Chris Rollings wrote:

I think the horse at Dunstable was only used to pull
gliders to the top of the (300 feet or so) hill, where
they were bungee launched.


Anyway a horse tow was used for what is probably one of the
first flights in gliding history, in the middle of the 19th
a glider designed, built and flown by a french navy officer
named Le Bris was launched in this way. The story says that
the tow rope then catched the horse rider who made in this way
a short unplanned flight. This was probably the first dual
flight in aviation history.