CHAPTER I. Harness.

HARNESS.

IT is often said by those who have little or no experience, that four horses steady themselves, and require therefore little skill in driving. This is a very great error, and a man who is keen to learn should make it his first aim to drive one horse well, and having thoroughly mastered this accomplishment, he should then proceed to handle a pair. In driving the great aim is to get the horses going well together, and all doing their fair share of work without taking more out of the driver than is absolutely necessary. In order to arrive at this it is essential to have the horses properly bitted, rightly coupled, comfortably poled up, and the harness fitted correctly.

To begin at the beginning, it is first of all [Sidenote: Fitting of harness. The collar.] necessary to see that the harness fits the horse. The collar is a very important point. This should lie flat on the horse’s shoulders, so as to give sufficient room for the fingers to pass between it and the horse’s neck at the sides, and the flat of the hand should be able to pass freely between the lower part of the collar and the horse’s neck. Before putting the collar on, it ought to be widened by lateral pressure with the knee, so as not to hurt the horse’s eyes while passing over his head. [Sidenote: Sore shoulders.] If the horse’s shoulders should get rubbed, the best remedy is to apply plenty of sweet oil. This prevents the skin getting hard and the hair coming off. Salt water should never be used.

With a pair, the hames straps should be buckled on so that the ends point inwards.

The traces should be of such a length that [Sidenote: The traces.] the backband will lie on about the middle of the pad when the horse is in draught; the horse will then not be drawing the cart by the backband. Care should be taken that the tugs are in front of the stops on the shaft, or a bad accident may occur owing to the cart running on to the horse’s quarters.

The width of the reins may vary from seven-eighths of an inch to an inch and a quarter, according to the length of the driver’s fingers, but about one inch will be found the most suitable width for general purposes. The reins should not be too thick, or they will always be hard and stiff, while, on the other hand, if they are very thin, they will be uncomfortably soft in wet weather.

The belly-band should not hang down [Sidenote: Belly-band.] quite loose, but, while allowing a little play of the shafts, should be tight enough to prevent them from tipping up to any extent.

The throat-lash should not be fastened too [Sidenote: Throat-lash.] tight; if it is, it will half choke the horse. It should be loose enough to allow three fingers to be passed between it and the horse’s throat.

The nose-band should admit of the breadth [Sidenote: Nose-band.] of two fingers between it and the horse’s jaw.

The correct adjustment of a bearing-rein requires a certain amount of practice, as when the horse is standing still it always appears much tighter than it really is.

A martingale will prove effective in the case of horses who pull owing to their habit of star-gazing.

Sometimes a horse pulls by getting hold of the cheek of the bit with his lip. This can be met with the elbow-bit, which is an improvement on the Liverpool bit, as, by having a bend in it, the cheek is so far back that the horse cannot reach it with his lips or tongue. The reason that this bit is not more generally used is that many people consider it unsightly.

Indiarubber-covered bits, especially those with a double bar, also answer very well with some pulling horses, the effect then being to make the bit work on a different part of the mouth from that to which they are accustomed.

A double bar can easily be improvised by sewing a piece of leather, like a lip-strap, only larger, across the top of an ordinary bit, just below the end of the headpiece.

An inveterate puller may in time get used to any bit, in which case frequent change is the only remedy.

Circular pieces of leather, called cheek leathers, are also very useful in this respect with ordinary bits, as they keep the corners [Sidenote: Corners of mouth sore.] of the horse’s mouth from being pinched by the cheeks, and also prevent to a certain extent his getting hold of them with his lips.

For a horse that has only one side to [Sidenote: One-sided mouth.] his mouth, it often answers to have a few tacks put on the inside of the piece of leather, which effectually stops him from leaning his head out to that side.

These pieces have a round hole in the middle, which fits the bar of the bit, and a slit from this hole to the outside, so that they can be put on and taken off quite easily.

The first starts from the tug on one end of the backband, and goes right round the horse’s quarters to the tug on the other.

The second buckles to loops on each shaft, these loops being placed half way between the stops and the front of the cart.

The first method is better than the second, because it does not require any extra loops on the shafts, which tend to weaken them considerably, and also it does not take any of the paint off.

This method of draught also obviates the necessity of keeping a large number of collars to fit all sorts of horses, while another advantage is, that you are able to use breechings to the best advantage in double harness.

The breast strap should be made of a strong leather strap, about three inches wide, and padded inside so that the hard edges do not touch the skin.

For double harness a ring must be sewn into the middle for the purpose of attaching the pole chains.

The breast strap is held up by a light strap passing over the horse’s withers, and the breeching, by a similar strap, passing over the croup. A crupper can be used, but is not necessary.

The breast straps should lie flat, and be kept well above the point of the shoulders. They must be carefully adjusted, the usual fault being that they are placed too low. Each end of the breast strap has a buckle, into which both the trace and the end of the breeching are fastened. Of course it is impossible to get as much work out of a horse with breast harness as with collars.

Before leaving the subject of harness, a word on the general appearance and neatness of turn-out will not be out of place. Straps ought to be shortened to fit the horse, and be no longer than absolutely necessary.

To prevent any ends flapping about, keepers must be tight, and fitted so as to be within an inch or two of the points of the straps. Nothing catches the eye more quickly, or looks more slovenly, than the ends of the traces sticking out a foot beyond the keepers, or a belly-band strap dangling loose underneath the horse.

When buying harness go to a really good maker: cheap clumsy harness never pays.

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