The breast strap is held up by a light strap passing over the horse’s withers, and the breeching, by a similar strap, passing over the croup. A crupper can be used, but is not necessary.
The breast straps should lie flat, and be kept well above the point of the shoulders. They must be carefully adjusted, the usual fault being that they are placed too low. Each end of the breast strap has a buckle, into which both the trace and the end of the breeching are fastened. Of course it is impossible to get as much work out of a horse with breast harness as with collars.
|Whip.| The whip should be as light as possible, and well balanced, the thong being about half the length of the stick. The points should always be of leather, as these are much the best in wet weather. |Always hang whip up.| A whip should never be allowed to stand in a corner or up against a wall, as it will very quickly warp in that position. It should always be kept hung up, either on a reel or by a string to a nail in the wall.
Before leaving the subject of harness, a word on the general appearance and neatness of turn-out will not be out of place. Straps ought to be shortened to fit the horse, and be no longer than absolutely necessary.
To prevent any ends flapping about, keepers must be tight, and fitted so as to be within an inch or two of the points of the straps. Nothing catches the eye more quickly, or looks more slovenly, than the ends of the traces sticking out a foot beyond the keepers, or a belly-band strap dangling loose underneath the horse.
When buying harness go to a really good maker: cheap clumsy harness never pays.
CHAPTER II
DRIVING—SINGLE HARNESS.
|The start.| Before starting, always have a good look round, and see that all the harness is put on correctly; then go to the off side of the horse and take the reins in the right hand, the near rein under the forefinger and the off rein under the third finger. |Getting into dog-cart.| Get up into the cart and sit down immediately; now transfer the reins into the left hand, the near rein over the forefinger, and the off rein under the middle finger. Thus you have two fingers between the reins (fig. 2). The reason for this is that it gives much more scope |How to hold reins.| for play of the wrist on the horse’s mouth than if you only have one finger between the reins. The thumb should point straight to the right, and the forefinger be held well out, pointing to the right rear. This will keep the near rein close up to the knuckle, and the horse may easily be moved across the road to either the left or right by turning the back of the hand up or down respectively.
