Wouldn’t two horses normally have done the trick? Why four, let alone six? Were the coaches that heavy so that the load had to be spread out more evenly? Speed probably wasn’t involved because, the way I see it, your coach will go as fast as your fastest horse will go…
Am I missing something?
I’m gonna WAG.
You wanted to let the coach, whether it be a passenger coach or a mail coach, go as far as possible before stopping(to change horses, or just to rest). Four or six horses would allow you to travel farther as the horses wouldn’t be as tired from pulling the load. Two horses would have to be changed more often.
I’ve never taken a physics course in my life but…the coach being on wheels, and given the physical strength of horses, would it be once it is in motion that much more energy consuming for the (two?) horses involved? In other words, did it make much of a difference if four horses were used?
I guess it obviously did…
hmmm…sorry:
'would it have been, once it was in motion, that much…"
Sorry, I didn’t catch Mountain Charley sneaking into two quotes.
Way ta go, Ringo 
. Yeah…makes sense for grades, mountains and stuff…
For some weird reason, I figured it was all flatlands…:smack:
Don’t ask.
IIRC, the average overland speed for a stagecoach was around 4 miles per hour because the terrain was simply awful and a team of horses lasted at best for 20 miles.
I guess my employer wanted to be absolutely certain of getting through. All the pictures of stagecoaches around here have 6-horse teams. Of course, all the photos were taken on a Cecil B. DeMille-worthy photo and video shoot in (IIRC) Wyoming about five years ago. Historic accuracy wasn’t necessarily high on anyone’s mind. All that (heh heh…) horsepower of six horses thundering along just looks and sounds cool.
Slightly off topic - the reins for a six-horse hitch would be freaking heavy. I’ve driven a four-in hand, barely, and nearly broke my back.
A nice man from a brewery with a heavy horse team (not that one) let me sit in the driver’s bench. I wouldn’t have dared tried to hold those reins.
In the movies, they usually depict stagecoaches with galloping horses, but I assume they trotted. If you have the horses trot, the traces never go slack so you don’t have to engage the weight over and over again. But that’s a guess.
How about a forty horse hitch?
Wallon Even if only half the horses had reins, and those reins were light nylon web, I bet it would be impossible for me!
The Amiss girls are strong like oxen.