Four-in-hand (carriage)

A four-in-hand

A four-in-hand is a carriage drawn by a team of four horses having the reins rigged in such a way that it can be driven by a single driver. The stagecoach and the tally-ho are usually four-in-hand coaches.

Before the four-in-hand rigging was developed, two drivers were needed to handle four horses. However, with a four-in-hand, the solo driver could handle all four horses by holding all the reins in one hand, thus the name.

The four-in-hand knot used to tie neckwear may have developed from a knot used in the rigging of the reins.

Today Four-in-hand driving is the top discipline of combined driving in sports. One of its major events is the FEI World Cup Driving series.

Four-in-Hand in Art

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  The Fairman Rogers Four-in-Hand (1879–80) by Thomas Eakins, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.

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  Alphonse de Toulouse-Lautrec Driving His Four-in-Hand (1880) by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Musee du Petit Palais, France.

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  Four in Hand (1881) by Jozef Chelmonski, National Museum, Sukiennice, Kraków, Poland.