The use of silver-plated instead of brass-plated harness for formal occasions, such as the show ring and park, is optional, but brass-plated harness is more suitable than silver-plated for informal occasions and for country driving.
The correct appointments for a woman’s trap in the show ring are given in a separate chapter, [page 245]. For other occasions the buckles, etc., may be either square or round, according to the owner’s fancy. Square buckles are more appropriate for formal occasions and perhaps for four-wheel traps; round buckles are rather for carts and sporting vehicles. There should be as little metal about the harness as practicable, and the ornaments should be confined to crests, engravings, or initials, which should be small and inconspicuous and placed only on the winkers, rosettes, face pieces, standing martingale, and pad. Breechings may be used for heavy traps, but are not suitable for light traps such as runabouts or for carts. They sometimes make a nervous horse kick, and in such cases they should, of course, be
dispensed with. Kicking straps, as I have said elsewhere, should generally be used for a kicking horse both with four-wheel traps and with carts.
Single Phaeton Harness
May be used with runabout, when breeching need not be used, and Dutch collar may be used instead of Kay collar
The harness should be made of the best quality of leather and hand sewn, and should always be kept soft and pliable, and never allowed to become hard or mildewed.
Russet harness is perfectly correct for informal
country driving and with runabouts or any kind of light country trap, whether two or four wheeled, particularly with traps finished in natural wood.
For all heavy traps, whether four or two wheeled, collars and harness should be used, and it is essential that the collar should fit the horse. In fact, it is most important that each horse in the stable should have his own collar, which should be carefully fitted to him by a competent harness-maker. Collars come in standard sizes, varying from 19 to 22 inches, and are made to fit by altering the stuffing. The Kay collar is the type generally used.
The weight of the harness is in proportion to the weight of the trap; for heavy traps, such as phaetons or dog-carts, the heaviest harness should be used, while with runabouts, basket phaetons, and light carts, lighter harness is correct.