544 



OX DRAUGHT. 



Yet what can be moi^e contrary to the rules liere laid down than the 

 injudicious mode frequently adopted in harnessing horses ? How con- 

 stantly do we see the efforts of horses paralysed by misapplication of their 



Fig. 10, 



Fig. 11. 



respective qualities ! In the annexed sketch {fig. 10) for instance, which 

 represents a very common specimen of this, the light, muscular, little 

 horse, which is capable of considerable exertion, is nearly lifted from the 

 ground, and prevented from making any exertion, by the traces leading 

 upwards ; while the feeble old horse, scarcely capable of carrying his owai 

 body, is nearly dragged to the ground, and compelled to employ his whole 

 strength in carrying himself, and even part of the weight of the leader ; so 

 that the strength of the one willing and able to work is not employed, and 

 the other is so overloaded as to be useless. 



The mode of attaching the traces does not admit of much variety. The 

 shoulders have always been made use of for this purpose. 



Homer, who is supposed to have lived about 

 900 years B.C., describes very minutely, in the 

 twenty-fourth book of the Iliad, the mode of 

 harnessing horses at the time of the siege of 

 Troy, nearly 8000 years ago ; but if we suppose 

 that his description was taken fi^om the harness 

 in use in his own time, it is still referring to a 

 period about twenty-seven centuries back. 



A simple strap, formed of several thicknesses 

 of leather, so as to be very stiff, and fitted well 

 to the neck and shoulders, served as a collar, 

 as seen at AA, {pgs. 11, 12). A second strap, 

 BB, passed I'ound the body, and was attached 

 to the shoulder-strap at the withers. At this 

 point was fixed the yoke, CC, which was fixed 

 to the pole. 



A pair of horses were thus yoked together, without traces or breechings, 

 as oxen are seen at the present time in many parts of the country. 



This was a simple arrangement, but by no means a bad one ; and it 

 would appear that they performed all the manoeuvres of cavalry with 

 chariots and horses thus harnessed. The pair yoked to the pole were 

 called yoked horses ; abreast of these was frequently placed what was 

 called an outer horse, with a simple shoulder-strap or collar FF, and a 

 single trace, GG, passing inside, as in fig. 13. Sometimes there were two 

 of these horses, one on each side, each furnished with his strap or collar 



