Canadian Strongman Louis Cyr set many records in the late 19th/early 20th Century. Louis was the subject of a film in 2013 "Louis Cyr, l'homme le plus fort du monde."
One of his stunts was to restrain two horses pulling in opposite directions. Not a great deal of photographs exist of Cyr performing, but below is one that is credited to have been taken in 1891:
Louis Cyr ready to restrain 2 horses in 1891. |
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/the-life-and-times-of-louis-cyr/article4278776/
Some stunts are never repeated, sometimes it is because they are just too hard, other times it is because the logistics of organising & carrying them out safely is deemed to be not worth the risk.
Dave Gauder repeated Cyr's stunt in the 20th Century with 2 Clydesdale Horses in Scotland.
Big Dave restrains 2 Clydesdale horses. |
Dave Gauder has also performed variations of this stunt under scrutiny of Guinness World Records with motorbikes & airplanes. Most people remember Big Dave for pulling large vehicles (or planes) - this video has some footage of some of the things he's done: