Cleaning and Oiling Harness 345 



liability of its injuring the horse. It is very impor- 

 tant that the bearing parts be kept scrupulously 

 clean at all times. This applies especially to the 

 parts in constant contact with the animal, as the 

 collar, saddle, crupper and the like. It is not 

 possible to prevent sore shoulders, sore back and 

 sore tail, if these parts are permitted to become 

 dirty, which they will, because of the sweat and 

 dandruff, unless they are carefully watched and 

 frequently cleaned. These parts should be thor- 

 oughly cleaned each morning before harnessing, 

 or better still, immediately after removing the 

 harness. 



. The entire harness should be thoroughly cleaned 

 and oiled at least once each year. The simplest 

 way of doing this is to take the harness apart and 

 soak the parts for fifteen minutes in a wash-tub 

 of luke-warm water containing a handful of washing 

 soda; then scrub the parts with a scrub brush, and 

 when dry, oil with neat's-foot oil to which a small 

 amount of kerosene and a little lampblack have 

 been added ; next hang up to dry, taking care not 

 to dry in the sun or by the fire, and finally sponge 

 with castile soap and buckle the parts together. 

 Yet there can be no denying the fact that water 

 injures the harness, particularly the polished and 

 fancy parts. In the case of fancy harness, the mud 

 and dirt should be permitted to dry. Then it should 

 be removed with a brush stiff enough to answer the 



