Saddles and Harness

The same principles of expansion through force fuel the demand for football in America as it did during the pilgrim’s Westward expansion.  In fact, perhaps the reason football is so popular in America while it is trumped by sports such as soccer and baseball in other countries is its strong ties to American ideals.  During your standard football game, one team attempts to ‘take’ the other team’s land by pushing through their defenses.  This bears a remarkable similarity to the American settler’s desire to acquire all the land by pushing through the Native American peoples. 

In addition, there are some other similarities in the game, such as collar on an NFL player’s shoulder pads being called a horse collar.  Horses had a significant contribution to the westward expansion, as most all settlers rode on horses or in carriages pulled by horses and oxen. 

Collars are something usually associated with dogs or cats, but a horse collar is an important part of a horse harness.  The most well-known type of horse collar for draft horses is called a breastcollar, but some research maintains that other types of horse collars provide more comfort to draft horses than the breastcollar type because they may allow less pressure to reach the airway during the performance of heavy work.

 A horse collar is not circular and not overly flexible.  The shape of any horse collar is meant to protect the breathing passages, enabling the horse to use its full strength to pull the load.

The collar is the most important part of the working horse harness. The collar transfers all of the weight of the carriage to the horse. A common high quality collar is the Brodhead

field collar. Made of leather by the Amish in Iowa these collars are the standard of the industry. They will last for years and if fitted properly they will keep your driving horse healthy and happy.

The easiest way to measure for a collar is to take a soft tape and measure according to the diagram above. Measure 2 or 3 times until you are satisfied that the measurement is correct.

Measuring your horse for a collar does not have to be a nerve-racking chore.