132 THE PRACTICAL HORSE KEEPER. 



hinder tliem in working properly, and are of no advantage 

 whatever. 



The advantage of blinkers is very questionable. There can 

 be no doubt whatever that fashion and custom alone sanction 

 their use. Horses can be utilised better without than with 

 them, and all horses should be trained to harness without 

 them. They are not worn on harness horses in the army, and 

 in civil life hundreds of horses are worked without them. 

 They make the bridles heavier and more expensive, require 

 more cleaning, cause the horse's head to be hotter, injure the 

 eyes, and are certainly unsightly to any one who admires the 

 noble animal. Blinkers ought to be abolished. 



For pair-horse harness, the equipment should also be light 

 and strong. Breeching is rarely worn, as the strain of backing 

 and holding back the carriage is thrown upon the pole and 

 pole-chains, as well as upon the break. Otherwise there is not 

 much difference in single and double harness. 



With regard to the harness of heavy draught horses, a 

 word must be spoken in urging the adoption of that which is 

 light, yet strong. Nothing can be more ludicrous a,nd non- 

 sensical than the massive, cumbrous equipment sometimes 

 worn by agricultural, and even town horses — equipment which 

 can only overburden them, add largely to the saddler's bills, 

 and make the animals look uncomfortable and grotesque. 



The cleaning, repair, and preservation of harness requires 

 attention; but this is seldom neglected with that of light 

 horses. With regard to heavy harness, Reynolds insists on 

 every part being maintained in good repair ; many accidents 

 are occasioned, and not a few runaway horses made, by de- 

 fective gearing. On many farmsteads, only rainy days, which 

 are sometimes few and far between, are devoted to the cleaning 

 of harness. Such neglect cannot be economical in practice ; 

 dirty collar and saddle linings are prolific causes of sore 

 shoulders and backs. AVhen damp from rain, or fouled by 



