Coaching Club (of New York)

The Coaching Club or casually: The Coaching Club of New York or New York Coaching Club or Coaching Club of America, was formed in New York in 1875 to encourage four-in-hand driving in America. It was intended to attract members from all parts of the United States.

A Brewster design for a park drag

Initiated by Colonels DeLancey Kane and William Jay who both died in 1915 its first official meeting was at the Knickerbocker Club on Fifth Avenue on December 3, 1875. The Knickerbocker Club became its headquarters. Later some activities were moved nearer Central Park to the Metropolitan Club, nine members of which were founders of the Coaching Club.

The Coaching Club's annual parade was replaced about 1917 by Belmont Park's Coaching Club American Oaks, a race for three-year-old fillies.

Activities

There were regular events, dinners and annual parades through Central Park.

Membership

Qualification for membership: "the ability to drive four horses with grace and skill". Driving four-in-hand requires the coachman to hold the reins of all four horses in one fist.

Coaching was a very expensive pursuit and membership, at first restricted to fifty then thirty people at any one time, was limited to those owners and drivers of coaches drawn by four horses that had no involvement in racing, hunting or polo. It became difficult to keep a full membership and from 1925 members were allowed those associations.

Pioneer setting out for Newport

Pioneer

The club owned its own coach, Pioneer. The general public could buy seats in members' coaches and be driven about by the club members. When it was pointed out the result was New York's aristocracy carried common citizens members responded that some of the English aristocracy had driven scheduled public services for some time.

Tally-ho

One of the original Coaching Club coaches belonging to Kane was called Tally-ho. It became so well known any coach-and-four was called a tally-ho by the general public. Kane's Tally-ho was donated to the Museum of the City of New York in 1933 and now may be seen at the Long Island Museum of American Art, History, and Carriages in Stony Brook, N.Y.

Reginald W Rives "The Coaching Club, its History, Records and Activities" privately printed 1935

Coach driven by Mrs Thomas Hastings
Similar clubs in America
Ladies Four-in-Hand Driving Club
Four-in-hand Club of Philadelphia
Stamford Coaching Club
World Coaching Club

Reference
Online copies of The Carriage Journal published by The Carriage Association of America, accessed May 22nd, 2018
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