When I was a child, my mother would too say ‘Go to bed, or the Nine O’Clock Horses will get you'. Her mother said it to her, and I suppose her mother to her. My maternal line is linked to the town of Leicester by three generations, I suppose superstitions stick. 
After conducting an extensive search, I have come to the realisation that the Nine O'Clock Horses, which were just attached to carts, have their origins rooted in the 18th to early 19th century. 

The Industrial Revolution brought about rapid transformation in numerous towns, including Leicester, as individuals migrated from small countryside villages to seek employment in larger urban centres. As a result, Leicester's population grew exponentially, leading to increased waste, including human waste.

The proposed solution involved transporting the waste from the towns and disposing of it in the nearby countryside. Individuals known as "night soil men" would be hired to collect waste in carts and transport it to farms for the purpose of using it as fertiliser. Due to the constant disruption caused by these unsightly and unpleasant-smelling carts passing through the streets, local councils took measures to implement strict rules stating that these carts could only enter the streets after a designated time in the evening, yep, you guessed it - nine o'clock.  

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The lore of the Nine O'Clock Horses has been woven into a captivating and mystical narrative, handed down from one generation of mothers to the next, all in hopes of lulling their unruly little ones into peaceful slumber.

At a time before proper sanitation, the idea of the Nine O'Clock Horses was a very real and terrifying fear. According to the popular legend, the notorious night soil men were infamous for their despicable deeds of luring and abducting innocent children found wandering the dark streets, and then cruelly trading them off to desperate farmers in dire need of extra labour for their fields. 

As the town began to modernise and implement the use of sewers and bin lorries, the traditional cart men who once roamed the streets also disappeared, taking with them the fear that once gripped the community, and the only thing that remained was  the looming threat of the Nine O'Clock Horses coming after you. 

As the night soil men were eventually relieved of their nightly responsibilities, their formerly docile and compliant animals underwent a drastic metamorphosis, becoming fierce and untamed creatures with fiery, piercing gazes. With a newfound sense of freedom and a fiery determination burning within them, they galloped wildly and fearlessly through the dark night, looking for children, their hooves pounding against the earth as if they were fleeing from the clutches of hell itself.