The Noseband of the harness bridle, like the riding one, can by tightening be made very useful with some descriptions of hard-pulling horses.—[See “Noseband,” page 42.]
The Breastplate, or head-stall martingal, can be made useful in the same way.—[See page 40.]
Throat-lash.—[See page 43.]
Reins.—Saddlers generally suit the reins admirably to the work for which they are intended. A buff hand-piece with pullers is decidedly preferable to plain leather, as its roughness enables the driver to have a much firmer hold of the reins, but will become slippery in wet.
The Bearing-Rein is only used to keep up a horse’s head and give him a showy appearance, therefore no experienced person will use it except with that object, and it is injurious in every other respect.—([See “Broken Knees,” pages 52] and [141].)
Crupper.—This strap is intended to keep the terret-pad and back-band in their proper places, and to restrain the former from running too far forward or pressing on the withers ([see “Sore Withers,” page 151]); also as a sustainer to the terret-pad against the bearing-rein when the latter is strained into its hook. Grooms have a very improper habit of leaving the whole of the hinder part of the harness suspended in one mass by the crupper-dock on a peg in the wall of the harness-room; this should not be allowed. Let the terret-pad when not in use be always placed across a proper saddle-rack, with the britching and crupper suspended therefrom; or let them, at all events, be put somewhere by themselves.
To put on Harness.—First, while the horse’s head is towards the manger, place the terret-pad loosely across the back—take hold of the tail, and carefully turn down the hair over the end of the flesh; thus grasping and holding the tail and its hair together in the left hand, with the right draw the crupper-dock over it, and adjust the latter to its place at the root of the tail, being careful not to leave a single loose hair under it. Then arrange your terret-pad in the place where it should work by shortening or lengthening the crupper-strap; which done, tighten the belly-band.[24]
Now turn the horse in his stall, and, your collar and hames having been hung up close at hand, slip the wide end of the former by itself over the head.
Leave the collar so, on the narrow part of the neck, till you place your hames within the collar-rim, and fasten them thereto by buckling the top strap over the narrow part or top of the collar: now turn the collar and hames round on the neck in the direction of the side over which the mane hangs.
Put on the bridle and attach driving-reins, temporarily doubling their hand-piece through the terrets. Fasten the horse thus harnessed to the pillar-reins till you are ready to “put to.”