A manual of saddles and collars, sore backs and sore shoulders / by F. Smith.

  • Smith, F. (Frederick), Sir, 1857-1929.
Date:
1897
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A manual of saddles and collars, sore backs and sore shoulders / by F. Smith. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    performing hard work. We have not known it fail, and by adopting these measures have kept horses at duty which would otherwise have had to be thrown out of work. We may speak of it as the “false collar” process. The alterations which we have next to speak about are permanent ones, such as arise in the fitting of collars for the first time. The body of a collar is filled with straw—prefer- Plugging ably rye. This is introduced into the leather recep- collars- tacle by means of a piece of iron known as a collar fork or collar-iron; piece by piece the straw is wetted and forced into the body of the collar, until the required amount has been inserted. This process is termed “plugging,” and we have nothing more to say about it than that it is to be reserved for collars on first being fitted, and subsequently in course of months, should the body of the collar wear thin. It is a permanent process and should never be adopted when horses are in hard work and losing condition, as it entails too great a call on the saddler’s time, is not so satisfactory as the numnah strip, and the whole of the extra stuffing has to be removed when the horse regains flesh. In fitting a new collar the place should always be marked where the extra stuffing is to be placed, and before the collar is finished off it should be again tried on the horse to see that it is perfectly satisfactory. We must bear in mind that a collar can only hold a certain amount of straw, and that where considerable additions have to be made to the stuffing, the collar must be re-lined to admit of it. In shortening a collar a certain amount on either side of the upper part where it opens is cut off. Collars should never be shortened for horses out of condition; it is not only a waste of labour, but waste of material. Collars can only be re-lengthened after shortening at the cost of much time and trouble. The greatest wear and tear on a collar is in the where the throat, which not uncommonly breaks, and the col- ®t^orj]^“es lar when opened and tested will twist in almost any direction. Saddlers look upon this breaking at the throat as a very serious matter, but if the leather work is sound the part can be repaired. A collar (6442) e 2