E04 → Horses

In the 19th century, Glasgow started to expand its industrial era with many productions and work oppurtunities. Horses were used to move goods and transport people. There were four types of horses: saddle horses ridden by individuals and by the cavalry; carriage and coach horses; cart and pack horses; and farm horses mainly used for ploughing. Around 1750s, there was a service called ‘Glasgow Fly’ which used four horses to carry four passengers, transporting the between Glasgow and Edinburgh

To maintain the horses’ performance, they had to regularly exercise; otherwise, they could develop bad habits such as kicking and biting. In a rather extreme experiment by Doctor Marshall which he fed a horse only one straw every day to see how long it could survive on minimal food. In 1865, there were three cases of cruelty to horses recorded in the Glasgow court, including maltreatment and beating by drunk men

Horses were ridden by the cavalry . In 1788, horse tax payments were introduced to help fund the war against France, with around 230 horse owners in the city of Glasgow paying this tax. The famous statue of a horse named Copenhagen, ridden by the Duke of Wellington, stands in fornt of the Royal Exchange Square, now known as the Gallery of Modern Art (GoMA). This statue has become an iconic symbol in the city of Glasgow

One of the architectural evidences of horses use in the city that is still preserved is the Stable Horses in Bell Street. The building was constructed between 1896 and 1898 to house the city cleansing department’s horses. It was transformed for police use in 1955 and left abandoned in the 1980s. Currently, the stable has been transformed into public housing while retaining original features, such as the horse ramp repurposed as the main access staircase