Trap (carriage)

Pony trap in Brisbane, Australia, 1900.
Pony and trap in northern England.


Trap_or_cart,_c_1903

A trap, pony trap (sometimes pony and trap) or horse trap is a light, often sporty, two-wheeled or sometimes four-wheeled horse- or pony-drawn carriage, usually accommodating two to four persons in various seating arrangements, such as face-to-face or back-to-back.[1][2][3][4] In the eighteenth century, the first carriage to be called a trap was a gig with a hinged trap door, under which was a place to carry a dog.[5][6] In late nineteenth century USA, four-wheeled dog carts with convertible seats also started to become known as traps.[7]

"Pony and trap" is also used as Cockney rhyming slang for "crap" meaning nonsense or rubbish, or defecation.[8]

  1. ^ "Hunting Trap". Carriage Association of America. Retrieved June 20, 2023.
  2. ^ "Glossary of Carriages". The Kinross Carriageworks, Stirling 1802-1966. Retrieved June 20, 2023.
  3. ^ Stanek, Anna (June 1, 2022). "12 Common Types of Horse Drawn Carriages". Horsey Hooves. Retrieved June 20, 2023.
  4. ^ "Evolution of the Trap". Carriage Museum of America. Retrieved June 20, 2023.
  5. ^ Tom Ryder (1979). "What is a trap?". The Carriage Journal. 17 (1). Carriage Association of America: 33–38.
  6. ^ Jill Ryder, ed. (1996). "Name that carriage: The Trap". The Carriage Journal. 34 (2). Carriage Association of America: 56.
  7. ^ Don H. Berkebile (2014). Carriage Terminology: An Historical Dictionary. Smithsonian Institution. pp. 502–504. ISBN 9781935623434.
  8. ^ "Pony and trap". The Phrase Finder. UK. Retrieved February 16, 2014.