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Story: Horses

Muddy roads

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Muddy roads

The hazards of travel in the 19th and early 20th century are difficult to comprehend today. Roads were often more like farm tracks, without any hard, stable surface. In wet weather horses and carts formed deep ruts and holes. This horse-drawn cart is transporting timber in the Pohangina valley in Manawatū, about 1900.

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Palmerston North City Library

Reference: 2008P_Hor44_TRA_1515

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How to cite this page

Emma Meyer, Horses – Transport, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/19271/muddy-roads (accessed 5 June 2026).

Story by Emma Meyer, published 1 March 2009.