Harness : as it has been, as it is, and as it should be

Front matter

■H: A :M mmcji ti CAR1

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I

Preface

Although it may be a truism to assert that the comfort of the horse should be the first consideration with us, it is very necessary for the writer to insist on the fact that, up to the present time, such a truism has not had sufficient practical acceptation. It is a disgrace to our boasted civilization that Mr. Smiles should ever have been able to write: "There is no slavery in England! But look at the 'bus and cab and cart horses, and you will find that slavery exists for horses. It was said by James Howell, Clerk of the Council, as long ago as 1642, that England is called 'The hell of horses, and not without cause.' Cabs are driven by worn-out animals, and one or more of their feet are full of pain."

Again he writes, "Ask the carriage horse, galled with its detestable bearing-rein, drawing the proud beauty along the Row, its mouth covered with foam and sometimes with blood ; and what would it say? That men and women were alike its merciless tyrants. And yet such ladies go to anti-vivisection meetings to

protest against cruelty to animals Fashion is strong —

stronger I fear than humanity — but still I have hopes. Fashion no longer orders horses to be cropped, docked, and nicked ; therefore these new forms of distortion and cruelty may give way. If a few ladies of fashion would join with men and women of common sense and lovers of humanity, we should soon wipe out this blot upon our civilization."

Mr. Flower, again, has contributed much towards a more humane practice of the use of the bearing-rein, but, alas ! has not yet succeeded in putting down the gag.

Therefore, the writer would beg the reader to bear in mind that

humanity, before everything in the use of harness, is the guiding

principle on which the following little treatise has been written ;

whilst he has endeavoured to keep to the practical and the useful

where certain details do not absolutely interfere with the horses'

comfort.

In these days of education and technical colleges apprentices

and others should be instructed in the uses of different parts of harness, the structure of the horse, &c. ; and should these remarks tend, in however slight a degree, to an improved method of harnessing and greater comfort to the noblest friend of man, the writer will be amply repaid. Steps in the right direction are certainly being taken in different parts of the country in the establishment of annual processions of horses, in which valuable prizes are awarded to the drivers for careful grooming and harnessing, and the writer can speak with certainty as to the result of the May-day horse procession held in Newcastle. It would be difficult to imagine a more enjoyable sight than that presented on the first of May, 1882, when several thousand horses in splendid condition paraded the streets of the City, nor could the fact be ignored that the horses of the North-Eastern Railway Company (numbering about 300) were the pick of the exhibition, and these horses were worked without bearing-reins, winkers, or crupper docks. In presenting the prizes the Baroness Burdett Coutts gave expression to the sincere pleasure she had derived from the sight.

I have selected, as a frontispiece, "Ulysses ploughing the sea-shore" as beautifully representing the moral which I wish to pervade this essay, viz., that by kindness and good training a dumb animal can be brought under wonderful control, that simplicity in harness is desirable, and that the harness should be specially adapted for its work.

I am indebted to my daughters for many of the illustrations, none of which have any pretension to refined art, but are simply intended to exhibit particular features in my essay.

I take this opportunity to gratefully acknowledge many favours at the hands of several well-known North country gentlemen, and although I cannot enumerate all, it is only my duty to thank Mr. Jacob Wilson, of Chillingham ; Mr. Richard Cail, Ex-Mayor of Newcastle ; Mr. James Allport, of Derby ; Mr. Inman, of the North-Eastern Railway; Mr. Marsters, of the East Coast Lines; and Captain Barthorp, of the London and North-Western Railway; all of whom have honoured me with most useful information, all the more valuable as coming from gentlemen whose exceptionally wide experience enables them to speak with the greatest authority.

For the rare woodcuts, by Thomas and John Bewick, I am

indebted to the kindness of my friend Mr. Robert Robinson,

bookseller.

JOHN PHILIPSON.

Newcastle-upon-Tyne,

October igt/i, 1882.

HARNESS:

AS IT HAS BEEN, AS IT IS, AND AS IT SHOULD BE.

Chapter I

The first consideration in approaching this subject must necessarily be the horse, in which the power and intelligence of the brute creation appears to have its highest development.

In the domestic state the horse is generous, docile, spirited, and yet obedient; adapted to the various purposes of pleasure and convenience, equally serviceable for draught, the field, or the course.

In 1792 my townsman, Thomas Bewick, the famous naturalist and reviver of wood engraving, said —

The various excellencies of this noble animal, the grandeur of his stature, the elegance and proportion of his parts, the beautiful smoothness of his skin, the variety and gracefulness of his motions, and, above all, his utility, entitle him to a precedence in the history of the brute creation.

Sidney Smith's horses came running to him when he entered the field, and his favourite young donkey, when he saw him or any member of his family, would set off with ears down and tail erect in full bray to meet them. Sir Walter Scott narrates that on visiting his daughter, Mrs. Lockhart, the two donkeys would run upon the approach of the laird and be stroked by Sir Walter.

The horses employed by our railway companies and contractors, and the Manchester trolly horses, evince an amount of intelligence and plodding determination truly wonderful and unequalled by any other animal, and we have only to watch their labours to be profoundly impressed by the facility with which they shunt railway carriages, draw loaded trucks and waggons, which, though running easily when once started, require immense power to set them in motion, and the judgment they display, in stepping aside from between the rails to be out of danger while their chains are being detached, is remarkable. The following is an extract from Smiles' Life of George and Robert Stephenson : —

The three Stephenson locomotive engines were from the first regularly employed to work the coal trains.- . . . For some years, however, the principal haulage of the line was performed by horses. The inclination of the gradient being towards the sea, this was perhaps the cheapest mode of traction so long as the traffic was not very large. The horse drew the train along the level road until on reaching a descending gradient, down which the train ran by its own gravity, the animal was unharnessed, when wheeling round to the other end of the waggons, to which a "dandy cart" was attached, its bottom being only a few inches from the rail, and bringing its step into unison with the speed of the train, he lept nimbly into his place in the hind car, which was suitably fitted with a well-filled hay rack.

As an example of the marvellous power of memory with which they are endowed, I may repeat, in his own words, an incident related to me by the veteran Master of the North Durham Foxhounds, H. L. Maynard, Esq. : —

Some years ago I purchased a brown mare by "MacOrville," very highly bred and good looking, that had a fearfully bad character from being wicked and unmanageable, but I liked the look of the mare so much that I was determined to have her. She had thrown her riders and was to all intents spoilt when she came into my stable. I got her used to my voice and kind words, and, by degrees, walked her out, always kindly treating her, and after a time mounted her. She gradually became quiet, and before the hunting season was over my wife rode her, using a snaffle bridle. I kept her four seasons, and she proved to be one of the best hunters in Yorkshire. I sold her to the late John Duncombe Shafto for a long price. The mare had been in his possession two years before I saw her again, when my wife and myself met the Duke's hounds near Raby. About fifty yards from where we were standing Mr. Shafto appeared on the mare,, when all at once, Mr. Shafto said, the mare threw up her head, took the bit in her mouth, and rushed up to my wife. She had heard her voice, and she rubbed her nose in the most affectionate way against her habit, and for the whole of the day Mr. Shafto could not keep the mare away from us.

Another incident, in which Mr. Maynard acted a similar part, will bear repetition: —

Some years ago Lord de Lisle had a very fine grey mare which had quite got the better of his man and had become very wicked. He wished me to buy her, for, he said, my man is so much afraid of the mare he dare not go up to feed her. I went over to his place and bought the mare for ^50, and she came to my stable the most frightened animal I ever saw. By good and gentle treatment I soon had her perfectly quiet and rode her in a snaffle, and, after hunting her four seasons, I sold her to Lord Henry Bentinck for 300 guineas, and she gave perfect satisfaction.

As an instance of what a horse may be made to do by a resolute rider, I may mention that in July, 1839, during the Chartist riots in Newcastle-on-Tyne — Mr. John Fife was mayor of Newcastle at the time, and he was afterwards knighted for the judicious manner in which he quelled the riots — a Dragoon being determined to clear the Royal Arcade of the mob, passed through on horseback and rushed down the long flight of steps* which leads from it into the Manors.

Although it is necessary that I should refer to the structure of the horse, I shall not trouble the reader with a description of that animal's anatomy, but shall limit myself to a few words on those parts more especially connected with draught and harness. Although it may be considered an unnecessary precaution by some, I have given the names commonly applied to various parts of the horse on Fig. 1, Plate I., to assist the uninitiated in identifying such parts when reference is made to them. Fig. 1 represents a once famous draught horse, and is taken from a plate presented to the members of the Northumberland Agricultural Society by my relative, Joseph Snowball, Esq., of Seaton Burn House, Northumberland, as a model of a well-shaped draught horse. The eye has been shown by Mayhew to display special provisions and to closely resemble that of the camel, proving, if any proof were necessary, that he had his origin in tropical regions, and though the horse may not possess the power of seeing in the dark with the same facility as the cat, it is certain that his powers of vision in the gloom are much superior to those of

* There are 36 steps, and they are very steep. — J. P.

man. Besides, the horse possesses the power of telescopic vision, a faculty which must be accepted as supporting this argument, for, as Mayhew says, this power could seldom be needed in these northern climes, but would be a needed protection on the far stretching level of the desert. By a protection of seven muscles the horse is enabled to turn his eye in any direction and to draw it out of reach of danger at will, and if by chance any foreign substance gets into the eye, these muscles are stimulated to sudden activity, and by the assistance of the eyelid, and a gush of liquid from the glands, the intruding matter is carried clear of the eye and lodged on the insensitive body developed at the corner.

Draught, or the power of drawing loads from one place to another, appears to be the purpose for which the horse is naturally adapted, owing to the centre of gravity being placed well forward, which enables the horse to utilize his own weight to assist in drawing the load.

In considering the question of a force acting on a particle there are three things to be borne in mind : — (i) the point of application (the point of attachment of the trace to the hame) ; (2) the direction ; and (3) the magnitude of the force. In our case the last of these three things is the power of the horse, and the magnitude of this power we know.* The shoulder is the point at which the greatest power is obtained without impeding the action of any of its limbs (see Fig. 2, Plate I.), and Major Francis Dwyer, in his " Bits and Bridles, Draught and Harness," tells us that

The trace should be attached as nearly as possible opposite to the immovable part of the shoulder-blade — that is, to the centre of the shoulder-blade, which is about an inch higher than the hame-hooks of the majority of wholesale made collars.

The means of applying the power at this point by neck collars, or by breast straps, will be considered in a future chapter. The next thing is the direction of the force, or in other words the inclination of the trace. If such a thing as friction did not exist it is easily seen that the trace ought to be parallel to the road, for then

* Tractive power of horse 166 lbs. at rate of 2 miles per hour. Ditto do. 41 lbs. do. 5 do.

SLATE I.

THE HORSE'S ANATOMY the whole force of the horse would be used to draw the load along the road ; but friction does exist, as we know too well, and must be overcome. It is caused by irregularities of the surface, and, in order to overcome it, the load must be lifted over these obstructions, i.e., we must use part of the horse-power to draw the load along the road, and part to raise it over the obstructions. This is done by inclining the trace (see Fig. 3, Plate I.) Let A be the point of draught and A B the direction of the trace, then from B, any point in A B, draw dotted line B C perpendicular to the road, and dotted line A C parallel to the road, then we have a triangle ABC. So that if A B represents the force of the horse in magnitude and direction, then C A and B C represent the resolved parts along and perpendicular to the road. And it will be seen that, by increasing or decreasing the angle of inclination of A B, the perpendicular force B C is increased or diminished. Therefore, for a smooth road, a very slight inclination is all that is necessary, but for a rough road, a much greater inclination is required.

There is a muscular connection between the shoulder and head which, by this means, may be raised or bent towards the chest. " Mayhew's Horse Management" contains some very able remarks on the shoulder which I am induced to quote. They are as follows: —

In the metropolis of the world it is indeed a rare sight to behold a carriage drawn by a pair of really good animals. The quadrupeds in general use for such purposes are mostly faulty about the shoulders. The fore-hand is placed upon the trunk in too upright a position. The job-master is conscious of this defect. He always endeavours to convince his patrons that such a make is advantageous where a creature is designed for harness. Possibly the tradesman might succeed in persuading his customers into a false belief, were not prejudice opposed to his suggestions. Ladies admire high action in the steeds attached to their vehicles; this is the kind of step which most of the horses just described are incapable of long exhibiting.

Art, or cruelty, however, can partially amend the faulty motion of the limbs. Force the head into an unnatural attitude by the unscrupulous employment of the bit or of the bearing rein; retain the neck erect without regard to the cramp induced, or heed of the strain cast upon the muscles and the torture, although the life be shortened, and the safety of the owner endangered, nevertheless, may occasion the feet to be raised during progression. This fact is illustrated in the previous engraving (Fig. 4, Plate I.) The natural mode is indicated by the letters AA, the possible change of form is to be seen in the parts distinguished as BB, although the action there depicted certainly displays a most unusual degree of amendment, to induce which must shorten the existence.

Any such improvement is always procured at a vast personal risk; for the head being raised partially throws the eyes out of use. It also impedes the circulation, ruins the mouth, distorts the body, and deranges the breathing. All these evils are inflicted to obtain the kind of pace which is never natural, but which closely resembles the sort of step that is characteristic of blindness in the horse.

The shoulder blade is much more fully developed in some horses than in others, and, therefore, necessitates a suitable collar; i.e., a collar shorter at the draught than would otherwise be advisable.

If gentlemen, or their grooms, would only see that the neck collars of their horses fitted them truly, there would be little risk of sore shoulders, and probably very little need for false collars. To be perfect, a neck collar must have a prominence wherever we find a depression in the shoulder, and a depression wherever there is a prominence. By these means, and these only, can sore shoulders be avoided, and comfort secured to the horses. There are also one or two further points about the collar to which I will refer hereafter.

The same rule holds good with regard to saddles, and buyers should ascertain that they are made on suitable trees for their horses backs, otherwise sore backs, and, consequently, more suffering is the result.

On the mouth of a horse may be said to depend its value for riding and driving purposes. This important but sadly abused organ is, in the animal's tender years, of an excessively sensitive character, and the preservation of this sensibility, so far as nature will admit, should be the object of the breakers' and trainers' most especial care. If this were the case we should hear very little of 4 ' hard pullers" and "borers," and their coessential evils. There would be little need of those torturing bits, some of which are most cruelly devised to act on the upper jaw, some on the lower jaw, and others on that very tender part of the mouth, the root of the tongue. That there should be any necessity for such bits must be regretted by every humane and right thinking man, and the time when breakers and trainers are brought to realise the evil effects of harsh and severe handling will be welcomed by all lovers of man's noblest servant.

There are several old works by Philip Astley, riding master, late of H.M. Royal Light Dragoons, the dates and editions of which vary from 1775 to 1804. In that of 1775 there is very much less detail about bits than we might have expected. He commends the snaffle for hunting, and that is pretty much all he says. Certainly his dictum that "mad men and mad horses never will agree together," is not only a quaint way of putting it, but very true. The fifth edition of his "System of Equestrian Education," (circa, 1801), is much more elaborate, but still leaves much to be said. In Chapter V. he insists very much on the curb being loose and easy, and when you attempt to ride a horse in a new bit, he says you should put it in his mouth three or four mornings previous to mounting him. In the 1804 edition, Astley refers a good deal more to harness, saying : —

I would particularly advise that the horse be not oppressed with the pinching of the bit, the tightness of the harness, nor the too great weight of the carriage. . . . If you have two horses to your carriage, be sure to choose them of equal strength and spirit, otherwise the more vigorous one will be liable to be spoiled from his having the greater share of the labour in drawing, arising from his superiority of spirit.

Astley was evidently quite before us in the use, now so common, of snaffles for driving, for he says in this work, p. 25: —

My method is to ride with a snaffle and running-rein bridle; indeed I use it for my chaise and coach horses, having some aversion to the long wrench bit ; but (he adds) the use of this kind of bridle I consider as similar to poison in the hands of an ignorant physician, for without a proper knowledge of its tendencies, nothing but destruction will ensue !

It was about this date that Van Amburgh, who made the training and harnessing of horses a study, created so much surprise and admiration by driving eight cream coloured horses through London and the provinces.

CHAPTER II. Ancient and Modern Methods of Harnessing

I have selected a few illustrations calculated to convey an idea of the manner in which the ancients harnessed their horses. An air of simplicity pervades all harness or trappings thus represented, whether Egyptian, Assyrian, Greek, or Roman, and we would do well to practice this simplicity a little more widely than we do, and thus show some consideration for the natural feelings of the animals that serve us.

In Rawlinson's Ancient Monarchies we learn that the Assyrians drove their horses by two reins, one attached to either end of the bit in the ordinary manner, and each passed through a ring or loop in the harness, whereby the rein was kept down and a stronger purchase secured to the driver. I append a paragraph on ancient bits, taken from the same book : —

The shape of the bit within the mouth, if we may judge by the single instance of an actual bit which remains to us, bore a near resemblance to the modern snaffle (see Plate II., Fig. i). Externally the bit was large and, in most cases, clumsy — a sort of cross-bar extending across the whole side of the horse's face, commonly resembling a double axe head or a hammer. Occasionally the shape was varied, the hatchet or hammer being replaced by forms similar to those annexed (see Plate II., Figs. 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7*). The rein seems in the early times to have been attached about midway in the cross-bar, while afterwards it became usual to attach it near the lower end. This latter arrangement was probably found to increase the power of the driver.

The method of riding adopted by the Romans was with a single rein and snaffle bit as shown in Fig. 2., Plate II. With

* The action of these bits must have been similar to that of our Liverpool bit. Fig. I is evidently the forerunner of the snaffle. — J. P.

PLA TE /// respect to saddles the reader is referred to Fig. 8, showing the Ephippium, and here it should be observed that the term Ephippium did not, as is sometimes supposed, denote a mere horse-cloth, a skin or a flexible cover of any kind, but a saddle tree or frame of wood which, after being filled with stuffing, was covered with softer material and fastened by means of a girth. It will also be observed from this sketch that stirrups were not used, but that the horses were taught to kneel at the word of command to take up their riders. This is additional evidence to prove how well it is possible to train a horse. Although Fig. 8 was taken from the walls of a house at Herculaneum, and shows that the system was practiced there, it is worthy of remark that the same custom was common in Spain, nor is such training so rare at the present time as some people imagine. This is attested by the following extract from the Sporting and Dramatic News, dated July 22nd, 1882, and illustrated by Plate III. :—

Our illustration is from a photograph kindly sent us by an officer of the 10th Royal Hussars. The regiment has eighteen horses thoroughly trained to lie down under fire as shown. As the duty of the scout is to find the enemy, and as he often comes to grief through being suddenly exposed to fire, the advantage of having a horse obedient as a machine, trained to stand or to lie perfectly still at the will of his master, is obvious. There is, of course, also the further advantage of facilitating concealment when needed. The system which has been introduced by the 10th Royal Hussars appears worthy of imitation.

When driven with two horses the Grecian chariot was called a Biga, when with three a Triga, and with four abreast a Quadriga. With a Quadriga it was the custom to place the two strongest horses under the yoke and to fasten the others on each side by means of ropes. This may be gathered from Fig. 1, Plate IV., representing the chariot of Aurora, as painted on a vase found at Canosa. The reins of the two middle horses passed through rings at the extremities of the yoke. The details are more distinctly shown in Fig. 2, Plate IV., taken from a terra cotta found at Vienne, in France. It represents a chariot overthrown in passing the goal of the circus, the charioteer having fallen backward. The pole and yoke are thrown upward in the air, the trace horses have fallen on their knees, and the yoke horses are prancing on their hind legs. This interesting example proves that the Grecians made their chariots so that the charioteer might regulate the weight on the withers by merely shifting his position.

The yoke by which ploughs and carriages were drawn was in many cases a straight wooden plank or pole laid upon the horses' necks, but it was commonly bent to each extremity so as to be accommodated to that part of the animal which it touched. Fig. 3, Plate IV., shows two examples of the yoke preserved in the Vatican Library. The upper drawing shows the excavations cut in the yoke with the bands of leather, the lower sketch shows the method of tying. The yoke was tied to the pole by means of a leather strap, lashed from the two opposite sides, over the juncture of the pole and the yoke.

Fig. 4, Plate IV., represents a triumphal chariot with shoulder straps attached to the pole, clearly showing the method of harnessing.

Fig. 1, Plate V., is taken from an antique Greek vase and represents a scene at the Grecian hippodrome, which is thus described : —

The goal is a mere stone post with a fillet wound round it ; the form of the chariots are well shown, and the attitudes of the drivers. Each has four horses as in the earliest Olympic chariot race, and the vividness of the representation is increased by the introduction of the incident of a horse having got loose from the first chariot, the driver of which strives to retain his place with the others.

Figs. 2 and 4, Plate V., show chariots of the Roman era. Fig. 3, on the same sheet, represents a mounted Roman soldier. The rein and bridle of his horse are distinctly shown, and are worthy attention.

In his admirable book, " The World on Wheels," Mr. Stratton, of New York, says : —

It would appear that the harness for curricles and that for war chariots were nearly alike, and the pole in either case was supported by a curved yoke, the end being attached to the yoke by a strong pin, bound with straps or thongs of leather

PLATE JV

PL A TE V to render it still more secure. The yoke, resting on a small, nicely padded saddle, was firmly fitted into a groove of metal and the saddle placed upon the horse's withers, furnished with girths and a breast band, and surmounted by an ornamental knob, in front of which a small hook secured it to the bearing rein. The driving reins passed through a thong or ring at the side of the saddle, and thence over the projecting extremity of the yoke, the same thong securing the girths, even appearing in some cases to have been attached to them. In war chariots a large ball, placed on the pole, projected above the saddle, which was intended either to give a greater power to the driver by enabling him to draw the reins over a groove in its centre, or was added solely for an ornamental purpose, like the fancy head-dresses of the horses, and fixed to the yoke immediately above the centre of the saddle, or rather to the head of a pin which connected the yoke to the pole.

''The World on Wheels," which was published in 1878, is by far the most perfect history of carriages yet published, and I can honestly recommend it to all who take the smallest interest in matters appertaining thereto.