The Hakxess Described. 3:;! 



bitted ponies, does not require strength. But for driving a full-sized team of four horses 

 in hand with comfort and confidence, a certain degree of strength is indispensable. 



No one should attempt to drive high-couraged horses (any one can drive a cab-horse in 

 a four-wheeler) without before, or while learning to drive, becoming familiarly acquainted with 

 the use of every part of harness, and the way of putting it on the horse. This knowledge is 

 quite as necessary for women as for men. Without it they cannot tell whether a roadside 

 ostler or a muzzy groom has harnessed their ponies, or put on their bridles after a bait 

 properly or not. Half the accidents in harness happen from there being something wrong in 

 the fit of the leathers. 



SINGLE HARNESS. 



Harness for one horse in the heaviest kind of English four-wheeled carriage consists of — 



Collar with traces. 



Pad or saddle, to which are attached 



Tugs, for supporting the shafts. 



Crupper, for keeping the pad in its place. 



Breeching, to assist in backing or holding back a heavy carriage in descending hills. 



A kicking-strap where required. 



These are the parts of the harness that make the horse part of the locomotive machine. 

 To guide the horse there is the — 



Bridle, composed of the 



Headstall. 



Bit or bits. 



Reins for driving ; and, if required. 



Bearing-reins. 



In a light four-wheeled carriage the breeching is frequently omitted for town use, and also 

 for country use if the district is flat or the carriage is provided with a patent drag. Light 

 two-wheeled carriages are generally driven without breeching, with a kicking-strap, and with- 

 out bearing-reins. 



THE COr.LAR AND TR.ACES. 



The collar is the first part of the harness to be put on a horse in harnessing. It is com- 

 posed of two parts— a leather collar and a pair of metal lianics to which the traces are attached, 

 and to which also a pair of rings (terrets) are fixed, through which the reins pass. The terrets 

 are sometimes fixed solidly, and sometimes are loose rings. 



The fitting of the collar is a matter of the greatest importance ; when it does not fit, 

 pain, wounds, blemishes which often permanently disfigure the horse, and not unfrequently 

 rearing and gibbing, are the result. On the proper fitting of the collar, and attachment of the 

 traces to the Iiaiucs at the proper point, the comfort and power of draught of the horse greatly 

 depend. It is a matter on which temporary grooms are so often careless and indifferent that 

 it should always be attended to by the owner. 



The subject of harness has been treated in a more practical and scientific manner by an 

 author already quoted* than by any of the many writers whose works I consulted, after 

 talking over my own experience with harness-makers and coachmen ; I have therefore freely 

 extracted and condensed a number of passages from his somewhat abstruse essay : — ■ 



" A collar too small chokes a horse. In certain positions it will actually stop one by 



* "Bits and Bridles, Draught and Harness." By Major Francis Dwyer. Blnckwood & Sons. 



