Vehicle, Horse-Drawn

a vehicle to which horses are usually hitched. (Such a vehicle may also be drawn by oxen, mules, camels, and other draft animals.) Horse-drawn vehicles may carry people or cargo. They may have wheels or runners (sleds); those with wheels are either single-axled (with two wheels) or double-axled (with four wheels). The vehicles may be unsprung, semisprung, or sprung; there may be a shaft or a tongue.

In Middle Asia and in the countries of the Middle East, arby having two wheels, each with a diameter reaching 2 m, are used to transport loads across fields that are broken up by ditches. The most modern wheeled vehicles of this type are unsprung freight wagons with ball bearings and pneumatic tires.

Three types of horse-drawn vehicles are manufactured in the USSR: a single-axled dumpcart with a capacity of 0.75 ton, a double-axled dumpcart with a capacity of 1.5 tons, and a non-dumping vehicle with a capacity of 2 tons. These vehicles, which are equipped with large beds, are noiseless, travel well on dirt roads and over roadless areas, and deliver the load (milk, eggs, fruit, vegetables) in good condition.