100 



THE FAMILY HOESE. 



All expensive omamentation is in bad taste. Nothing shows a 

 good horse to greater advantage than a neat, well-fitting harness in 

 perfect order, and free from excessive display of burnished metal or 

 other useless decorations. 



CAEE OP HARNESS. 



The harness should be kept in a closet or other place protected 

 from dust, and wholly apart from the odors of the stable. The 

 ammoniacal gases which cause the smell of stables are extremely 



Fig. 63. — ^BEEAST-COLLAB HABNESS. 



caustic and destructive to leather. Every time it is used, the 

 harness should be wiped when taken off the horse, all sweaty straps 

 being rubbed with a damp sponge, and then the whole rubbed dry 

 with chamois skin or a dry cloth. T£ this is neglected, it soon 

 becomes gummed up and requires a thorough cleaning. The straps 

 shoiild not be soaked in water, as it hardens the leather, but rubbed 

 with a sponge dampened in warm soap-suds, then wiped dry and 

 oiled. If any spots have worn red, they may be touched up with 

 common black ink, not the writing fluids which are greenish at 



