Riding and Driving for Women

by Belle Beach

For country use, and especially in summer with all kinds of light country traps, such as runabouts, Hempstead carts, and breaking carts, a Dutch collar is quite correct and is much more comfortable and cooler for the horse than a collar and hames. The Dutch collar, however, should not be used with any kind of a heavy or formal trap, as it is not so well adapted for pulling, nor does it look well with them.

The lining of the collar should be black for all

except sporting carts, where russet lining looks very smart, though almost too sporty for a woman.

Single Road Harness
Note the light Dutch collar

Driving reins for a woman should be thinner and lighter than for a man, and should be very pliable for the same reasons, as I have explained on [page 145], that apply to riding reins.

The general principle to be observed in driving, as well as in riding, is to have as little harness on the horse as practicable, and, above all things, not to have the harness overloaded with ornaments.

For country use, and for all informal occasions,

it is not necessary to use patent-leather harness, as it scratches and becomes shabby very quickly. Plain black pigskin is therefore more appropriate and perfectly correct for such occasions. For rainy weather special harness should be used, as the rain injures the leather and tarnishes the metal of the regular harness, and entails a great deal of unnecessary work on the grooms. Rainy weather harness has all the buckles covered and is made of oiled leather.

When the owner is in deep mourning, everything about the harness should be black, all of the bright metal should be covered with black leather. It looks quite inappropriate to see the servants with wide crape bands but the harness with all the bright metal showing and colored rosettes and saddle cloths; or, what is even worse, colored saddle cloths and black rosettes. While it is not necessary to use black harness when the owner is in mourning, all colors should certainly be avoided in the rosettes and saddle cloths, and the servants should be put in mourning also.