My understanding (and I have no citations for this) is that it derived from a time when horses could be hired at inns/stables for onward travel, if you had no horse of your own. At such an establishment (perhaps the only one) in a small town, only one horse might be available, making it a “one-horse town”. The alternative, presumably, being Shanks’ Pony.
Kate:
April 14th, 2013 at 6:12 pm
My curiosity about this piece of idiom was stirred the other day while driving through the narrow and badly-paved roads of the English countryside. I was musing whether the term “one horse” applied to how many horses or horse-drawn vehicles could get down the narrow village streets. Some of them were so narrow that you had to drive up onto the pavement to get out of the way of oncoming traffic, while doing your best to dodge pedestrians. They’re beautiful little places, but you wouldn’t get much more than one horse at a time down the street!
karon:
July 2nd, 2014 at 9:59 am
I have no source either, in fact my quest for one led me here. I had been told that a one horse town was at a distance it took to ride one horse in a day. For you Buckeyes..the distance between Cleveland and, say Akron…about 20-30 miles. At that point you’d have to stop because your horse would need rested. If you look many towns they are about 20-30 miles apart. So I wonder….
Colin mckenzie-murdoch:
October 15th, 2016 at 7:46 pm
I thought a one horse town meant a place where the only horse owner was the Sheriff who could then easily outrun the crooks
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Moley:
May 3rd, 2012 at 9:01 am
My understanding (and I have no citations for this) is that it derived from a time when horses could be hired at inns/stables for onward travel, if you had no horse of your own. At such an establishment (perhaps the only one) in a small town, only one horse might be available, making it a “one-horse town”. The alternative, presumably, being Shanks’ Pony.
Kate:
April 14th, 2013 at 6:12 pm
My curiosity about this piece of idiom was stirred the other day while driving through the narrow and badly-paved roads of the English countryside. I was musing whether the term “one horse” applied to how many horses or horse-drawn vehicles could get down the narrow village streets. Some of them were so narrow that you had to drive up onto the pavement to get out of the way of oncoming traffic, while doing your best to dodge pedestrians. They’re beautiful little places, but you wouldn’t get much more than one horse at a time down the street!
karon:
July 2nd, 2014 at 9:59 am
I have no source either, in fact my quest for one led me here. I had been told that a one horse town was at a distance it took to ride one horse in a day. For you Buckeyes..the distance between Cleveland and, say Akron…about 20-30 miles. At that point you’d have to stop because your horse would need rested. If you look many towns they are about 20-30 miles apart. So I wonder….
Colin mckenzie-murdoch:
October 15th, 2016 at 7:46 pm
I thought a one horse town meant a place where the only horse owner was the Sheriff who could then easily outrun the crooks