MOUNTED INSTRUCTION . 143 



Backstrap: The backstrap shoukl be adjusted so that when the sad- 

 dle and crupper are in their proper places, the flat of the hand can be 

 held vertically between the backbone and the backstrap. 



Hip and Loin Straps for Lead and Swing: The hip and loin straps on 

 the lead and swin.Li" horses should be adjusted so that when the horses 

 are in draft the trace loops will hang- about ^ inch below the traces. 

 Their function is to sup])ort the traces when the animals are not in 

 draft. 



Breeching: The bod}^ strap of the breechin.c: is adjusted so that the 

 rear part (i)art below the tail) is about four inches below the i)omt ot 

 the buttocks ; the front part wdiere the side straps fasten, is adjusted to 

 hang- at the heig-ht of the stifle. In other words, the body strap of the 

 breeching slants down toward the front. The reason for this adjust- 

 ment is so as to interfere as little as possible wuth the movement of the 

 hind legs when the breeching comes in play. If the body strap is too 

 low behind it gives a greater lever arm on the hind legs, and materially 

 interferes with their movement. If too high most of the strain comes 

 on the hip straps and not on the body strap. Also the side straps bear 

 hard ag-ainst the barrel of the horse and cause sores. If too low, the 

 front hip strap is always slack and the body strap is entirely held up by 

 the rear hip strap which is not strong enough to bear all the strain by 

 itself. 



Traces: The traces of the lead and swing allow of small changes of 

 length, but as a general jiroposition it is believed best to have all traces 

 shortened as much as possible. This is the proper adjustment in all 

 but exceptional cases (horses that are very long) and has the advantage 

 of not having, through carelessness, traces of difl^erent lengths placed 

 on the same horse. The average horse in a team can exert a pull on 

 the traces of about 250 pounds. If no holding- down straps are used, the 

 force on the traces is in a nearly horizontal direction, while the shoulder 

 of the avera^ge horse makes an angle of about 16 degrees, to the vertical, 

 giving an upward component of about 70 pounds which causes the col- 

 lar to ride ui^ward and the upward component being transferred to his 

 belly through the hold down straps. This pull with properly fitted col- 

 lar will choke any horse on a long hard pull. The direction of drop of 

 the trace where it fastens to the collar should be perpendicular to the 

 line of the shoulder (not to the front face of the collar). This is accom- 

 plished by putting the horse in draft and regulating the length of the 

 "holding down strap" so that this direction is obtained. The wheel 

 traces, due to the downward component of the pull of the swing traces, 

 are pulling on the wheel collar at an angle below the perpendicular. 

 This makes the wheel horses sustain considerable pressure on their 

 necks when the team is in draft, besides the weig-ht of the neck-yoke, 

 collar and pole. The pressure due to the downward component of the 

 pull of the swing- and hind traces can be overcome as follow^s : Place an 

 extra strai) through the stirrup strap squares and the traces ; put the 

 team in draft and adjust the length of this strap so that the tugs of the 

 wheel collars are pulling in a direction perpendicular to the slope of the 



