Carriage

Description
A carriage is a private wheeled vehicle drawn by horses. The average carriage was a four-wheeled, open structure with seating for eight - drawn by two draft-horses. While such carriages allowed for comparatively faster transport in open areas, the bulk of the vehicle made navigating the narrow roads of forests and cityscapes an exacting task.

Age of Darkness and Age of Enlightment
In early Sosaria, during the events of Ultima I, two-wheeled carts were available at many of the numerous "Transport Shoppes" of the realm, and could be obtained for roughly one-hundred and fifty copper pence. While no doubt securing a modicum of comfort for a saddle-weary traveler, these carts offered little by the way of technical advantage over a well-outfitted horse, and given the plethora of  exotic vehicles available to a wealthy buyer in that era, it seems unlikely that these early carriages enjoyed great popularity among experienced adventurers.

For many centuries after that, animal drawn transportation appears to have gone out of vogue in Sosaria and later in Britannia, with the exception of occasional gypsy vardos.

Age of Armageddon
While horses remained a popular choice for mainland travel, the use of carriages did not resurface until the days of the Guardian's early incursions.

Eventually, the carriage became a defunct device, owing to the plagues that killed the entire horse population in the days preceding Ultima IX.

Prizes
In Ultima VII, a typical carriage with animals could cost a buyer as much as a hundred and twenty or as little as sixty gold coins, depending on the stabler. At the time of the Avatar's adventures in the realm during this period, only Petre of Trinsic and Diane of Britain had equipped carriages for sale.

Trivia

 * As the tongue-in-cheek parody of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance found in Ultima VII implies, the mechanics of the games are such that draft horses never have need for any sort of feeding or care.