Yes i recall my nan saying that Sadly it was common among other trades but she said rag and bone men valued the well being of there horsesIn the days of working horses on the cut it was quite common aparanlty to just work the horses till they droped dead.
I don't suppose this is any better. The lorry didn't sowmdown either but the horse was not botheredTidied as best I can. It's still a bit blurred though.
View attachment 198186
I recall one of my earliest memories, the milkman's horse was white, mum gave used to give him a carrot . Circa1961. The flower cart horse was skewbald and the rag and bone man's horse was a fine beast. Chocolate brown cob with lots of feathering. He always picked his feet up. They were a Romany family I went to school with their son later. By coincidence was at a Christening in Bulkington where this family's child was baptised just after the one I was at and they paraded the carriages trotting fast the horses in ribbons all fine animals. That would have been mid 70s. But what happened when they get old I hate to think.Yes i recall my nan saying that Sadly it was common among other trades but she said rag and bone men valued the well being of there horses