{{Short description, Social club in New York City The Coaching Club (casually The Coaching Club of New York, New York Coaching Club, or Coaching Club of America) was formed in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

in 1875 to encourage

four-in-hand The four-in-hand knot is a method of tying a necktie. It is also known as a simple knot or schoolboy knot, due to its simplicity and style. Some reports state that carriage drivers tied their reins with a four-in-hand knot, while others claim th ...

driving in America. It was intended to attract members from all parts of the United States. Initiated by Colonels DeLancey Kane and William Jay, the club had its first official meeting at the

Knickerbocker Club The Knickerbocker Club (known informally as The Knick) is a gentlemen's club in New York City that was founded in 1871. It is considered to be the most exclusive club in the United States and one of the most aristocratic gentlemen's clubs in th ...

Fifth Avenue Fifth Avenue is a major and prominent thoroughfare in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It stretches north from Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village to West 143rd Street in Harlem. It is one of the most expensive shopping stre ...

on December 3, 1875. The Knickerbocker Club became its headquarters. Later some activities were moved nearer Central Park to the

Metropolitan Club The Metropolitan Club of New York is a private social club on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded as a gentlemen's club in 1891 for men only, but it was one of the first major clubs in New York to admit women, t ...

, nine members of which were founders of the Coaching Club. The Coaching Club's annual parade was replaced about 1917 by

Belmont Park Belmont Park is a major thoroughbred horse racing facility in the northeastern United States, located in Elmont, New York, just east of the New York City limits. It was opened on May 4, 1905. It is operated by the non-profit New York Racin ...

Coaching Club American Oaks The Coaching Club American Oaks is a race for thoroughbred three-year-old fillies and the second leg of the Triple Tiara of Thoroughbred Racing. Originally run at Belmont Park, the Grade I $500,000 stakes race was moved to Saratoga Race Course in 2 ...

, a race for three-year-old

fillies A filly is a female horse that is too young to be called a mare. There are two specific definitions in use: *In most cases, a ''filly'' is a female horse under four years old. *In some nations, such as the United Kingdom and the United States, t ...

Activities

There were regular events, dinners and annual parades through

Central Park Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West Side, Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the List of New York City parks, fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban par ...

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''

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 Tally-ho is the traditional cry made by the huntsman to tell others the quarry has been sighted. It may also be used with directions, including "away" and "back". First used in fox-hunting, it was adapted in the 19th century to describe some hor ...

'' by the general public. Kane's ''Tally-ho'' was donated to the

Museum of the City of New York A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these i ...

in 1933 and now may be seen at the

Long Island Museum of American Art, History, and Carriages The Long Island Museum of American Art, History, and Carriages, known as the Long Island Museum (LIM), is a nine-acre museum located in Stony Brook, New York. The LIM serves the Long Island community by preserving and displaying its collection of ...

in Stony Brook, N.Y. Reginald W Rives "The Coaching Club, its History, Records and Activities" privately printed 1935 ;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

External links