Where Have All the Horses Gone?: How Advancing Technology Swept American Horses from the Road, the Farm, the Range and the BattlefieldA century ago, horses were ubiquitous in America. They plowed the fields, transported people and goods within and between cities and herded livestock. About a million of them were shipped overseas to serve in World War I. Equine related industries employed vast numbers of stable workers, farriers, wainwrights, harness makers and teamsters. Cities were ringed with fodder-producing farmland, and five-story stables occupied prime real estate in Manhattan. Then, in just a few decades, the horses vanished in a wave of emerging technologies. Those technologies fostered unprecedented economic growth, and with it a culture of recreation and leisure that opened a new place for the horse as an athletic teammate and social companion. |
Contents
| 1 | |
| 3 | |
| 11 | |
| 28 | |
| 63 | |
On the Farm | 103 |
On the Range | 123 |
Recreation | 131 |
Polo | 151 |
Unwanted Horses | 174 |
Conclusion | 185 |
Appendix Tables 110 | 187 |
Chapter Notes | 199 |
Bibliography | 217 |
Index | 229 |
Racing | 142 |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
American horses animals April Argentine Army Horses artillery automobiles Breeder's Gazette breeding British cable car cattle cavalry century chukker Company cowboy Department of Agriculture electric equine farm horses farmers fire engine forces four France French front German grazing guns Harness hauling herd History horse cars horse population Horse Racing horse shows horse’s horses and burros horses and mules Ibid January land mares miles military months motor moved mules mustangs number of horses officers operated percent Pershing play players plow Polo Association Polo Club Polo Ponies pulled purchase Quartermaster racehorses railroad ranches Report riders riding road Rodeo saddle shipped slaughter sport steam engine street supply tank Thoroughbred threshing machines tracks tractor transport trench warfare trucks U.S. Army U.S. Department United States Army USPA vehicles veterinary wagon warfare Washington West Western wheels wild horses wire World Yearbook of Agriculture York