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Winter Driving

©2000 by Kurt Schneider

I was asked by a friend to comment on this subject, so I will pass on a few thoughts. I managed a sleigh rally for seven years, and saw enough to convince me that this is an area where many folks are in "over their head". Be careful out there!

Bells go around the horse at the saddle, but OUTSIDE the shafts (otherwise the shafts knock them off the strap. Measure around the barrel of the horse and the shafts when hitched for length of bell string. You can use an extension strap if the regular strap is too short.

The best bells are antique cast bells that are graduated in size and numbered on the bottom. If they are on the original leather band, and it is still flexible, you have the finest you can get. Then, in descending order of price are: graduated cast, numbered antique bells on new leather, antique cast bells of the same size, antique stamped brass bells (they are made like the bells on dog collars from sheet brass that is stamped into a bell shape), new cast bells, new stamped bells. The old bells are almost too nice to risk out driving around. I've spent agonized hours combing snow for lost bells. Get new ones and relax.

If you want to use bells, you can get a nice looking set at Smuckers harness shop for about $200. Make sure you listen to the bells before you buy. You are going to hear them a lot while you drive, and the bad sounding ones (a matter of personal taste) can drive you crazy. A pleasant set of bells is a saddle tree, which fits in the saddle under the turrets or replaces the turrets in some models. It looks like a little church steeple over the saddle, and normally has three bells, actual bell-shaped bells, some of which sound very pretty. Measure your saddle from turret hole to hole before you buy. Another type is shaft bells, which were a set of four or so bells on a strip of steel that is screwed to the shaft of the cart. These were most often found on draft-type rigs or commercial vehicles.

The purpose of bells, which were required by law in many jurisdictions, was to warn oncoming or overtaken traffic of your presence. Thus, each set had a different tone, so you could be distinguished from your neighbor at a distance.

If you are planning to use bells with a horse for the first time, be sure to try them out before you hitch, because they can startle even a "broke to death" horse into another dimension very quickly. Jingle in your hand while the horse is eating in the stable or paddock. Longe the horse with the bells on the surcingle with the horse in an enclosed area. They make good devices for riding or driving in hunting season, if you dare to go out at all.

While I'm on the subject of winter driving, let's talk about sleighs. Driving a sleigh is very different from driving a cart or carriage, due to the fact that the runners on a cutter are straight and the vehicle is really meant to travel in a straight line, and only forward, at that. Turning can result in upsets, and it is not a pretty sight. Make all turns as wide and slow as possible. Speed in a turn can flip a cutter in a wink. The sleigh was the means of relatively long distance travelling, often via frozen rivers, before the advent of rail travel. The colonial and early Federal roads were so rutted and muddy in the summer that only the most hardy folk would travel at that time. A sleigh outfitted with a charcoal heater and buffalo robes was quite comfortable for journeys of seventy-five to one hundred fifty miles a day, making relatively long trips possible. Inns in river towns did a thriving business in winter, putting up the sleighers.

A bob-sled has a fifth wheel and a forward set of runners that swivels under the floor of the sleigh to assist turning. They are frequently heavier vehicles, used for transporting cargo or farm goods or as omnibusses for a crowd of people. Most bobs were drawn by a pair or team.

Many sleighs offered for sale have spent a hard life in someone's front lawn, and the wood work of the runners and undercarriage is rotted or warped or missing. Many times these vehicles are puttied or Bondoed up and painted with a bright coat of auto paint to fool the unwary. Shafts are often missing or rotten. The shafts on a sleigh should be a little hefty, since they take a lot more stress in turning the sleigh. You will also find a lot of sleighs are upholstered in vinyl or naugahyde. The originals were done in wool melton or bedford cord. The leather-like stuff gets cold and stays cold and your butt slides uncomfortably when sleighing. The Faux leather resists water, which is why it was often used on "lawn sleighs".

A good cutter in show condition casts $2,000 to $4,000 for a Portland cutter, and $3,000 to $6,000 for an Albany (or swell body) cutter. Adequate cutters can be bought at Martins auction for $1,000 and fixed up to safe using standards for another $200 or so. Runner wear and condition of wooden parts is important for determining price. The "wings" ... little bent wood pieces at the sides of the dash ... are very important, because they are hard (or impossible) to duplicate if broken or missing, due to the double bend in the wood. The curved dash is not too hard to replace (ca. $400). Sleighs were often painted in brighter colors than other horse-drawn vehicles, and some of the color schemes were kaleidoscopic. Another focus of the craftsman was the ornate metal work and split reed work that decorates many sleighs. Make sure that metal work matches from side to side or from front to rear, to avoid missing pieces that might have been removed to make a trivet or some such. Split reed work can be duplicated more easily by any decent carriage shop.

American cutters covered the icy roads comfortably by flexing in all directions and frequently twisted around their longitudinal axis on deep ruts. They were made to flex, so many joints were not glued. A poor reconditioning may make the vehicle so strong that it tears itself apart. Much of the undercarriage is made with mortice and tenon joints. Some cracking of paint at these joints is normal. Since the joints are open, they are a weak point for water damage and dirt and grit wear.

Most horses are not very fit this time of year, and there is a tendency to overwork the poor babies in a sleigh. Feet ball up with ice. There was a special tool, called an ice knocker, for hitting the hoof to dislodge snow balls. Try spraying the sole of the foot with PAM cooking oil spray before driving. At a fast trot these snow balls may smack the dash or floor of the sleigh and make quite a noise. Hold on and keep the horse under control.

Just like a toy sled, the sleigh doesn't work well in deep snow. In olden times, the roads were rolled by teams of draft horses to pack the snow into a firm surface for sleighing. Snowmobiles can do a good job of trail preparation these days, or wait for a nice three to six inch snowfall for perfect sleighing.