. Riding and driving. re isbut one rein attached to a snaffle-bit, and thehorse was evidently guided by the pressure ofthe rein and the whip; though it is to be re-membered that the complicated turnings ofmodern traffic and modern roads were unknown,and to keep straight, and to start and stop, werethe main thing. To begin at the beginning in a discussion of mod-ern harness (Plate XXII.), it is proper to empha-size the fact the very best leather is none toogood, whether in your traces or in your best leather is made of the hides of heifersor steers and tanned with oak bark. The
. Riding and driving. re isbut one rein attached to a snaffle-bit, and thehorse was evidently guided by the pressure ofthe rein and the whip; though it is to be re-membered that the complicated turnings ofmodern traffic and modern roads were unknown,and to keep straight, and to start and stop, werethe main thing. To begin at the beginning in a discussion of mod-ern harness (Plate XXII.), it is proper to empha-size the fact the very best leather is none toogood, whether in your traces or in your best leather is made of the hides of heifersor steers and tanned with oak bark. The totalsupply of oak bark in England is only aboutthree hundred thousand tons a year, which amountis quite insufficient; and most of the Englishleather is tanned by cheaper and quicker meth-ods. The old oak-tanning process took eighteenmonths, and made leather of unequalled the process hardly consumes as manyweeks, and in America, hemlock bark is the mostimportant material used. r u ^p c ji o \j u 11 Q1 f. Harness 263 It is not easy, except by long experience, to tellgood leather at a glance. One authority saysthat good leather should be solid, but nothard ; mellow, but not soft. The black leatherin a harness should have a smooth surface, closetexture, and when bent between the hands shouldnot show minute cracks. The collar is the keystone of the pulling partof the harness. It should fit to a nicety, everyhorse having his own collar as much as the coach-man should have his own boots. The collarshould be lined with some non-porous material,preferably soft leather — even thin patent leatheris good and easily cleaned. If the collar is toowide, it will rub the shoulders; if too short, it willchoke the horse ; if rounded at the top, it will presson and gall the withers. Usually the collar thatwill go over a horses head will fit as to width, andis long enough when four fingers, held vertically,will go between the collar and neck, when thehead is held in its usual posit
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