THE COLLAR AND BRIDLE. 



40i 



Fio. 81.— The Breast or Dutch Collar. 



or plate, as well as 

 Under that -which pas- 

 ses oyer the neck. The 

 plate should be so 

 long as to bring the 

 trace buckles over the 

 line of the back part 

 of the fore leg. The 

 plate, in front, should 

 be furnished with a 

 loop, to hold the mar-, 

 tingale in its proper 

 position. 



The Traces should 

 be of a size propor- 

 tioned to the weight 

 to be drawn. Square 

 traces look unwieldy, and round ones are apt to rip. The 

 best form is oval, — ^that is, a narrow, flattened trace, thick 

 in the centre, and rounded at the edges. Coach traces are 

 cut seven feet long, and are usually supplied with an ar- 

 rangement by which they are secured around the end of 

 the whiffle-tree, while the traces of buggy harness are six 

 feet three inches long, and are fastered by a slit at the end, 

 to an iron in the end of the whiffle-tree. 



The Bridle may be, with propriety, more ornamented 

 or more highly finished than the rest of the harness (except 

 jwrhaps the saddle) ; for a neat, plain harness, the bridle 

 bIiouM be especially neat, with some slight ornament, as a 

 rosette, or with a very little modest stitching ; for a more 

 highly ornamented harness, it may be covered with a pro- 

 fusion of fine work, and have a fair allowance of platpd 

 ornaments and buckles. In its general construction, it 

 ionsists of a head strap, cheek pieces, throat-lash, and bit 



