Brake also spelled break, was a type of horse-drawn carriage used in the nineteenth and early 20th centuries. It was a large or small, open-topped, straight-bodied pleasure vehicle with four wheels, designed for country use. The commonest form, the shooting brake, was designed to carry the driver and a footman or gamekeeper at the front facing forward, and up to six sportsmen on longitudinal benches, with their dogs, guns and game borne along the sides in slatted racks.
In the early 19th century, a break was a large, four-wheeled carriage-frame with no body, used for "breaking in" young horses, either singly or in teams of two or four. It has no body parts except for a high seat upon which the driver sits and a small platform for a helper immediately behind.
Also See: Carriage
