretty.

The cobblestone roads caused extra stress on a horse’s tendons and ligaments of the leg. Special shoes were used to keep from slipping. A carriage driver could be harsh and cruel to the care of the animal. In the city good stabling was hard to find. Conditions were mostly dark, damp and cramped. A life of a carriage horse was long and tiring. Hard on the bones. Tough on the spirit.

Today, the life of a horse, in most cases is much more pleasurable. It’s the people who love horses that own them. Meaning that a majority of the time, a horse will be well fed and loved. Now this isn’t always the case, but if someone really wanted to own a horse, normally they will be taken care of.