Housing 

 straps. 



204 



ANIMAL MANAGEMENT. 



leather and straw to adapt itself to the shape of the surface on which it 

 has to rest ; for this reason great care should be exercised in the use of 

 new collars until they have adjusted themselves. The issue of new 

 harness, especially new collars, to troops proceeding on service should 

 if possible be avoided. 



To assist a collar in getting into shape, advantage may arise from 

 the following procedure, viz., to thoroughly wet the collar by leaving it in 

 water for an hour or two and then putting it on and working the horse 

 steadily, taking care that its shape is not altered while drying. 



Housing straps. — For very good reasons military collars are made to 

 open at the top ; this, however, is a loophole for trouble, as the "housing 



Fig. 38. 



Rear face ot a collar, with body stuffed in such a way as to 



keep it off the crest of the neck and avoid injury No. i. 



Strap " which brings the sides together, often stretches to such an extent 

 that the collar is not properly closed, and the crest of neck in con- 

 sequence gets pinched. Saddlers often depend on the hames for keeping 

 the collar closed. 

 Hames. Hames. — Hames should be fitted to the collar, if necessary by heating 



them ; they should fit accurately into the space between the fore and 

 after-wale. Care should be taken in this fitting that the attachment for 

 the trace is neither too high nor too low, and further, that the outline of 

 the collar is strictly followed in the hames or else the fit is imperfect. If 

 the hames are too straight, a collar, which without them fitted well, will 



