HARNESS
The harness has two fundamental functions: first, to attach the
horse to the vehicle, so that he may pull it; second, to enable
the coachman to guide the horse. The elements of all harness,
therefore, are: the collar, hames, and traces, and the bridle, bit,
and reins.
The pulling part--the collar, hames and traces--should, of course,
be first of all strong and then as light as will fulfil their
purpose; the guiding part--the bridle, bit, and reins--should first
of all be light, but strong enough to hold the horse. Whether you
buy harness, or use harness, or wish to be guided in examining and
keeping in repair your own harnesses, these are the underlying
principles of the whole subject.
All questions of form or fads or personal peculiarity must first
conform to these principles, otherwise the harnessing will be
wrong. From judging the appointment classes at a horse show to
the buying of a harness for your children's pony, these first
principles of what a harness should be apply rigidly.
Unless there is a rational basis to go upon in all these matters,
form and style and so on are mere silliness. As an example of this,
there is the absurd dictum in this country that a lady should sit
on the right side of her own carriage, due, of course, to the fact
that in England vehicles pass to the left, which of course makes
the right side the prominent side. In this country vehicles pass to
the right, which of course makes the left side the prominent, and,
for purposes of seeing and being seen, the more convenient side.
This is a very happy illustration of vehicular toadyism, or of
so-called "form," which is simian, rather than sensible. Wherever,
therefore, in the matter of manners and appointments on the road,
from the harnessing, furnishing, and handling of a pony cart to a
"drag," you are met with a statement or given advice that has no
rational sanction, be sure you are wrong and investigate further.
A similar question to the above is the much-mooted one as to
whether the reins, particularly in four-in-hand driving, should be
buckled or left unbuckled. When the mail-coaches were making the
best time possible from stage to stage or when the amateur whip was
making the best time possible in imitation thereof, it was claimed
that a certain amount of time was saved at the end of each stage by
doing away with the unbuckling of the reins. True, time was saved,
and with professional coachmen there was the minimum of danger
from dropping a rein. But nowadays, in driving a coach, either on
the road or in the park, the safety, comfort, and pleasure of the
passengers are first of all important, and the seconds saved in
unbuckling reins are of no consequence.
[Illustration: PLATE XX.
1. Bridoon. 2. Double-ring snaffle. 3. Half-cheek jointed snaffle.]
[Illustration: PLATE XXI.--BIT FOUND ON THE ACROPOLIS. DATE 500
B.C.]
The best road coachman I know in this country, and a man who
probably never dropped a rein in his life, drives with his reins
buckled. As to the question of the leaders running away, when
of course buckled reins would catch in the terrets of the wheel
horses' pads,--that is as though a man should sleep every night in
a rope harness for getting out of windows in case of fire.
These two questions are typical of certain vapid discussions
of questions relating to harness and harnessing, and they are
also typical of how the student of such matters should settle
them. Usage is the law of language, so, too, usage should not be
dethroned in any department of life without good reason; but when
usage becomes an empty form, and when a change makes for safety,
comfort, and convenience, there should be no hesitation about
making it.
The earliest form of vehicle and harness, and upon which all
improvements have been built up, are the Indian pony with two long
poles attached to his belly-band and a rawhide rope around his
neck. There you have all the elements of a harness, but with no
comfort and no convenience, and only the most precarious safety.
In the famous picture, "Attila at Rome," by Raphael, the Huns
are riding without bit or bridle, merely a rope or strap around
the neck of their mounts. In certain pictures of Roman chariots
there is but one rein attached to a snaffle-bit, and the horse was
evidently guided by the pressure of the rein and the whip; though
it is to be remembered that the complicated turnings of modern
traffic and modern roads were unknown, and to keep straight, and to
start and stop, were the main thing.
To begin at the beginning in a discussion of modern harness
(Plate XXII.), it is proper to emphasize the fact that the very
best leather is none too good, whether in your traces or in your
reins. The best leather is made of the hides of heifers or steers
and tanned with oak bark. The total supply of oak bark in England
is only about three hundred thousand tons a year, which amount
is quite insufficient; and most of the English leather is tanned
by cheaper and quicker methods. The old oak-tanning process took
eighteen months, and made leather of unequalled quality. To-day the
process hardly consumes as many weeks, and in America, hemlock bark
is the most important material used.
[Illustration: PLATE XXII.--SINGLE HARNESS]
It is not easy, except by long experience, to tell good leather at
a glance. One authority says that good leather should "be solid,
but not hard; mellow, but not soft." The black leather in a harness
should have a smooth surface, close texture, and when bent between
the hands should not show minute cracks.
The collar is the keystone of the pulling part of the harness. It
should fit to a nicety, every horse having his own collar as much
as the coachman should have his own boots. The collar should be
lined with some non-porous material, preferably soft leather--even
thin patent leather is good and easily cleaned. If the collar is
too wide, it will rub the shoulders; if too short, it will choke
the horse; if rounded at the top, it will press on and gall the
withers. Usually the collar that will go over a horse's head
will fit as to width, and is long enough when four fingers, held
vertically, will go between the collar and neck, when the head is
held in its usual position. The sides of the upper part of the
collar, as well as the sides over the shoulders, should be well
filled out, to prevent the rubbing of the point of the collar on
the withers. In cases where the horse has an unusual conformation
of head and neck a collar opening at the top is a convenience--one
or two such collars should be kept in every stable. Collars may be
either straight or curved back, the latter variety showing off the
horse's neck to advantage.
The hames must, of course, fit the collar; and the draught-eye
in the hames, to which the tug is attached, should be placed so
that the pull comes upon the muscles of the lower part of the
shoulder-blade, or at a point where this large bone is narrowest.
Usually hame-rings are placed too low by a full inch on the hames
when fitted to the collar. This is important, as it puts the
draught where the horse can most easily apply most power and leaves
his shoulders as free as though the collar were not there. The
incline of the trace from the collar, so far as applied mechanics
are concerned, matters little so long as it is not too high nor too
low; but as a wheel meets with friction and obstructions up and
over which it must be pulled, it is an advantage to have the trace
_decline_ from the collar to the vehicle.
It is well to put the collar on some minutes before the horse is
to be used in it, so that his neck and shoulders may be warmed for
their work; and it is absolutely essential to sound skin on neck
and shoulders that the collar should be left on the horse five
or ten minutes after his return, hot from work. Pads or saddles
should fit as well as collars and should be placed just back of the
shoulders, where the muscles are no longer prominent. If horses
were saddled twenty minutes before they were wanted, and only
unsaddled--girths of course being loosened--twenty minutes after
their return to the stable, these precautions, and a liberal use of
alcohol rubbed into the skin, would lessen materially the number of
sore backs. A Dutch collar, or breastplate, is sometimes used in
light harness instead of a neck collar. In the case of a horse with
sore shoulders this is a convenience, or a horse with graceful neck
and shoulders in the lead of a tandem shows off better with such a
collar. But for draught it is not as good as the neck collar.
To the hames on the collar is fastened the tug, to the tug the
trace, which at its other end is fastened finally to the vehicle.
Of the length of tugs and traces it is to be said that they should
be of such length that the back-band lies on the middle of, not in
front or behind, the pad, when the horse is pulling. The reason
for this is that otherwise the horse will be pulling the vehicle,
not by the trace, but by the back-band. Many illustrations of this
awkwardness may be seen wherever you see horses in harness.
Of the particular fastenings of tugs to hames, and of traces to
vehicles,--these must depend upon the type of vehicle, and had best
be left to the choice of the technically experienced. But it is
every owner's business to see to it that these draught portions of
the harness are strong and of the proper length. In the case of
traces in a coach harness, the inside trace should be about half a
hole shorter than the outside trace to make the draught even, and
the convenient way to do this is to wrap the inside roller-bolt
with leather, thus taking up more of the trace on that side, and
saving the weakening of the trace by punching an extra hole in the
tug end of it.
Good, strong, pliable reins, particularly of the length, 23 feet
6 inches, required for the lead-reins of a coach, are hard to
get, but merit all the time and money spent in getting them. Of
the size, viz. the width, of the reins, one writer says: "_Medio
tutissimus ibis_," which back-of-the-dictionary Latin would apply
equally well to a man's gloves or collars. If you have short
fingers, the reins should be, say, three-quarters or seven-eighths
of an inch wide; if long fingers, one inch wide or even a little
more. A man with short fingers would be hampered, and his work in
fingering four reins would be cramped, with wide reins.
A horse's bridle should fit him nicely and with no loose ends
hanging or sticking about his head. Nothing looks more slovenly
than trace points or back-band points or bridle billet ends
sticking out of, and beyond their loops.
[Illustration: PLATE XXIII.]
The horse's eyes should come in the middle of the winkers, and the
headstall should be so fitted as to keep them there. The winkers
should not bulge out nor turn in, and thus almost touch the eye.
Above all, they should not, as is often the case, drop so that
the horse can see over, and behind them. Many horses under these
circumstances will pay so much attention to the man and the whip,
and perhaps the parasol, behind them, that they will see nothing
else. The throat-latch should be loose enough to allow three
fingers between it and the throat. It is intended to keep the whole
bridle in place, but not to choke the horse. The nose-band is a
survival. It was intended to keep the jaws of the horse together
so that he could not relieve himself from the bit by opening his
mouth. In the case of a bit with a high port it is still useful for
that purpose; but even when used merely because it came as part of
the harness, it should fit and not be a flopping ring of leather
around the horse's nose. A nose-band properly adjusted should have
the width of two fingers between it and the horse's jaws and should
fit snugly and not too far up over his nose. The brow-band should
so fit that it does not rub the ears. When the bridle is hung up as
one piece, see that it is not hung on a hook, so that one side or
the other is pulled out of shape, but on a proper bridle-rack.
Of bits, as of books, there is no end. Xenophon advises a flexible
bit covered with leather. "No matter what the kind of bit, it must
always be flexible," he maintains (Plate XXI.). William Cavendish,
Duke of Newcastle, in probably the most sumptuous book on the horse
ever published, writing in 1657, says, "But above all, this rule is
chiefly to be observed, to put as little iron in your horse's mouth
as possibly you can."
With bits as with shoes, the less and the lighter, the better,
so long as they be strong enough to hold your horse. The plain
snaffle, ring snaffle, double ring snaffle, Liverpool bit, Elbow
bit, Buxton bit, Swales's patent, and (Plates XXIII. and XXIV.)
innumerable modifications of these, offer opportunity to shift
responsibility from your own hands to the tender bars of the
horse's mouth. Outside of here and there a horse who, on account
of bad early training or from ill-usage or from fracture, it is
impossible to bit so that he will go comfortably, the matter of
bits and bitting is a matter of patience and experiment.
Bits are often bought as though any size of bit would do for any
size of horse. But a bit too large is as injurious as a bit too
small. The mouthpiece should be exactly the width of the mouth,
and if you have not a bit that fits exactly, it is a simple matter
to insert around the mouthpiece and inside the branch of the bit,
a disk of leather of the thickness required to make your bit fit
snugly (Plates XXV. and XXVI.). This fitting of the bit alone makes
a great difference to the comfort of the horse, as may be seen by
looking closely at the way in which a bit with the mouthpiece too
long works in the horse's mouth, when attached to two long reins
and pulled this way and that. The bit should be placed neither too
high nor too low in the mouth, but about an inch above the tusk.
[Illustration: PLATE XXIV.--SWALES PATENT]
[Illustration: PLATE XXV.--BRUSH BURR]
[Illustration: PLATE XXVI.--PLAIN BURR]
The curb-chain should allow of two fingers between it and the
horse's jaw. This curb-chain is a part of the lever which works by
the bit, through the reins, on the mouth, and should be handled
with discrimination and soberly. The curb-chain may be made more
severe, either by tightening it, or by turning the chain itself
so that it will be with rough edges against the horse's jaw. It
is doubtful whether this is more than a temporary solution of
pulling. Its final effect is to deaden the horse's mouth. When you
are tempted to tighten your curb-chain, tighten your nose-band
and loosen your curb-chain instead; or lift the bit by a hole in
the horse's mouth or lower it; or buckle your reins in the cheek
instead of the bar, middle bar, or lower bar; or if there seems
to be trouble on one side of the horse's mouth and not on the
other,--if on the near side, put the off rein into the middle bar,
leaving the near rein in the cheek, or _vice versa_; or look to see
if your horse has his tongue over the bit; or if he is inclined
to loll with his tongue, tie his tongue down with soft string; or
loosen or tighten the bearing-rein;--in short, use every means in
your power to make the horse comfortable before you resort to harsh
measures--which last, by the way, are almost never permanently
successful.
Above all things, don't lose your temper, and make matters
absolutely impossible of remedy by doing just what the horse is
doing--pulling! The horse may be merely nervous, or ignorant
of what the bit means, or really suffering; and you have more
intelligence than he has--the comparative weights of your brains
and spinal cords prove it--and that being true, you should
illustrate this physiological law by managing him, rather than to
permit him to manage you. But, you reply, what if you have tried
everything, and he still continues to pull your arms out and
endanger the lives of yourself and others? Then get out of a bad
fix as best you can. Telegraph him that you decline the nomination
as candidate unless he reforms, and get him back to Nebraska as
speedily and with as little danger as possible.
Anything that can be done to freshen or to keep fresh the animal's
mouth, and to give him something rather to play with, than to pull
against, is important. Hence the reason for changing the position
of the bit, for movable mouthpieces, or for any other device to
keep the horse from taking the bit too seriously.
There are innumerable experiments to be tried before a horse is to
be set down as a "puller." Often when a horse finds he is not to be
hurt, he goes well enough. Take out the heavy bit, and drive him
in a snaffle. Cover his bit with rubber, or sew salt pork on his
bit; or give him a bit that works up and down, or change from the
straight bit to one with a slight port, so that it does not rest on
his tongue, or go to your harness maker and have a Liverpool made
with a jointed mouthpiece,--why not? What you want is something
not unsightly to drive your horse in, and, as we have said before,
though "form" and "correctness" are absolutely essential to persons
and things without content, they are to be set aside always when
there is a rational sanction for doing so. Dress parade at quarters
if you please and without a speck or a spot or a stir of a muscle;
but undershirts and bare feet for coaling ship and going into
action. The man who is overawed by twaddle about "form" in the
treatment of a live animal, whether man or beast, must have cur
blood in him from some source, and is not a proper person to be put
in authority over either.
There are many things about the harness which annoy the horse
and make him restive and uncomfortable to drive. His brow-band
may be chafing his ears; his winkers may be flapping or pushing
against his eyes; his pad or saddle may not fit, and be rubbing his
backbone; the crupper may be too short, catching him hard under the
tail or pulling the saddle backward; the traces may be too long
or too short, hampering him in his work; his shoes may have been
on too long and become too small for his ever growing hoof; the
bearing-rein may be too tight; the bit too wide, or hard on his
tongue, or pressing against inflamed tissue caused by ragged teeth
which ought to have been filed down.
All these matters, it ought to be the pride, as it is the duty,
of a coachman to look out for. It is for this reason, if for no
other, that the owner of a horse or horses should know the elements
at least of the history, housing, harnessing, and handling of the
horse. Ignorance not only means discomfort and danger, but it means
cruelty as well.
A martingale is intended to prevent the horse from throwing up his
head. It is looped through a buckle and attached to the belly-band
at one end; the other end is a split strap with rings through which
the reins pass, or it may be fastened to the bit itself, or to the
nose-band if the horse is refractory or fussy about his mouth.
The question of bearing-reins is not a question of bearing-reins
or no bearing-reins, but a question of the use and misuse of
bearing-reins. No horse or pony of spirit should be driven by a
woman or a child without a bearing-rein. It prevents the animal
rubbing his head against shaft or pole, and catching and perhaps
pulling his bridle off; it prevents him from getting his head down
between his legs and becoming unholdable; and it makes kicking
more difficult. A halter is enough for Dobbin when Dobbin goes his
sleepy way, but there is no knowing what day in ten years Dobbin
gets well, and devil a saint is he! The bearing-rein, properly
adjusted, does not inconvenience the horse in the slightest and is
a valuable safeguard in time of need. For a boring or heavy-headed
or gross-necked horse, the bearing-rein takes weight off the
coachman's hands and helps rather than impedes the horse.
On the other hand, the bearing-rein, like a certain feminine piece
of harness, may be used for purposes of fashionable distortion. The
horse's head is twisted up high in the air to make him lift his
legs and to give him a lofty and proud appearance. This use of the
bearing-rein is indeed an abomination. The gag bearing-rein is a
rein passing from a point of the headstall on each side, through a
swivel attached to the snaffle, thence through another ring, and
fastened on to the hook of the pad or saddle. The sides of the
horse's mouth are drawn up, and with a tight crupper to boot,
the horse looks as though he were tied together at the teeth and
the tail. One sees little of this nowadays. Only the very newest
dollars, daubed with unusual ignorance, permit this turkey-cock
style of harnessing.
The crupper, passing from the pad or saddle and ending in a padded
loop under the tail, holds the saddle from slipping forward when
the harness is without breeching, and also, as a horse always tucks
his tail into his quarters when about to kick, prevents kicking to
some extent. The crupper should be stuffed with linseed to keep it
moist, and to prevent its hardening and becoming a worry to the
horse.
In these days, when even light carriages have brakes, breeching is
seldom used except with state or very dressy harness. In a hilly
country or with two-wheeled traps, particularly those driven by
women or children, it should be a part of the harness. In such
cases, safety rather than appearance or lightness is the essential
thing. The breeching should hang about twelve inches below the
upper part of the dock, and have four to six inches' play when the
horse is in his collar.
The kicking-strap in a single harness is fastened on one shaft
and passes up and over the horse's quarters through a loop in the
crupper and down on the other side to the other shaft. In double
harness two straps are needed. They are fastened to the pad and
run alongside the crupper to the splinter-bar and are connected
by a strap across the quarters. No advice is necessary here. When
a kicking-strap is needed, the necessity is obvious. Pains should
be taken, however, to have the kicking-strap well back on the
quarters, otherwise it is valueless, and also to have it loose
enough not to be the cause itself of kicking.
Though the whip is not part of the harness, it is an important
adjunct. The best stocks are made of holly or of our own white
hickory. The stock should be five feet long, and the thong, for
four horses, ten feet six inches--for one or two, four feet long.
The balance of the whip to one who drives much is as important
as the suitable balance of a fishing-rod, golf-club, or rapier.
If badly balanced, it adds a surprising burden of weight on the
hand, to one who has not experienced it. A good maker's whip will
balance at its best, at the collar; that is to say, when grasped at
the collar it is carried with the weight most evenly distributed
for its holder. The thong should be kept pliable with mutton
tallow or soap,--crown soap is the best,--and never pipe-clayed,
which rots the thong. It should never be left standing, but, in
order to keep its shape, it should hang, when not in use, on a
spool. Even heavy poles will warp, if not properly cared for, by
keeping them lengthwise on proper rests; much more true is this
of the far lighter and more delicate whiphandles. The large or
butt end of a good stock will be nine-tenths of an inch round,
the small end six-tenths. For a heavy whip the handle should be
covered with pigskin, and sewn down its length, or, even better,
wound in a spiral, each fold overlapping, which makes the handle
less slippery in wet weather; the chief value of pigskin here
and elsewhere in saddlery and harness-making is that it is not
made rough by friction. Imitation pigskin is made in quantity.
In genuine pigskin, the bristles reach clear through the skin,
so that there are holes on the flesh side. In the imitations the
holes only reach part way through. The thong on every whip should
be of the same material throughout, and not terminate in whipcord,
or silk, or ribbons, or any other fussy material. The whip is
for use--important use--to a good coachman, and should be made
accordingly.
Of the care of harness, it would be difficult to say too much. The
whole pleasure and safety of driving depend practically upon the
watch that is kept to see that it is safe and strong. When there
is question about wear, it is better to replace the worn part at
once. Better throw an old harness aside, than run the risk of
its being used by leaving it in the stable. It may be put on in
muddy weather, or through carelessness, and disaster follows. As
long as leather remains dry and clean, it needs little attention.
Once it is wet, it should be carefully cleaned and well rubbed
with oil. Neat's-foot oil is the best. Vegetable oils, with the
single exception of castor-oil, which is disagreeable by reason of
its odor, are apt to become hard. All brass or plate on harness
tarnishes easily, and should be kept from the ammonia of the
stable and from the fumes of gas, if it is burned; as well as from
gas from the stove. A good mixture for black harness is one pint
spirits of turpentine, four ounces of beeswax, one ounce prussian
blue, half an ounce lampblack; after the application, plenty of
hand polishing. It would seem almost unnecessary to warn against
soaking any part of leather harness in water, if the writer had not
seen on more than one occasion parts of harness literally left to
soak in the water-bucket! In the case of the parts of the harness
made of patent leather, no wax preparation should be used; vaseline
and a soft rag will do the cleaning sufficiently well.
What has been said of the care of harness is equally, and for the
same reason, of safety, true of the carriages in your stable. All
carriages profit by an airing occasionally. If they are not often
used, they should be run out and left for an hour or two in a dry,
warm place. Carriages newly painted and varnished should be washed
several times before they are used. This sets and hardens paint and
varnish.
Carriages should not be merely dusted or wiped over, but washed
when they come in, and thoroughly dried--a soft sponge on fine
carriages, a hose on rougher vehicles, and a soft chamois to dry
both, and patience--never hot water and never picking off of dried
mud, lest paint and varnish come with it. Carriages with plain
axles should have the axles seen to after every outing. Men who do
much driving of heavy vehicles with Collinge or Mail axles, unless
they have competent servants or are competent themselves, find it
safer and better to have the carriage builder look after their
axles at regular intervals. Collinge axles will go from one to two
months; Mail axles a week without oiling, on a private coach. On
public coaches it is the custom to examine the axles each day.
Washing and caring for carriages is not a difficult matter,
except that the human qualities of patience and painstaking
are more difficult to find even than mechanical ability. Time
should be taken on the wash-stand, if nowhere else. Of the care
of the cushions and stuffed parts of carriages, and the metal
parts, common sense, and the well-known commercial pastes sold
by all harness and carriage makers, will fit a man out to do
his duty. With styles of carriages and appropriate vehicles
for exhibiting and the like, this book does not deal. The most
scientific treatise on the subject of the coach and carriage is
"A Manual of Coaching," by Fairman Rogers. The author was of high
attainments as an engineer, and of great practical experience as
a coachman. A valuable book of reference, with complete and very
good illustrations covering the ground of appropriateness and "good
form," is "Driving for Pleasure," by Francis T. Underhill. A very
useful compilation, very complete and clear as to all details of
the stable is, "The Private Stable," by James A. Garland.
All parts of steel, bits, curb-chains, pole-chains, kidney-links,
and the like, after washing, may be put into lime-water--dissolving
as much common lime as the water will take; this does steel no harm
and keeps off rust. To polish these parts, they should be shaken in
a bag with fine sawdust and sand. Sand and emery paper scratch, and
do not burnish satisfactorily; a steel burnisher is the only way in
which the original polish can be regained or retained.
That harness should be appropriate to the horse, the vehicle,
and the use to which it is to be put, goes without saying. The
pony-cart, the runabout, the drag, the miniature Victoria, the
station wagon, need harness to suit them. But this by no means
entails different harness for every vehicle. On the contrary, a few
changes, and a pair of leaders' reins, both for four and tandem,
will fit you out for almost any kind of driving. Collars, bits,
saddles, should fit their wearers; and of these, if there are many
horsemen and horsewomen in the family, you must have an adequate
supply. But the light pony-pair harness with long reins, and the
heavier harness if a larger pair fitted with removable terrets,
gives you a four-in-hand harness. A similar arrangement with two
single harnesses will give you a tandem harness; and it is well to
remember that the greater variety of driving you have, the more
confidence you will gain and the better you will drive. It is
hard on the men in the stable to have too little harness, and it
is a burden to have a lot of harness that is never used. Leather
up to a certain age improves with use and deteriorates when left
to hang and become dry, so that it is almost as necessary not to
have too much harness as to have enough. Let it be repeated that
any question of worn parts of a harness should be investigated
and attended to at once. This is not merely economy; it is gross
extravagance not to do so, and a peril besides.
When men wore close armor and a beaver down, they could only be
distinguished by emblems on their shields or harness. When reading
was an almost unknown accomplishment, it was necessary that men
should have over their tents in the field, or over their gates or
doors at home, signs and symbols that could be easily seen and
distinguished. Hence arms and heraldry. The more conspicuous the
man or the family, the more necessary that he and they should be
easily recognizable. Hence the inns of the local village, the
servants, the carriages, and the like were distinguished by a
particular badge.
The reason for this has passed. The overpowering instinct in man to
prolong his existence, by having been, by being, and by affirming
that he will be, as shown in genealogy, in ambition to be well
known, and in the belief in immortality, is the explanation of
heraldry. That the army, navy, or diplomatic officer should put
a cockade in his servants' hats, is therefore not difficult to
understand. That almost every man should wish to make the best of
his ancestry,--to cut out the tailors, and hatters, and tinsmiths,
and tanners, and make prominent the worthies,--is also not
difficult to understand. To the American, however, the conspicuous
use of insignia of this kind, unless the authenticity thereof be
verifiable by proofs unquestionable, is rather childish. There is
no doubt whatever but that we all have a strain of the right to
bear arms blood; there is also no doubt that we have all more or
less lived through days of small and tradesman-like things in this
country, and perhaps your own initials on your harness are the
safest badge. If you are a gentleman, it will probably show itself
most conspicuously by the fact that you never remind others of it
and never forget it yourself. If either technically or morally you
are not a gentleman, no sign and motto will make you one. Indeed,
some badges on harness only serve to make conspicuous the fact that
the horses are better bred than the owners. This is a comparison
that should be avoided. It is not fair to the horses.
Lastly, in writing of harness, it is proper to remind the horse
owner that his harness like his horse improves by use and proper
care after use. Therefore avoid having too much harness. Unless
you are a constant exhibitor in the show ring, you can adapt your
harnesses, if they are all made in the same general pattern as to
pads, blinkers, terrets, brow-bands, and the like, to many uses.
A runabout harness of heavy make, with part of a double harness
for your leader and a pair of long reins and a pair of traces and
terrets that screw in and can be taken off, fit you out with a
tandem harness. One heavy and one light set of double harness with
similar arrangements as to reins and terrets will fit you out with
a four-in-hand harness; and if you stick to about the same type of
horse, with your saddlers in the lead and your harness horses in
the wheel, you may have all the varieties of driving without undue
expense and without an over-accumulation of harness.