A sociable or barouche-sociable is an open, four-wheeled carriage

Carriage

A carriage is a wheeled vehicle for people, usually horse-drawn; litters and sedan chairs are excluded, since they are wheelless vehicles. The carriage is especially designed for private passenger use and for comfort or elegance, though some are also used to transport goods. It may be light,...

 described as a cross between a barouche

Barouche

A barouche was a fashionable type of horse-drawn carriage in the 19th century. Developed from the calash of the 18th century, it was a four-wheeled, shallow vehicle with two double seats inside, arranged vis-à-vis, so that the sitters on the front seat faced those on the back seat...

 and a victoria

Victoria (carriage)

The victoria was an elegant French carriage, possibly based on a phaeton made for King George IV of the United Kingdom. A victoria may be visualised as essentially a phaeton with the addition of a coachman's box-seat....

, having two double seats facing each other. It might be controlled from the interior by an owner-driver or have a box for a coachman

Coachman

A coachman is a man whose business it is to drive a coach, a horse-drawn vehicle designed for the conveyance of more than one passenger — and of mail — and covered for protection from the elements...

. A pair of folding hoods protect the passengers. The carriage is drawn by either a single horse in shafts

Horse harness

A horse harness is a type of horse tack that allows a horse or other equine to pull various horse-drawn vehicles such as a carriage, wagon or sleigh. Harnesses may also be used to hitch animals to other loads such as a plow or canal boat....

 or a matching pair in pole gear.

External links

• Seabrook Coaching Stable Dispersal Auction: Sociable or Double Victoria Carriage Association of America (official site); illustrated.