210 



COLLAR 



CH. XI 



when he lowers his head, the collar will choke him. 

 If it is much longer than this, it will slip up and 

 backward. It is impossible to give precise direc- 

 tions as to the length ; careful observation must de- 

 termine it for each horse. The proper form of col- 

 lar, looking at it in front, is shown in Fig. 96. The 



top should be sharp, and not 

 rounded, or it will press on the 

 withers, and make a sore spot ; a 

 serious and common fault. To 

 guard against this same fault, the 

 sides, at the points marked AA, 

 should be somewhat filled out, 

 but not enough to prevent a solid 

 bearing on the neck at BB, where 

 the draught comes. It is usually 

 very difficult to make a harness- 

 maker appreciate the necessity 

 of attending to the filling at AA, or to the pointed 

 top. 



A pipe collar is made with a hollow about three 

 inches long and half an inch deep, at the bottom 

 of the inside curve, so that there shall be no press- 

 ure at that point on the windpipe. 



The upper ends of the rim are covered by a 

 leather point, or cap, and there is sometimes a 

 little cape which extends backward and covers the 

 place where the collar is sewed together. On this 

 cape, is the proper place for the number of the 

 horse. In dress-harness the crest is put there, but 



