Postilion

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A postilion rider was the driver of a horse-drawn cart or carriage mounted on one of the the drawing horses. In France, the norm was for carts to be controlled by a postilion rider rather than being controlled from the cart.

Postilion riders would normally mount the left hand horse of two horses because of the ease of mounting a horse from the left. In the case of four horses, a postilion rider would ride on the left rear-most horse in order to have control of all four horses. It is generally accepted to be safer if the driver of a vehicle is seated closest to the middle of the road. This is one of the main reasons that France has always driven on the right.

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