Horses on Stamps
Horses have been very important to humans for millennia, and we still love to have them around. As working animals, they have more strength and stamina than people, so we have used their power to create our world. They have been used for riding, pulling carts & wagons, and as power for equipment in construction or mines. More recently their abilities in racing and jumping have gained prominence. Riding The 3 stamps below show animals used for riding and as pack animals.
- US#1130 – A horse without saddle, probably a pack animal, is shown in the stamp noting the Centennial of Silver discovered at the Comstock Lode in Nevada, in 1859.
- US#2754 – A mount & rider at full gallop in the Cherokee Strip Land Run in 1883. A team pulling a pioneer wagon is in the background.
- US#2818 – The cavalry has been important to military might for centuries, here shown with the Buffalo Soldiers; issued in 1994.
Trams As cities grew, public transport was provided with wagons pulled by animals. Trams were specialized wagons which ran on rails like train cars, but pulled by animal power, inside cities only.
- US #1006 - Trams such as the one shown used on the 3¢ stamp of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad issued in 1959 were pulled by horses. An early locomotive is also shown, with a diesel version behind that.
- Australia #1154 shows a double-decker tram in Adelaide in 1878. The driver can clearly be seen on the lower level. Later trams (or streetcars) were steam- and electric-powered.
Cowboys The following stamps show some of the work done by the people who care primarily for cattle. Driving them to food and water, or to market, was and is hard work.
The first pair:- Canada #667 – An 8¢ stamp issued in 1975, shows cowboys roping a wild stallion for a race. The stamp was to celebrate the 100th Anniversary of the establishment of Calgary.
- Canada #1819a – Calgary Stampede chuck wagon race, 46¢ . Part of the 1999 Millennium sets, the ‘Entertainment’ sheet of 4.
The next pair: - US #1243 - This is part of a painting by Charles M. Russell, “Jerked Down”, cowboys roping steer, issued in 1964.
- Canada #1653 - Cowboy riding along the scenic highway 34, called “The Big Muddy”, in Saskatchewan. He seems to have a whip in hand, for driving cattle.
The last pair : - Australia #331 - A stock man mustering, or rounding up the stock.
- Australia #985 - Another stock man mustering.
Mail Delivery Post riders were employed in Europe from early days of mail delivery, and the practice continued in the colonies of North America.
- Canada #413 - Post rider and his route: Quebec, Trois Riviere & Montreal along the St. Lawrence River; 200th Anniversary of regular postal service, with the starting year 1763 clearly seen.
- US #1154 –4¢ brown Pony Express, issued 1960. This service lasted only a little over a year, in 1860. The riders carried the mail from St. Joseph, Missouri to Sacramento, California in 10 days. But in 1861, the transcontinental telegraph was completed, and made the Pony Express obsolete.
- US #1120 - Overland mail: 4¢ red, issued in 1958 to celebrate the 100th Anniversary of the first overland mail coach to reach the west coast. 'Coach and four' and a map with route from Tipton, Missouri, to San Francisco.
Coaches carrying both people and freight, including the mail, were employed. They usually used a team of four.
In the first pair both the old and new transportation methods are shown:- Canada #313, illustrating a stagecoach & an airplane, with dates 1851-1951.
- US #1572, showing a stagecoach & transport truck, issued in 1975.
In the next pair: - Poland #1018 – a 2-wheeled mail cart in green (1963)
- Poland #1363 - a stagecoach in brown, issued in 1965
Two more coaches in different configurations:
- Australia #536 is a stagecoach with the title “Pioneer Transport”. It has a team of 2, even though the one behind is hard to see.
- Poland #1134 illustrates a wagon with a team of 4; it could be for freight or people.
Australia also issued a pair of stamps in 1955 showing a stagecoach, to remember the coach company Cobb & Co. (#281 & 282) Competitions The following two sets of 4 stamps, from USA and from Canada, have different themes. - The set of 4 stamps from USA has 4 different types of competition. They were issued in 1993.
- The set of 4 stamps from Canada, 46¢ value, issued in 1999, shows famous Canadian horses in their work.
The American set:- #2756 – show jumping
- #2757 – thoroughbred racing
- #2758 – harness racing, also called sulky racing
- #2759 – game of polo
The Canadian set: - #1791 – Northern Dancer won several races as a 3 year old in 1964, including the Kentucky Derby (in record time), the Preakness Stakes, and the Queen's Plate. His offspring include a great many race winners.
- #1792 – Kingsway Skoal, a rodeo bronco
- #1793 – Big Ben was a world champion show jumping horse, winning 40 Grand Prix titles in his 11 years in competition.
- #1794 – Armbro Flight, shown in a sulky or harness race.
Racing These are races on a flat track, not steeplechase.
In the first row:- US #1528 shows racers “Rounding the Turn“
- Australia #691 is Tulloch
- Australia #694 is Peter Pan
In the second row: - Australia #692 is Bernborough
- Australia #693 is Phar Lap
- Poland #1475 shows 2 horses neck & neck
Jumping & Dressage The 2 pair of stamps following illustrate both the athletic Jumping, and the elegant Dressage training of these magnificent beasts.
- Australia #986 - Jumping - having a horse jump many varied and complex obstacles
- Australia #987 - Dressage - the training of a horse to perform manoeuvres guided by minimal movements of the rider.
- Poland #1474 - Jumping
- Poland #1476 - Dressage
Canada has depicted horses used by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police on the following stamps. Historically, the Mounties were the police force for the frontiers in Canada, and retain the tradition of riding in this mechanical and digital age. The Musical Ride is an application of dressage.
Top row:- #223 – Mountie on horse, red 10¢; 1935 King George V Pictorial issue.
- #614 – Mountie Musical Ride in 1973, 15¢; the Musical Ride is a demonstration of horsemanship and horse training, kept as a tradition in the RCMP.
Bottom row: - #1736-1737 - Musical ride between 2 stamps in 1998, 45¢. The tab between the stamps continues the image from one to the next.
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