THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, March 31, 1996 TAG: 9603290061
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEPHEN HARRIMAN, TRAVEL EDITOR
LENGTH: Long : 153 lines
THERE ARE ONLY a few of you out there who can remember when there were more horses and carriages than there were upstart horseless carriages.
Fewer still who can remember when the principal means of transportation, other than the old reliable shank's mare, was the coach and four, bowling down crude, unpaved roads in a cloud of dust.
So Coaching Day, April 28, at Stratford Hall is a special time for the most of us who yearn to see what we missed in that bygone era when horsepower meant just that.
Coaching first became popular as the sport for gentlemen in 19th century England, when young ``bloods'' flaunted their skills by driving stagecoaches for pleasure and wagers.
Four-in-hand driving - that is, driving four coach horses - was quickly brought to America by its gentry. August Belmont founded the Four-in-Hand Club in New York in the 1860s. In the fevered ostentation of the late 19th century it was quite the thing to do for young gentlemen to drive lightweight private coaches around New York's Central Park.
Coaching Day originated as a triennial event at Stratford Hall in 1974 as the principal fund-raising event for the Robert E. Lee Memorial Association, which maintains the manor house complex as a monument and 1,600 acres of the original plantation as a working farm.
And what a glorious setting for horses, coaches and carriages: Stratford, one of the great houses of American history, birthplace of Confederate icon Robert E. Lee, a bold and massive architectural statement of Colonial affluence set on a high bluff above the Potomac River on Virginia's Northern Neck.
Thomas Lee, a prominent planter, built Stratford in the late 1730s. Using brick made on the site and timber cut from the virgin forests of Westmoreland County, builders and craftsmen constructed the H-shaped manor house, its four dependencies, coach house and stables.
Stratford was the home of Thomas Lee's eight children, including sons Richard Henry and Francis Lightfoot, the only brothers to sign the Declaration of Independence; for more than 20 years it also was the home of their cousin, ``Light Horse'' Harry Lee, the dashing Revolutionary leader and Robert E. Lee's daddy.
The Great Hall in the center of the house, 29 feet square with an inverted tray ceiling 17 feet high, is one of the most architecturally significant rooms to survive from the Colonial period. Robert E. Lee's little crib sits where it did in 1807 in a big sunlit bedroom on Stratford's upper floor.
It's a monumental place worth a visit at any time. It will be open for tours, 9-4:30, on Coaching Day.
On this day, though, the four-in-hands - the impeccably restored mostly 19th century coaches and carriages drawn by a variety of Hackneys, Morgans, standardbreds and thoroughbreds, and their drivers and passengers dressed to the nines in their finest day-in-the-country attire - are the show as they parade around the Great House Oval.
Well, all that and the tailgate picnic spreads, a peripheral horsie tradition. At Stratford Hall on Coaching Day, eating out of the trunk of a car or station wagon reaches state-of-the-art levels. There's even competition for best spread along Poplar Strip, the tree-lined avenue leading to the manor house.
This year's event will also include an appearance by the Anheuser-Busch Clydesdales drawing the massive red, white and gold beer wagon.
All together, there's no grander way to spend a spring day in the Virginia country - cattle and sheep grazing in the lush green meadows as they have done for 250 years, ancient trees coming to life again with tender, apple-green leaves sprouting, dogwoods in bloom.
And remember, triennial means it only takes place every third year.
The schedule: Gates open at 9 a.m. and close at 4:30 p.m. From 11:30 until noon there will be judging of tailgate picnics, raffling of the ``Wild Flowers of Stratford Hall'' needlepoint rug and an exhibition of the Anheuser-Busch Clydesdales.
(The tailgate picnic prizes include a complimentary Saturday night stay and dinner for two at the elegant Four Seasons Hotel in Washington. The needlepoint rug features 12 panels of flowers and was designed and executed by several of Stratford's directors.)
Beginning at 1:30 there will be a performance by a marching band and a trumpet call from atop the Great House chimneys signaling the beginning of the parade of coaches and carriages. There also will be a demonstration of driving for the disabled, more from the Clydesdales, a coaching horn blowing demonstration and tilting the ring.
What it costs: General admission is $30 per vehicle with as many as four people; additional guests are $5 each; children under 12 are admitted free. Advance ticket purchase is suggested. Tailgate area parking is $45 per vehicle with as many as four people. Advance tickets are required to participate in this event. Info: (804) 493-8030.
What if. . .? Coaching will be held rain or shine. No refunds.
What to watch: There will be a number of types of four-wheeled vehicles collectively called coaches or carriages drawn by pairs of horses, usually two pairs but sometimes three.
A road coach is a two-seat closed vehicle for public transport on a scheduled route. Generally they are heavier than private coaches and would be drawn with horses chosen for their suitability for the work rather than for color or style.
Phaeton is a name first used in France in the 18th century to describe a four-wheel carriage driven by its owner. The name eventually became generic and is used to describe sporting carriages intended for pleasure driving. A landau is a carriage with a folding top.
The pair of horses nearest the coach or carriage is called the wheel team, the horse of the driver's left the near horse, the one of the right the off horse. The second pair of horses are called the lead team if only two pairs are used (as is most common) or the swing team if there are three pairs. The third pair of horses are called the head team. Sometimes the near (left) horse of the head team is ridden by a person called a postilion.
Four-in-hand driving is considered by many to be the ultimate challenge of competitive horsemanship. The driver controls all four horses with four reins held in his left hand. The reins are joined so that a pull on one rein will turn the heads of both wheelers and both leaders.
The driver is called a ``whip'' because that is what he holds in his right hand to convince the horses to do what his left hand is telling them.
For more intricate maneuvers, such as a steep turn or a figure eight, the driver may reach his right hand over to handle the reins individually.
How to watch: Take blankets or folding chairs for viewing the coaching activities. It's a good way to stake out your turf around the giant oval. There are no shade trees on this part of the grounds; remember the sun screen.
Sustenance: You can bring your own food and drink without having to enter the tailgate competition (and pay the $45 price). There also will be concession stands on the grounds.
Shopping: Yes, even that. The Plantation Store will be open 9-5. Among the items sold are corn, wheat, oats and barley meal ground on the plantation's reconstructed mill. MEMO: Pilot Online, The Virginian-Pilot's home on the Internet, has added a
Travel-Outdoors section to its Fun page. The section highlights the best
travel articles from the Pilot, plus links to travel resources on the
Internet. See Page A2 for more information on Pilot Online, then point
your World Wide Web browser to http://www.infi.net/pilot/
ILLUSTRATION: Color photos
STEPHEN HARRIMAN
A carriage parades around the Great House Oval at Stratford Hall,
birthplace of Robert E. Lee. Coaching Day is April 28 this year;
photos are from 1993.
LEFT: A horn announces the arrival of a road coach. BELOW:
Spectators picnic on the Stratford Hall grounds.
Photo
STEPHEN HARRIMAN
A road coach parades around the Great House Oval at Stratford Hall,
the Westmoreland County birthplace of Confederate icon Robert E.
Lee.
Map
VP
by CNB