If you read enough descriptions of horse breeds you may come across this phrase at one point or another:
He plowed the fields or pulled a wagon during the week, hauled the family to town on Saturday, and to church on Sunday. (Tennessee Walking Horse)
It's used to describe an all-purpose horse breed that is pleasant tempered, sturdy and practical, but attractive enough to impress the neighbors. I've come across variations of this phrase so many times I thought I'd make a little collection. Here are some:
...a horse that could work the land, take the product to market, go fox hunting on Saturday and take the family to church on Sunday... (Irish Draft Horse)
...they would race one day and pull the family carriage to church on Sunday. (Standardbred)
...strong enough to do work on the Plantation, possessing sufficient endurance to carry riders comfortably many miles, and refined enough to pull the Family carriage to Church on Sunday... (American Saddlebred)
... plowing small fields, herding cattle, traveling through the steep and rugged trails, and driving the buggy to church on Sunday... (Rocky Mountain Horse)
...do everything from plowing a field to carrying a farmer to market or driving a family to church on Sunday... (Welsh Cob)
You get the idea. But some people get a little carried away with the details. These are cute:
...these horses were expected to be able to plow on Saturday, pull the buggy to church on Sunday, and take Grandma to the store with eggs on Monday. (Heritage Tennessee Walker)
...they were mostly owned singly by local farmers to work on their smallholdings, carting seaweed from the shore and hay and peat, besides carrying the family to market and to Church. There are plenty of stories of inebriated heads of the family being safely carted home after a good day at the market, without any help and direction from the master! (Connemara)
It could plow fields, work cattle and be ridden bareback by four children who were going to go fishing in a nearby stream. It could also be ridden to town comfortably whenever you happened to want something there. The breed could even pull a buggy to church on Sunday. (Rocky Mountain Horse-from an online game)
That last one appears to be a child's reworking of this source:
They could pull plows in the small fields or work cattle, while bareback they could carry a precious cargo of four children to their favorite fishing hole. They even performed well hitched to the buggy to go to church on Sunday morning. (Rocky Mountain Horse)
If you find more for the collection, add them to the comments. Be sure to indicate the exact source of the quote!
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