Editing Cart (section)

== Animal-powered carts ==

Larger carts may be drawn by animals, such as horses, mules, and oxen. They have been in continuous use since the invention of the wheel, in the 4th millennium BC. Carts may be named for the animal that pulls them, such as ''horsecart'' or ''oxcart''. In modern times, horsecarts are used in competition while [[draft horse showing]]. A ''[[dogcart]]'', however, is usually a cart designed to ''carry'' [[hunting dog]]s: an open cart with two cross-seats back to back; the dogs could be penned between the rear-facing seat and the back end.

The term "cart" (synonymous in this sense with ''chair'') is also used for various kinds of lightweight, two-wheeled carriages, some of them ''[[sprung cart]]s'' (or ''spring carts''), especially those used as open pleasure or sporting vehicles. They could be drawn by a horse, pony or dog. Examples include:

* Cocking cart: short-bodied, high, two-wheeled, seat for a groom behind the box; for [[tandem]] driving{{r|smith|page=53}}<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.caaonline.com/caa_content.asp?PageType=Dept&Key=15&MCat=16 |title=Carriage Tour |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071027142119/http://www.caaonline.com/caa_content.asp?PageType=Dept&Key=15&MCat=16 |archive-date=October 27, 2007 |website=[[Carriage Association of America]]}}</ref>
* [[Dogcart]]: light, usually one horse, commonly two-wheeled and high, two transverse seats set back to back{{r|smith|page=66}}
* [[Float (horse-drawn)|Float]]: a dropped axle to give an especially low load bed, for carrying heavy or unstable items such as [[milk churn]]s. The name survives today as a [[milkfloat]].{{r|smith|page=79}}
* [[Governess cart]]: light, two-wheeled, entered from the rear, body partly or wholly of [[wickerwork]], seat for two persons along each side; also called ''governess car, tub-cart''{{r|smith|page=88}}
* [[Ralli car]]: light, two-wheeled, horse-drawn, for two persons facing forward, or four, two facing forward and two rearward. The seat is adjustable fore-and-aft to keep the vehicle balanced for two or four people.{{r|smith|page=139}}
* Stolkjaerre: two-wheeled, front seat for two, rear seat for the driver; used in Norway{{r|smith|page=155}}
* Tax cart: spring cart, formerly subject to a small tax in England; also called ''taxed cart''{{r|smith|page=160}}
* Whitechapel cart: spring cart, light, two-wheeled, especially for family or light delivery service{{r|smith|page=173}}<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.scalemodelhorsedrawnvehicle.co.uk/(carriages).htm|title=Horse Drawn Carriages|publisher=Scalemodelhorsedrawnvehicle.co.uk|access-date=August 25, 2014|archive-date=April 29, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210429114025/http://www.scalemodelhorsedrawnvehicle.co.uk/(carriages).htm|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.driffieldtoday.co.uk/news/local/horse-drawn-vehicles-in-the-19th-century-1-4189245 |title=Horse drawn vehicles in the 19th Century – Driffield Post Times|publisher=Driffieldtoday.co.uk |date=January 27, 2012 |access-date=2014-08-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150220215507/http://www.driffieldtoday.co.uk/news/local/horse-drawn-vehicles-in-the-19th-century-1-4189245 |archive-date=February 20, 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The builder of a cart may be known as a ''cartwright''; the surname "Carter" also derives from the occupation of transporting goods by cart or wagon.

Carts have many different shapes, but the basic idea of transporting material (or maintaining a collection of materials in a portable fashion) remains. Carts may have a pair of shafts, one along each side of the draught animal that supports the forward-balanced load in the cart. The shafts are supported by a saddle on the horse. Alternatively (and normally where the animals are oxen or buffalo), the cart may have a single pole between a pair of animals. The draught traces attach to the axle of the vehicle or to the shafts. The traces are attached to a collar (on horses), to a yoke (on other heavy draught animals) or to a harness on dogs or other light animals.

Traces are made from a range of materials depending on the load and frequency of use. Heavy draught traces are made from iron or steel chain. Lighter traces are often leather and sometimes hemp [[rope]], but plaited horse-hair and other similar decorative materials can be used.

The dray is often associated with the transport of [[barrel]]s.{{r|smith|page=68}}

<gallery mode="packed" heights="160" caption="Horse-drawn carts">
File:Mejuffrouw Tachard en Ernst van Loon in een rijtuig voor huis Hydepark, RP-F-2007-361-27.jpg|Pony and cart (Netherlands, 1888)
File:Driving Competion (3716744148).jpg|Modern cart (England, 2009)
File:Grey Orlov Trotter.jpg|[[Sulky|Racing sulkies]] are carts (Russia, 2010)
File:Hammond Slides Samarkand 05.jpg|Donkey and cart (Uzbekistan, 1964)
File:Donkey with Cart.jpg|Small utility cart with donkey (Ghana, 2020)
</gallery>

<gallery mode="packed" heights="160" caption="Other animals">
File:Bullock Cart (গোরুর গাড়ি), Rural Bengal.jpg|Oxen (Bengal, 2020)
File:Bokkenwagen.jpg|Goat (Netherlands, 2018)
File:Dog carting by beach.jpg|[[drafting (dog)|Dog carting]]
</gallery>