Harness in Transylvania

Deborah has asked me to explain the harness that we use here, observing correctly that it differs from the collar harness most often seen on draught horses in the West. This is a good question. Basically, we are using Hungarian-style harness which is the predominent type across the eastern part of the former Austro-Hungarian empire. Rather than employing an English collar (probably simply called a Collar in the US), this harness generally uses a double thickness leather strap that fits around the horse's breast.

The main advantage of the breastcollar is that it fits almost any horse, provided that it is approximately the right size. Adjustment is accomplished by buckles on the harness. In contrast, an English collar is fitted to a specific horse by a skilled saddler, first by selecting the right size and shape of collar, then by adjusting the stuffing inside the collar. Fitting a collar is rather like fitting a saddle, and a badly fitting collar will cause rubs and sores just like a badly fitting saddle.

When the line of draught is parallel to the ground, as when pulling a vehicle, there is little to choose between breastcollar and English collar harness. When the line of draught angles down to the ground, as when ploughing, an English collar is somewhat more efficient in terms of harnessing the horse's power. However, since most of the work out here involves pulling horse carts, this theoretical disadvantage isn't a practical problem. Incidentally, chain traces are almost universal. I have only seen leather or canvas traces used on competition vehicles in the tiny driving circuit. There are nearly a million draught horses in Romania, compared to a few thousand leisure horses.

Breastcollar harness will cause rubs over the skeleton when used on a bony, underfed horse. Fortunately, in this land of good hay and grazing, this problem only rarely appears. However it might appear were breastcollar harness to be used in poor countries where fodder is difficult to find. Breastcollar harness is also cheaper to make and easier to repair, two important advantages.

Braking a load uses a breeching, as with collar harness. Instead of the collar being attached to the pole via a doubletree when a pair is operated, the side pieces of the harness continue forward in front of the breastcollar and attach to the front of the pole with a chain. Occasionally a ring is attached to the front of the breastcollar, and this is attached by a chain to the pole. This overall arrangement provides quite an effective form of braking, as well as allowing the horses to steer the cart (the inside horse pulling the pole around) and backing. All carts and carriages are fitted with effective brakes, and normal practice is to slow vehicles on downhill grades using the brakes. A cart would be stopped at the top of the hill for the brakes to be applied, then the horses would drag the load onto the downgrade, the idea being that they steer the load on the way down but don't need to contribute more than minimal braking effort.

Pair reins divide part-way between the driver and the horses. It is common practice to adjust the reins so that the outside reins (to the left bit ring of the left-hand horses and the right bit-ring of the right-hand horse) are a little shorter than the inside reins. This is supposed to help with steering (since the horse on the inside of a turn pulls the pole around). When braking, the horses tend naturally to put their hindquarters somewhat in towards the pole, and their heads correspondingly out. I've looked at this behaviour, which isn't necessarily caused by pulling on the reins. The horses behave this way too when the driver is leading from the front of the pole. I suspect that, behaving this way, the horses are putting the whole harness in tension and inclining the chain from the harness to the pole out an an angle so that they can brake and steer at the same time. Shorter outside reins also enable the driver to pull the horses' heads apart, a useful facility if one is driving a pair of stallions. In the driver's-eye photo, the outside reins are taut. We had just left home, Gelu and Doru were trying to race down the road, and they required a little collection so that they didn't change pace from a trot into a canter. Normally, people out here drive with a loose rein, taking up a contact only when required. Voice commands generally are used too.

Operating a single horse is simpler. The typical breastcollar harness joins together at a steel ring on each side of the horse, approximately in the girth area. Each of these rings is attached to the adjacent carriage pole using a short chain or leather strap. The chain traces are hooked to these rings too. The rings, therefore, transmit all traction, braking and steering loads, as well as transfering the weight of the shafts (which generally is minimal) to the harness. Timber poles and shafts are used for all farm vehicles, the logic being that, in the event of an accident such as a cart overturning, they can readily be cut with an axe. In the photo of a single horse, secondary rings can also be seen towards the rear of the harness. These are used to adjust the length of the harness to fit a variety of horses.   

These breastcollar harnesses do not, in general, use a saddle (in the harness vocabulary, not a riding saddle) to distribute the weight of the harness across the horse's back. This is not a problem where the horse is well rounded, as most horses are out here. I have started using felt pads on my more rounded horses, and specially made saddle pads on those with more pronounced withers. These are proving to be quite a successful refinement. So far, the stuffed saddle pads are used on the five new harnesses that I bought earlier this year for use mainly with the new carriages, although it is popular with my staff (being new and looking impressive) and does sometimes get used for local work too. I don't want to discourage my staff from wanting the horses to look good when they go out.

A common variant uses a canvas breastcollar, which is generally lined with felt on the bearing surfaces. This is the harness worn by the pair in the last photo. It is a very simple harness, just a canvas breastcollar plus a leather breeching. The breeching continues through the rings of the breastcollar, and out to the front where it attaches to the pole with a chain. I find this type of harness preferable to a leather breastcollar for hard draught work, since the felt-lined canvas tends to be softer on the horse. It is a more flexible and forgiving material than thicker leather, which can be difficult to keep supple. Although it isn't readily possible to support the weight of the harness using a saddle, with width and relative softness of these canvas collars, together with their light weight, tends to avoid back problems. It is also possible to use the canvas breastcollar in its own, without any breeching, for tasks such as dragging logs where the horse does not need to brake the load.

Harness is all made locally, and there is a professional harness maker in most agricultural areas. A new harness with bridle and reins costs around 300 euro ($500). We travel about 80km (50 miles) to a good harness maker, who also takes his wares out to markets throughout the area. (He also keeps beehives and sells honey, which we buy too.) His workshop looks very much like a harness maker's workshop in Britain, with similar tools and equipment. The main difference is that harness makers out here are not, in general, accustomed to stuff saddles or collars. For saddle repairs, I visit a factory that manufactures saddles for export, about 300km (200 miles) from here. Small repairs, such as restitching, I do myself.

Comments

[Sarah]

We bought two harnesses at an auction last spring. One was the kind you guys use, and the other was a collar and hames harness.
From what we gathered, the collar was stronger. We love both. One day, I'll ride around with a pony a trap.

[Transylvanianhorseman]

Hi Sarah, I think that a good collar harness may last longer. If well fitted to the horse, he can probably work a little harder too. I'm looking forward to seeing photos of you driving a carriage.

[Ariella]

I think this entry is fascinating, especially since histories of technology tend to treat the breast-strap harness as something that disappeared by about 1200 AD. (See here for example: http://scholar.chem.nyu.edu/tekpages/harness.html ) Do you ever find that the breast strap rides up on the horse's neck? Some historians seem to think that ancient ones did, but from your photos, I don't see why it should.

[Transylvanianhorseman]

Thank you, Ariella, for another interesting historical view. My thought is that the collar was developed for heavy haulage, whilst the breastcollar remained in places for more mixed work. I expect that a full collar is needed to enable a horse to develop its maximum effort for a sustained period. Whereas, here for instance, the bulk of the loaded work is on the level or downhill. Endurance and frugality are more important than sheer pulling power.

Since, even when pulling a wagon, the line of draught is slightly downwards, I don't think that a breastcollar will ride up. It is quite flexible, and fits between the muscle mass around the shoulder joint (below) and the neck (above). A strap is used to stop the breastcollar slipping down when the horse is at rest.

A couple of years ago, a group of British horse loggers visited. They admitted to being very surprised that horses could do good work in breastcollar harness. Personally speaking, I would use full collars were it possible to have them well made and correctly fitted out here. However there is no tradition of using full collars, and no apparent problems caused by using breastcollars, so it makes little sense for me to change.