A horse pulls forward on a carriage with a given force. By Newton's Third Law, the carriage must be pulling on the horse backward with an equal and opposite force. Given this, what explains why the horse and carriage can move forward?

The cart's force is only in reaction to the horse's force so it does not define direction of movement

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The forward and backward forces are equal, so it actually can't move forward

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The net force of friction by the ground on the (carriage+horse) system acts in the forward direction thus enabling a forward motion.

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The forward force of the horse is just big enough to overcome the backward force of the cart and start the cart forward

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Solution

The correct option is C The net force of friction by the ground on the (carriage+horse) system acts in the forward direction thus enabling a forward motion.
For the system to move in forward direction, an external
force in the forward direction should be present.

The net force of friction by the ground on the (carriage+horse) system acts in the forward direction thus enabling a forward motion.

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