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Life In British India Horseshoe Work – Old Photo 1890
A rare 1890 old photograph that shows a glimpse of life in British India, men on horseshoe work. Before the advent of motor vehicles, horses were the main transport of men and goods in almost all parts of the world. Although horses were the best mode of transport it was not without its problems.
See post- Britishers Gather At Lalbagh Bangalore – Old Photo 1898., and British Military Royal Field Artillery At Belgaum-Old Photograph 1870.
Since they would travel a lot at times to great distances with or without loads their hoofs tended to wear away. If not corrected the horses start limping with implications.
To prevent this a curved steel strip called the horseshoe would be fixed under the hoofs. This avoids wear and keeping the hoofs healthy. Here you can see British and Indian ironmongers and farriers (horseshoeing specialists) busy at work.
Location in photograph somewhere in northern India either Ambala, Lucknow or Kanpur, etc. There was no shortage of work for a farrier under colonial ere since there were large number of horses working mostly in the military, workhorses, Maharaja’s ceremonial events, and so on.
Read also- What can a history of the horse tell us about India today?
Did you know- the tramways of Bombay and Calcutta first began with horse-driven trams.
From the collection- 1964 M. Suriyamoorthy Charcoal On Paper (#2)., Rampart of Tipu Sultan’s Bangalore Fort – Old Postcard 1900., Madras Iron Pier – Old Photograph 1870., Making Of The Mullaperiyar Dam – Old Print 1895
The images are of the actual items from my collection. And Not a photocopy, pirated, reproduced, or stock photos or taken from other sources.
