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shunt horses
hi John H T &48111 Hope I can be of some help. Horses were like locos,even when they werent working they had to be looked after so they were ready for their next duty.they where kept mainly in stableyard areas under the charge of a head horsekeeper,he cared for all their welfare needs.Feeding was stricktly controlled 3 times a day working twice on rest days.Main feed consisted of a mix of chopped hay crushed oats & bran. Horses were allocated to a carter (driver) who was directly responsible for its general wellbeing, grooming and keeping harness clean & servicable also the actual working of the animal pulling heavily laden wagons in all sorts of locations spoke volumes of the calibre of these men.It was said in 1920 railway companies across the UK employed 19500 cartage horses.Regarding shoeing some companies had their own farriers and some used contractors.Horses were shod (new shoes) about every 3 weeks,and each shoe averaged aprox 4 lbs each. I dont know if the they still do it but Severn Valley railway used to have a railway horse weekend during the summer. Jim d
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