70 



MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT 



[chap. 



as in P. 36c, e, 39c, are better than the more 

 "breedy" kind. A harness horse should have a 

 fairly upright shoulder {see P. 36c, h), large 

 and sound feet, fair length in body ; shortness 

 of neck, i.e. of rein, is no fault in a harness 

 horse. A fast trotting horse must have a longer 

 back in order to allow room for his legs while 

 in motion. {See 406, 41a.) See the various types 

 of harness horses shown in the plates. (See 

 Chapter IX.) 



272. Types of Vehicles. — I have illustrated 

 various types of wheeled vehicles and sleighs, 

 which I think will be of interest to my readers. 

 The common fault of English vehicles is that 

 they are too heavy. American vehicles are much 

 lighter, they last nearly as long (if on good 

 springs), are much cheaper, require lighter 

 horses (which are cheaper to keep), and do not 

 wear out the horses so soon, especially in the 

 forelegs. Heavy vehicles should always be pro- 

 vided with good hand-brakes ; coaches and 

 heavy lorries with brakes worked by the foot of 

 the driver. Two-wheeled carts should be loaded 

 so that the weight of the shafts is taken off by 

 the load being put far enough back to tend to 

 raise the horse slightly ; as described in Sec. 247 

 et seqq., this weight must be shifted forward 

 when ascending steep hills. Two-wheel " dump " 

 carts (P. 118e) must be so constructed that there 

 is no possible chance of the horse's tail becoming 

 caught under the front of the cart after the load 

 has been dumped. There is no reason at all 

 why such a danger should exist if the cart is 

 made properly and fitted to the horse, and not 

 the horse fitted to the cart. See the various 

 types of vehicles in the plates in this chapter. 

 P. 38a shows a popular type of American racing 

 sulky. 



Anatomy of the Shoulders 



273. P. 31, Fig. 1, shows the anatomy of the 

 horse's shoulders ; it also shows the external 

 parts of the shoulder and the common places 

 where sores are produced by badly fitting collars 

 and neglect due: 1, to weight on collar; 2, 3, 

 to collar too tight ; 4, to collar too loose ; 5, 

 to afterwale rubbing neck. 



Collars. — The ordinary type of leather collar, 

 stuffed with unthreshed rye straw, is the most 

 satisfactory, as it can be stuffed to fit the 

 horse, and it soon adjusts itself to the contours 

 of the horse's shoulders. {See P. 31.) The 

 names of the parts of the collar are : a, fore- 

 wale ; B, afterwale (beneath which is the stuffed 

 body); c, caps; d, housing strap; e, throat; f, 

 neck ; g, body side. 



We will briefly consider the motion of the 

 shoulder-blade (scapula) as the foreleg is drawn 

 forward by the antea spinatus, the flexor brachii, 

 the extensor pedis, and other muscles. The 

 upper portion of the scapula moves backwards 



as the foreleg is drawn forward, this bone 

 moving as if pivoted a little above its centre. 

 When a horse is standing still, with both legs 

 together, as in P. 36d, the collar is resting on 

 two parallel surfaces, but in any other position 

 the collar is not, but is resting on two planes 

 inclined at an oblique angle to one another, one 

 being nearer the vertical than the other. Thus, 

 as the collar must rest against the anterior 

 border of the shoulder muscles, which cover the 

 anterior edge of the shoulder-blade as well as 

 the large levator humeri and other muscles of 

 the neck, it stands to reason that it has an 

 oscillating motion when the horse is in motion, 

 and therefore the tension on the two traces alter- 

 nates in intensity. Hence the difficulty in fitting 

 harness and the reason for sore shoulders being 

 so common. It is also clear how careful horse 

 owners and drivers must be to keep the shoulder 

 well groomed and the surface of the collars clean 

 and soft ; saddle soap is the best medium for 

 keeping leather collar linings soft. Felt pads 

 and padded cloths, known as sweat-pads, are 

 used a great deal in Western Canada inside the 

 collars ; they necessitate a larger collar, but they 

 save the horses very considerably. A very 

 common fault is that of using tight collars. A 

 horse with an upright shoulder is, therefore, the 

 better animal to wear a collar, because it will 

 lie better against the shoulder and not tend to 

 work up, as it will on an oblique shoulder 

 (which is the ideal shoulder for a saddle horse). 

 We found, earlier in the chapter, that the traces 

 should be nearly horizontal, and that the collar 

 should be nearly at right angles to the traces ; 

 hence the advisability of upright shoulders. 

 Even with upright shoulder-blades, the collar 

 will always rise a little. 



274. The best way to avoid sore shoulders 

 and necks from collars is to keep the horse in 

 good condition, because, so long as these muscles 

 are hard and the bones well covered, the dangers 

 of collar sores are slight. Collar injuries, unlike 

 saddle injuries, are caused, nearly always, by 

 friction, so the collar must fit close enough to 

 lie quite flat on both shoulders, and should not 

 see-saw, as it would if stuffed too much in the 

 centre. If pressed to one side, it should allow 

 the flat of one finger to pass between it and the 

 shoulder all the way down. All lateral motion 

 must be stopped to avoid collar sores, but ihe 

 other extreme, of pinching the neck, must be 

 avoided. The collar must be short enough in 

 length to prevent undue rising upon the horse 

 throwing his weight on to the collar. The hand 

 and wrist must be able to pass easily between 

 the throat of the collar and the horse's neck, so 

 as to be sure that no pressure exists on the gullet 

 (oesophagus) or the windpipe (trachea). The top 

 of the collar just in front of the withers must 

 admit the flat of the hand between it and the 

 neck. When the poles of the wagon bear upon 



