24O SPARE PARTS OF HARNESS CH. XI 



Bits, chains, kidney-links, and the cock-eyes of 

 lead-traces are always of bright steel. The loops 

 of the wheel-traces are of the same metal as the 

 mountings. 



All the steel about coach and harness should be 

 white, hard, and close grained ; some steel is soft 

 and blue, and will always have a leaden look, no 

 matter how well it is polished and burnished. 



Spare Parts of Harness. — The following spare 

 parts of harness should be carried in the coach : — 



A hame-strap, useful for many purposes besides 

 its legitimate one ; a kidney-link, a curb-chain, or, 

 better, a curb-strap, which is more useful, in the 

 case of a curb-hook's breaking ; a simple bearing- 

 rein, with its bit and the short straps by which the 

 rings are attached to the crown-piece (Fig. 87) ; a 

 chain-trace, — that is, a chain 6 feet long, with straight 

 flat links like a pole-chain, and a ring at one end, 

 so that it can be put, as required, round the 

 roller-bolt, or hooked to the lead-bar, the straight 

 links going into the tug-buckle ; a strap 6 inches 

 long and of the same width as the reins, with a 

 buckle at each end, to be used in repairing a broken 

 rein ; and two or three pieces of cord of different 

 sizes. 



Strong, round, black linen shoe-laces, with the 

 usual metal tags on the ends, are very useful for 

 temporary repairs ; the tags can be quickly passed 

 through holes made in the leather. The coachman 



