Page 63 - Southern Oregon Magazine Winter 2020

HORSE-DRAWN

CARRIAGE RIDE

Pamela Ruhl Gibson

Mary WilkinsKelly Photography

or hundreds of years, horses were the primary means of transportation for
Fpeople and things. They also provided an essential element to the develop-
ment of the twentieth century. During this time, radical changes were
brought to the world with the introduction of modern machinery,
technology, and automobiles. In fact, a world that had relied so
heavily on horsepower was changed forever.

Indeed, the 1900s was aptly termed “the age of the
horse,” as the typical horse provided transporta-
tion and hard labor on farms and in forests. On
the farms, they helped to cultivate fields and
orchards by hauling equipment and people.
Farms would have been wholly unsuccess-
ful without the “horse-power” needed for
the heavy labor needs. Not surprisingly,
the horse population peaked in the U.S.
to twenty-one million in 1915. However,
numbers began to plummet as horses
were exported to the European battle-
fields for enlistment in the war.

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