tied between 2 horses

Posted by Smokey Stover on December 21, 2005

In Reply to: tied between 2 horses posted by Victoria S Dennis on December 20, 2005

: : : what is the word used when a person was tied between 2 horses and pulled apart for a crime they had committed

: : This site says that sometimes horses were used in the process of a person being "drawn and quartered."

: : www.straightdope.com/ classics/a4_239.html

: True, but *not* to pull the condemned person apart - just to transport him to the place of execution.

: I have read of people being pulled apart by wild horses in several contexts, but I've never encountered a specific word for the practice. (VSD)

I have always believed that drawing and quartering required four hoses, one for each quarter--or four oxen, four elephants (yes,it was once done that way), or four tractors. The horses used for this purpose were not wild, as they had to be harnessed and steered. It is easy to imagine two horses being used to pull a man (drawn), but I don't know what the result would be, nor is there one single logical way to do it.