Barge Horses

[Lady A]

In days of old did bargees have there own horse or was there a commercial operation hiring horses along the Kennet. My wife thinks they all had their own much cherished nag, I think there were staging posts where you picked up a fresh horse that was managed by local companies who would feed stable and shoe them.

 

Surprisingly can find no reference to the management of horses at any of the heritage centres along our trip from Reading to Bristol.

 

Martin

[XAlan W]

In days of old did bargees have there own horse or was there a commercial operation hiring horses along the Kennet. My wife thinks they all had their own much cherished nag, I think there were staging posts where you picked up a fresh horse that was managed by local companies who would feed stable and shoe them.

 

Surprisingly can find no reference to the management of horses at any of the heritage centres along our trip from Reading to Bristol.

 

Martin

 

Can not say if the K&A was the same but in the days when my grandfather worked for the Shropshire Union C.C. the horses were owned by the canal company, they had stables along the canal, you could mostly keep the same horse but if ``your`` horse needed shoeing, or was sick etc you were given what he called a``changeling``some boatman liked the [spare] better than the issued one so tried everywich way to keep the spare, and were known to get quite upset if it was taken away &the original returned. The boatman was responsable for feeding, grooming,bedding down etc. & it was always done before the boatman had his meal etc. at the end of the day. There were inspectors that used to ride up & down the towing paths on horseback to see that the company`s horses were being treated properly, & fines or even dismissal were handed out to any one miss treating their horse, as pop`s used to say [it`s urn that earns thee crust]meaning treat your horse well & it would earn your money

 

In days of old did bargees have there own horse or was there a commercial operation hiring horses along the Kennet. My wife thinks they all had their own much cherished nag, I think there were staging posts where you picked up a fresh horse that was managed by local companies who would feed stable and shoe them.

 

Surprisingly can find no reference to the management of horses at any of the heritage centres along our trip from Reading to Bristol.

 

Martin

 

Can not say if the K&A was the same but in the days when my grandfather worked for the Shropshire Union C.C. the horses were owned by the canal company, they had stables along the canal, you could mostly keep the same horse but if ``your`` horse needed shoeing, or was sick etc you were given what he called a``changeling``some boatman liked the [spare] better than the issued one so tried everywich way to keep the spare, and were known to get quite upset if it was taken away &the original returned. The boatman was responsable for feeding, grooming,bedding down etc. & it was always done before the boatman had his meal etc. at the end of the day. There were inspectors that used to ride up & down the towing paths on horseback to see that the company`s horses were being treated properly, & fines or even dismissal were handed out to any one miss treating their horse, as pop`s used to say [it`s urn that earns thee crust]meaning treat your horse well & it would earn your money

[Pluto]

In days of old did bargees have there own horse or was there a commercial operation hiring horses along the Kennet. My wife thinks they all had their own much cherished nag, I think there were staging posts where you picked up a fresh horse that was managed by local companies who would feed stable and shoe them.

 

Surprisingly can find no reference to the management of horses at any of the heritage centres along our trip from Reading to Bristol.

 

Martin

Details about the day-to-day management of canals can be difficult to find. With regard to horses, when the canal company had a carrying fleet, they would also supply the horses. In this case, some canals encouraged a boatman to keep an individual horse, while other canals expected horses to be changed at specific stables along the way. There were also owner boatmen, known as number ones on some narrow canals. These men owned their own boat and horse, and would use stabling provided by pubs or the canal company for overnight accommodation. On Yorkshire waterways there were horse marines, men with a horse who would tow sailing barges on the non-tidal sections of their journey. Horse marines were found on the L&LC as well, where they towed company boats up and down the Lancashire locks, or along the Yorkshire section of the canal.

[Kez]

You're both right really; there were companies that hired out horses to boatmen and there were boatmen who owned their own horse. As a general rule, a number one would own his own horse and avoid hiring at all costs because of lack of money and not knowing the horse.

Carrying companies had their own horses and (size of the company dependant) stables, farriers and sometimes farms (to provide feed for the horses)