A horse harness is a device that connects a horse to a horse-drawn vehicle or another type of load to pull. There are two main designs of horse harness: (1) the breast collar or breaststrap, and (2) the full collar or collar-and-hames.
For pulling heavy loads, a full collar is required because it distributes pressure over a larger area of the horse. An ill-fitting full collar can cause chafing on the horse's skin and can interfere with its breathing, as can a breast collar that is positioned too high. [1] : 38, 42–3, 82, 118, 129
Putting harness on a horse is called harnessing or harnessing up. Attaching the harness to the vehicle or load is called putting to in the British Isles, [1] : 219 or hitching in North America. The order of putting on harness components varies by discipline, but when a horse collar is used, it is usually put on first.
Harness components designed for other animals (such as the yoke used with oxen) are not suitable for horses and will not allow the horse to work efficiently.
Throughout the ancient world, the 'throat-and-girth' harness was used for harnessing horses that pulled carts; this greatly limited a horse's ability to exert itself as it was constantly choked at the neck. [2] A painting on a lacquerware box from the State of Chu, dated to the 4th century BC, shows the first known use of a yoke placed across a horses's chest, with traces connecting to the chariot shaft. [3] The hard yoke across the horse's chest was gradually replaced by a breast strap, which was often depicted in carved reliefs and stamped bricks of tombs from the Han Dynasty (202 BC – 220 AD). [4] Eventually, the horse collar was invented in China, at least by the 5th century. [5]
These are parts of a harness. [6]
Show harnesses for light cart driving have a breast collar instead of a horse collar and are made with strong but refined-looking leather throughout, usually black and highly polished. In draft horse showing and combined driving, horse collars are seen, but harness leather is still highly polished and well-finished.
Lighter weight but strong harness similar to show harness, used for pulling passenger vehicles such as buggies or carts, or other lighter loads. The traces attach either to the shafts of the vehicle or to the vehicle itself, and the harness may have either a horse collar or a breast collar.
The racing harness, like the show harness, is a breast collar harness. Horses are hitched to a very lightweight two-wheeled cart, called a sulky. Most race harnesses incorporate a standing martingale and an overcheck. Horses may be raced in a "blind" bridle, which restricts the horse from seeing beside and behind him to various degrees by use of blinkers (horse tack), or may be raced with an "open" bridle, one that does not have blinkers. Specialized equipment, called "hobbles" or "hopples" are added to the harness of race horses who pace (and sometimes to the harness of those who trot) in order to help them maintain their gait. [7]
Harness for pulling heavier vehicles always has a horse collar. The traces are often made of chain and attach to loops on the shafts of the vehicle. A chain attached to the shafts may be passed over the saddle to carry their weight. [8] Reins are of rope or leather, depending on region of the world.
Similar to wagon harness but without breeching, used for dragged loads such as plows, harrows, canal boats or logs. This style is also used on the leaders in a team of animals pulling a vehicle. The traces attach to a whippletree behind the horse and this then pulls the load (or in larger teams may attach to further whippletrees).
There are two main plow harness types: the New England D-Ring and the Western harness. The New England D-Ring makes use of a metal D-shaped ring that allows for a ninety degree angle to be maintained at the junction of the front trace and the hames regardless of the height of the implement being pulled. The Western harness does not provide this flexibility but has other useful characteristics such as a strap that runs from the breeching to the collar which stops the pull from riding up and hitting the horses in the face when descending a steep incline.
Tack is equipment or accessories equipped on horses and other equines in the course of their use as domesticated animals. This equipment includes such items as saddles, stirrups, bridles, halters, reins, bits, and harnesses. Equipping a horse is often referred to as tacking up, and involves putting the tack equipment on the horse. A room to store such equipment, usually near or in a stable, is a tack room.
A bridle is a piece of equipment used to direct a horse. As defined in the Oxford English Dictionary, the "bridle" includes both the headstall that holds a bit that goes in the mouth of a horse, and the reins that are attached to the bit. It provides additional control and communication through rein pressure.
Longeing or lungeing is a technique for training and exercising horses. It is also a critical component of the sport of equestrian vaulting.
A surcingle is a strap made of leather or leather-like synthetic materials such as nylon or neoprene, sometimes with elastic, that fastens around the horse's girth.
A noseband is the part of a horse's bridle that encircles the nose and jaw of the horse. In English riding, where the noseband is separately attached to its own headstall or crownpiece, held independently of the bit, it is often called a cavesson or caveson noseband. In other styles of riding, a simple noseband is sometimes attached directly to the same headstall as the bit.
A crupper is a piece of tack used on horses and other equids to keep a saddle, harness or other equipment from sliding forward.
A martingale is any of several designs of tack that are used on horses to control head carriage. Martingales may be seen in a wide variety of equestrian disciplines, both riding and driving. Rules for their use vary widely; in some disciplines they are never used, others allow them for schooling but not in judged performance, and some organizations allow certain designs in competition.
A horse collar is a part of a horse harness that is used to distribute the load around a horse's neck and shoulders when pulling a wagon or plough. The collar often supports and pads a pair of curved metal or wooden pieces, called hames, to which the traces of the harness are attached. The collar allows the horse to use its full strength when pulling, essentially enabling the animal to push forward with its hindquarters into the collar. If wearing a yoke or a breastcollar, the horse had to pull with its less-powerful shoulders. The collar had another advantage over the yoke as it reduced pressure on the horse's windpipe.
Reins are items of horse tack, used to direct a horse or other animal used for riding. They are long straps that can be made of leather, nylon, metal, or other materials, and attach to a bridle via either its bit or its noseband.
A girth, sometimes called a cinch, is a piece of equipment used to keep the saddle in place on a horse or other animal. It passes under the barrel of the equine, attached to the saddle on both sides by two or three leather straps called billets. Girths are used on Australian and English saddles, while western saddles and many pack saddles have a cinch, which is fastened to the saddle by a single wide leather strap on each side, called a latigo.
An animal collar is a device that attaches to the neck of an animal to allow it to be harnessed or restrained.
A bearing rein, also known as an overcheck or a checkrein, is a piece of horse harness that runs from a point on the horse's back, over the head, to a bit. It is used to prevent the horse from lowering its head beyond a fixed point. A variation called a side check passes beside the ears through loops at the top of the bridle cheekpieces.
A breastplate is a piece of tack (equipment) used on horses. Its purpose is to keep a saddle from sliding back. It is also a safety feature—if the saddle's girth or billets break, a rider may have enough time to stop the horse and dismount before the saddle slips off the animal's back. The breastplate is used on both English and Western saddles. Western riding involving working cattle use a thicker sturdier style than in English riding or Western riding horse shows. A breastplate is most helpful for horses with large shoulders and a flat ribcage. A breast collar as part of a harness is used to pull a load.
Driving, when applied to horses, ponies, mules, or donkeys, is a broad term for hitching equines to a wagon, carriage, cart, sleigh, or other horse-drawn vehicle by means of a harness and working them in this way. It encompasses a wide range of activities from pleasure driving, to harness racing, to farm work, horse shows, and even international combined driving.
A bitting rig or bitting harness is a training tool for horses that can teach a horse to accept a bridle and bit, and later assist a horse in developing the necessary musculature for a given equestrianism discipline. Generally used in conjunction with training on a longe line, it is most often seen in the training of Saddle seat horses, but also is used by some dressage trainers and as a tool to start horses in driving.
A terret or rein ring is a metal loop on a horse harness through which the lines (reins) pass to prevent them from tangling or getting snagged on the harness or shafts.
Breeching ( "britching") is a strap around the haunches of a draft, pack or riding animal. Both under saddle and in harness, breeching engages when an animal slows down or travels downhill and is used to brake or stabilize a load.
This is a basic glossary of equestrian terms that includes both technical terminology and jargon developed over the centuries for horses and other equidae, as well as various horse-related concepts. Where noted, some terms are used only in American English (US), only in British English (UK), or are regional to a particular part of the world, such as Australia (AU).
A harness saddle is an element of horse harness which supports the weight of shafts or poles attaching a vehicle to a horse. Like other types of saddle, it lies on the horse's back directly behind the withers, often has an internal supportive framework , and usually is secured on either side by a girth passing beneath the horse. Unlike riding saddles, it is an integral part of the harness and is not used as stand-alone equipment.
Kura (鞍), is the generic name for the Japanese saddle. The word "kura" is most commonly associated with the saddle used by the samurai class of feudal Japan. Over time the Japanese added elements of their own until the Japanese saddle became an identifiable style, also known as the samurai saddle.