Part 2: Belair Stable Museum: Stables, Carriages and Nashua

Tom and Rob at the Carriage

Yesterday we introduced you to the Belair Stable Museum, where 2 triple crown winning horses were raised. Today we'll take you through the stables and introduce you to the third award-winning horse from the Belair Stables and show you the carriage room.

There's also a library room, filled with thousands of books about horses, old photos, a family history of the horses and their lineage there, and a trophy from the nearby (defunct) Bowie Rack Track where some of the horses trained.

Tom and Joe in the stable "cleaning room"

THE CARRIAGE ROOM'S DOG CARRIAGE - There are two small horse-drawn carriages in this room and one is called a "Dog Cart." It was used in fox hunting and pulled by a "cart pony. That's the carriage behind us in the photo, and underneath the seat where the people are located is a small space for a hunting dog!  The other vehicle in the room is actually a winter-time carriage that they call a "one horse open sleigh."

THE STABLES - The museum has a central welcoming area, and on each side is a line of stables. They were originally made from wood, but in 1907 when William Woodward and his uncle James Woodward bought the property, they rebuilt the stables in brick.

EACH HORSE STALL -  Each stall was a space for 1 horse. The horse would eat, sleep and use it for bathroom doings. Large bales of straw were put on the bottom of the stalls for comfort (horses don't eat straw). It was also up to the grooms (we told you about them in yesterday's blog) to keep the stalls clean.Mounted on the wall were wooden slats that held grass and hay for the horses to eat, and each stall had a water trough.

CLEANING ROOM - Tom and Joe stopped for a picture in the "cleaning room" located in the stable, where workers would clean saddles and other equipment. The room also had a stove  in it.
 MEET "NASHUA" THE AWARD WINNING HORSE-  Although not a triple crown winner,  in 1955, Belair’s Nashua was Horse of the Year.  Nashua, once the leading thoroughbred money-winner, earned more than $1.1 million in three years of racing in the mid-1950's. He lost the 1955 Kentucky Derby to Swaps but went on to win the Preakness and the Belmont Stakes, the second and third races of the Triple Crown series for 3-year-olds.

Stalls inside of the stable

      His Derby loss to Swaps prompted the famous match race later that summer at Washington Park in Chicago. Nashua won that race by 6 1/2 lengths, although it was later learned that Swaps's feet had become inflamed the day before. Nevertheless Nashua was voted horse of the year in 1955.


   OTHER FAMOUS BELAIR HORSES - Other champions, including Johnstown, Fighting Fox, and Vagrancy also called Belair home.

The inside grassy area of the stables