FITTING HARNESS.
The bridle and saddle are fitted as prescribed.
The Collar, when adjusted, should admit the flat of the hand between the lower part and the throat, and the fingers between the sides and the neck. A short collar chokes a horse by pressing on the windpipe; a narrow one pinches and rubs the neck. A broad collar works about and galls the shoulders.
The Back-strap, when adjusted, should admit the breadth of the hand between it and the horse's back.
The Collar-strap should not be tight; otherwise it would pull the saddle forward on the withers. The surcingle, when used, should be buckled on the near side of the near horse and on the off side of the off horse, less tight than, and over, the girth.
The Breech-strap should be adjusted so that when the horse is pulling there will be a space of about four inches between the breech-strap and the horse's quarters.
The Hip-strap should be of such length that the breech-strap will be a little below the point of the buttocks, or about 12 or 15 inches below the top of the dock.
The Loin-straps should be adjusted so that the wheel-traces, when in draught, will be straight and without downward pull on the loops that support them.
The loin-straps of swing-and lead-horses should raise the traces about six inches above the stifle-joint when in draught. In this position the line of the traces from front to rear will be straight, and the loops of the loin-straps will support the traces without drawing them up.
The Side-straps should be so adjusted that when the horse is sitting back (stopping the carriage) no strain comes on the collar; the action should be performed by the horse sitting back into the breeching and thereby checking the momentum of the carriage by means of the side-straps, martingale, and neck-yoke. This is the most important adjustment of all.
The Traces.—The length of the traces must depend in a great measure on the size of the horse and his stride. For the wheel-team the rule is to allow about 14 inches from single-tree to hindquarters, and for swing-and lead-teams one yard from nose to croup when in draught. The traces should be adjusted so that the line of traction will be unbroken from the single-tree to the collars of the leaders, and this rule will regulate, in some measure, the length of the loin-straps, the matching of the horses, and arrangement of the pairs as wheel, swing, and lead pair; this should be such as to make the waste of force as small as possible.
All front trace-chains are permanently fastened to the traces, and have a toggle at the end.
All rear trace-chains have a ring at one end and a hook at the other; the hook is passed through the D ring at the end of the trace, and hooked back into any desired link. By this means the length of the trace is adjusted, and the rear trace-chain need not be removed except for cleaning.