In the city, the ability to harness a horse will come in handy for a few. Except that people who organize horseback riding as leisure time should have these skills. But people in rural areas still often use these animals to run their own farms, because horses are often cheaper than tractors or cars that constantly need to be refueled.
Here, without the ability to properly saddle a horse or harness a horse in a cart (in summer) or in a sled (in winter), it is impossible to do without it. Without experience and knowledge, harnessing an animal can be difficult. In order to remember all the details of this process, it is necessary to do it not once or twice, but many times. However, you always have to do something for the first time. This article is devoted to the correct sequence of this process.
The main elements of harnessing:
- of the bridle. It is the main part of the harness. Its purpose is to control the horse as it moves. It consists of the following elements: an eyelet, their rings, an occipital strap, two cheek straps, one chin strap, and one forehead strap;
- Clamp. The main purpose is to transfer the tractive force from the horse to the wagon. Consists of: pliers, geese, the clamp itself, tires, linings of felt, throat, and rings. To avoid squeezing the animal's neck, the clamp should be free;
- saddle. A special device, with the help of which they fix and support the harness. With its help the horse pulls the cart by 15 percent better;
- Girlfriend. The device for fastening of a saddle to a horse;
- helmet. One of the most important elements of the harness. With its help, the clamp is held. It also prevents it from crawling if the horse accelerates sharply or, conversely, brakes. It consists of a set of belts that regulate the position of the horse in the harness and keep it in the harness;
- A skullcap. It is a belt that passes through the saddle and is attached to the deafening of the cart. It is the bolt that holds the clamp, arcs and deaf ears on the horse's back. Cheressedelnik is also involved in the transfer of tractive force from animal to cart;
- underbelly. It is fixed under the girth and fixed on the globe. Looks like another strap;
- The reins. The purpose is to control the harnessed horse;
- The arc. Last in the list, but not the last in importance harnessing element. Used to connect the clamp and the deaf ears. It is fixed with the help of geese and is a shock absorber that softens the blows and jerks of the cart, thus facilitating the work of the animal.
- So, what the harness consists of is understood. It is time to move directly to harnessing the horse to the wagon. We will tell you about the stages of this process on the example of the unicorn Russian sled.
- We harness the horses. Stages of the process
- The correct harness for a horse is to perform the following actions in sequence:
- Inspect and clean the horse. Then visually inspect and check with your hands all the harness elements for integrity. Make sure there are no abrasions, tears or other weaknesses on any of the elements. Compare the gooses according to their length. If they are different, align them, otherwise, the shaving will be skewed, and normal movement will not work;
- After a preliminary inspection, bring all the elements of the harness to the site of the harness;
- The underbelly and the chest of drawers are connected by one ring. Take them and pass the straps through the ring to create a loop. Thread the loop over the deaf ears;
- Then put a clamp, a saddle and a bridle on the horse itself. Place the herring so that it is on the bottom of the animal's shoulder. You will need to look for its optimal location because it is too low on the back and too high on the back. The clamp should be put on only upwards with pliers, and only then it should be lowered on a neck and turned to working position. It is necessary to put a clamp so that it conveniently covered a neck of an animal;
- Put the helmet on the horse's shoulder and start straightening it. The straps should be connected to the buckles. Tighten the straps so that a human palm runs between them and the sciatic hill;
- We turn the horse into deaf ears. This can be done in several ways: either the horse steps over the pole, or it is turned back on, or the deafness itself is rolled on a horse standing still. The latter method is usually used when harnessing a young or frightened animal;
- Take an arch and stand in front of the horse's face, looking at it. We lean the arc against the horse's right leg and twist the goose with our left hand until it becomes the desired length;
- We leave the buzz on the edge of the deaf ears. Take the arc and insert its left edge into the animal loop, and the right one - throw over the pole of deaf ears, which should be in the neckline. The arc itself should be on the horse's neck;
- Approach the second deafening and turn the arc to it so that it gets into the notch.