Will the horse and cart, and blacksmiths and farriers make a dramatic comeback?

Question

Great peace, love and respect tonight YA Brothers and Sisters.

With the price of fuel and the credit crunch and all that stuff taking hold, will we soon see a return of perhaps 90-100 years ago where you saddled up and rode off into the wide blue yonder?

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=SS5hVUJpbfs

And would it be so bad?

Answer 1

Ive just purchased a scythe and I prefer it to a petrol strimmer.

Answer 2

There are some places where they do not allow cars... only horses and bicycles. I would much rather live in that community.

Answer 3

It would be great if it could. I hope more people will start to walk also. It would help the children become fitter (and parents also)

Answer 4

hope not [s hit  everywere]

Answer 5

Good point Crazy Horse, maybe they should make a comeback.

1st point - They haven't developed much 'true' alternatives to the motor vehicle. The Toyota Prius WHOO HOO! General Motors also sits on plans for great ideas for alternative engines, and have done for years, but never intended to develop these ideas because it is in leagues with the oil companies - d**n them!

WHO IS DOING ALL THE THUMBS DOWNING? You have a troll by the looks of it.....

2nd point - I am sure that horse ownership will have to be looked at by the average Joe, simply because car ownership is getting to be impossible.

3rd point - No public transport, and even if there were (in my village), I wouldn't give the govt the privelidge on TAXING me to use it.

There are 2 buses a day from my village to town, neither goes at the time I go and come home from work. And for a 20 mile round trip, they charge around 8 quid return. To sit on a bus with dirty smelly people farting and burping, and the dirty diesel engine throwing thick black smoke out of it's a$$. Give me 'a horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse' - any day.

Answer 6

never left the  Amish they only used horse power

great likeness of you tho  in South Dakota  was just out there

Answer 7

That would'nt be a bad thing , I wonder if the humble shoe

maker might also make a comeback......too you all I say

Cobblers  ; )

Answer 8

Bring it back!

Answer 9

Hi

I'll tell you what I have seen an increase in, those little four wheel buggy's, the ones that are supposed to be used by invalids you know the battery type, I'm sure not all the people using them are invalids but still they're "green" good luck to them, I think the makers should jazz them up a bit make them more attractive for general usage, but then there's the government they'd spoil it by over taxing them I suppose.

Ray. West York's. UK

P.S I've just thought, these "Hobby Bobby's" we've now got can fine you if your dog craps in the street, can you imagine the fine when your horse does? well somethings got to replace the road tax

Answer 10

No, some of us are glad that the car improved the environment by replacing the horse and cart (to suggest horse and cart as a replacement for the automobile is to be very ignorant of the environmental effects of the horse and cart).

For you see it turns out that horses actually caused more pollution than the cars that replaced them (not to mention all the animal welfare problems horse drawn transport caused, not everyone treated the horses properly and it was often cheaper to work a horse to death and buy a new horse than it was to treat them properly).

Those who ride horses for recreation aren't a problem because there just aren't enough of them to mess things up but if everyone traded in their SUV for a horse the streets would pile up with manure (and if you think traffic jams are bad now, they'd be a lot worse with slowly accelerating horses).

Of course some people seem more interested in romantic primitivism than in actually finding solutions to our problems, which might explain why so many people think the utterly stupid idea of using horses for something other than recreation is actually worth bothering with.

Answer 11

Aww I love Black Beauty!!That would be great to just go everywhere on horseback,it get's my vote :-)

Answer 12

Won't help much with global warming. Methane is the main exhaust gas from horses, much more greenhouse effect than co2. Blacksmiths burn coke or charcoal, primary emissions co and co2. May be a problem getting enough hay to fuel all the horses needed for Tescos "you shop we drop" program.

Answer 13

really beautiful, CRAZY HORSE, i would certainly love those times to be back, no i don't honestly think this would be a bad thing at all, Ann

Answer 14

That is not  a bad idea. But I doubt it will happen.

Answer 15

I don't think it will be a dramatic come back, but there is definitely feasibility studies going on right now in the UK.

Currently it is a cost prohibitive idea. The horses and carts cost too much and there is a lack of infrastructure, (blacksmiths, farriers), in place. Running costs would be greater than a diesel van capable of carrying the same load.

Then you have to identify prospective uses. Horse power can't compete against the electric milk float, speed and capacity of refuse vehicles mean a horse drawn waste collection would cost more. Dual use also means it is struggling in recyclable collections, but the gap there is closing. As co-operative about town movement of goods there is much more scope in delivering carpets, white goods etc.

With rising fuel costs and environmental taxes, the number of private vehicles on the road is going to plummet in the next 3-4 years and there is a niche for the heavy horse to make a come back. Dramatic might be to strong a word at this time and a principle problem is storage, (grazing land), that restricts what can actually be done.

Answer 16

all that fresh air blowing through your hair as you ride along to work on the back of a horse!!!! do it now lolol!!!

Answer 17

I live in the channel islands and in Sark  no cars are allowed they have only ever had horse and cart.  The only motorised vehicle allowed are the tractor and  ambulance

Answer 18

It will never happen, people will go to public transport before they do such a move, and horse  food is rising fast as well so costs will also go up if people buy a horse, and they are also more expensive than a car, unless u get some tiny thing.

Answer 19

I think it could well do if things get worse >  I'd love it.

Answer 20

well i live in ardmore.. we have the state  horseshoeing school here... very busy place....

  i cant see why we don't ride more horses  they  cheap to keep .   and  they cant  plow   carry things .. very safe ..

  i believe  in the out back parts of town   they are doing better

   and   people still love them