Clamp (harness)

The clamp is made of a pair of curved pieces of wood or metal, called mites , to which the tugs are attached. Ticks can be slightly moved apart so that the horse’s head can easily pass through the clamp when donning and removing it. After putting the clamp on the horse’s neck, the ticks are pulled together with the supon , providing a more comfortable fit to the horse’s body. The collar has an oval, rather than round, shape, which is in good agreement with the shape of the horse's body. The clamp is made so that at all points of contact with the horse's body the contact is tight. Its design is quite rigid, and an elastic lining ( clamp ) is made on the inner surface, which softens the clamp's contact with the body of the animal. With the correct size of the clamp and its normal position on the horse, there must be a gap between the clamp and the throat of the animal so that a flat palm can pass there. At the same time, the upper part of the clamp is located slightly in front of the withers, and two fingers should fit between the clamp and the crest of the neck. Providing protection for the respiratory tract of the horse, the clamp allows the animal to use all its strength to drag a tool or a wagon with cargo.

Collar

Long before the invention of the collar, a less effective collar was used for harnessing, covering the throat. Information about him was found in many ancient civilizations, they were brought to the European intellectual sphere at the beginning of the 20th century by the French cavalry officer Lefebvre de Nettis. ^[3] This method of harnessing was known to the Chaldeans (III millennium BC. E.), in Sumer and Assyria (1400-800 BC. E.), In the Egyptian New Kingdom (1570-1070 BC. E.), China of the Shang Dynasty (1600-1050 BC), in Minoan Crete (2700-1450 BC), in classical Greece (550–323 BC) and Ancient Rome (510 BC) e. - 476 A.D.). ^[3] With this ancient harness, animals dragged plows and carts. Belts in the form of a flat ribbon wrapped around the neck and chest of the animal, the load fell on the upper part of the collar, above the neck, about the same as in the yoke. These belts pressed the sternum-head muscles of the horse and the trachea, which limited her breathing and reduced traction. It turned out that the harder the horse pulled, the harder it became to breathe. For this reason, oxen were preferable to horses for hard work, because due to differences in the anatomical structure with a horse, they do not have this problem. Unlike horses, they can also be harnessed with a yoke.

Chest belt (props)

The design of the harness in the form of a collar wrapping around the throat did not change until the appearance of a chest belt or "props" in China in the era of the Battlefields (481-221 BC). By the 7th century, it became known throughout Central Asia , and from there in the 8th century it came to Europe. ^[four]

His first image in a work of art appeared on a lacquer box from the ancient kingdom of Chu . ^[4] In this type of horse harness, pressure is transferred to the sternum, the traction line becomes directly connected to the horse's skeletal system, which makes it possible to use the horse’s almost full strength. This type of harness was ubiquitous in China during the Han Dynasty (202 BC – 220 CE), which is reflected in hundreds of images in carvings, stone reliefs and brick stamps showing horses harnessed to chariots . ^[4] This type of harness became known in Central Asia and then among the Avars , Hungarians , Czechs, Poles and Russians during the 7th – 10th centuries. ^[4] The first images of the use of the chest belt, found in Europe, date back to the 8th century, and in the 9th century it was already widely used (for example, it is depicted on a tapestry with the Oseberg grave ship). ^[four]

The problem with using a chest belt was that carts, chariots, and other vehicles were attached to the girth around the horse’s belly. The chest belt initially protected the cinch from shifting back to the tail of the horse, it was not considered as a device for pushing the load. As a result, the horses continued to pull the load, that is, the animals were still used inefficiently. ^[five]

Clamp

At the next stage of evolution of the harness after the chest belt, a clamp appeared in its modern form. A tried-and-tested version of the clamp was made in China in the 5th century BC. e., in the era of the Southern and Northern Dynasties . ^[6] His first, although not entirely reliable, images were found on colored molded bricks of the Three Kingdoms era (220-265 CE) in the tomb of Bao Sannyang in Zhaohua, Sichuan Province. ^[7] These figures depict a lavishly padded collar that is completely unlike a yoke. However, the first real images of the collar in art were found in cave paintings in Dunhuang (cave 257) of the era of the Chinese Northern Wei dynasty, which date back to 477-499 AD. er In this picture, the curved crossbars are clearly visible, but the artist was not able to clearly show the soft linings under them, the absence of which makes the entire structure useless. The same basic design is visible on another Chinese color mural dating from 520-524 (with a drawbar protruding beyond the chest of the horse to create sternal traction), as well as on a mural dating from approx. 600 g. (Era of the Sui dynasty ). ^[7] The last image (in cave 302) is of particular interest, since the collar is depicted not only more accurately (the same collars are used in the north and north-west of China even today), but also because it is used on camels and not on horseback. The Chinese often used camels from the 2nd century BC. er and later, throughout the entire Han Dynasty, there were even military corps on camels on the border in the Tarim Basin . However, a collar adapted for camels did not become a common practice until the VI century. Cave 156 has a panoramic picture depicting the Chinese general and governor of the Tang Dynasty, Zhang Yichao, riding a horse at the time of triumph after recapturing the Dunhuang area from the Tibetan empire in 834. According to the evidence presented by Dr. Chang Shuhun, the date of the painting is exactly 851 g. e., but Needham notes that there is complete agreement among historians that the painting could be painted at any time from 840 to 860. This painting absolutely accurately depicts a collar, with nice soft linings that go down low on the chest and stand for cross member. ^[7]

The collar eventually came to Europe around 920, and became widespread in the 12th century. The Scandinavians were one of the first to use clamps that do not restrict the airways of the horse. Until this time, oxen remained the main draft animal in agriculture, since all previous harnesses could be used effectively only on oxen because of the peculiarities of their physical structure. In addition, the yoke used to harness the oxen was made individually for each animal. In this case, sometimes there were problems when cultivating the land. Depending on the condition of the soil, sometimes it took up to sixteen oxen to effectively use one heavy plow. This created problems for peasants who did not have enough capital to support such a large number of cattle. ^[five]

After the collar appeared in Europe and its widespread distribution by the year 1000, the use of horses for plowing became widespread. ^[7] Horses run about 50 percent faster than oxen. The use of horses (and a slight improvement in the plow) allowed peasants to produce surplus produce. The surplus created goods for them to trade in markets at intersections of roads. Pretty quickly, markets turned into cities. Thus, the collar played a key role in ending the feudal system and the beginning of the growth of Europe.

The creation of the clamp eliminated the physical limitations of the old harness on the use of animals in the production process, allowed horses to show all their abilities and exert all their strength when plowing and transporting goods. Initially, the design of the old harness forced the horse to literally drag the workload, while the introduction of the clamp allowed her to push the load, increasing efficiency and productivity.

In combination with a horseshoe , heavy plow and other improvements in agricultural production, the labor efficiency of the European peasant increased sharply, which led to the rapid development of society in Europe. Surplus food created the preconditions for the specialization of labor, peasants could now change their profession and acquire other skills, for example, buying and selling goods, which led to the emergence of merchants in European society. The collar was one of the factors in the decline of the feudal system and the completion of the Middle Ages. ^{[8] [9]}

In 1910, a cavalry officer from France, Lefebvre de Nettes, conducted an experiment to evaluate the effectiveness of different harnesses. He compared three types of harness: an ancient harness - a collar encircling the throat, a later harness with a chest strap and, finally, a perfect medieval harness with a collar. In his experiment, he found that a pair of horses using collars surrounding her throat could pull a maximum load of about 1,100 pounds (0.5 tons). At the same time, one horse with a better clamp was able to move a load weighing more than 1.5 tons. ^[four]

• Horse harness
• Team
• Yoke

• Harness, carts, horse tools and harness of technical equipment in horse use
• Horse harness (harness).
• Horse Dictionary
• Bolich, Susan, The History of Farming Machinery , Oxford University Press, 2005
• Needham, Joseph, Science and Civilization in China: Volume 4, Physics and Physical Technology, Part 2, Mechanical Engineering . Taipei: Caves Books Ltd., 1986 ISBN 0-521-07060-0
• Riddle, John M., A History of the Middle Ages, 300-1500 , Rowman & Littlefield, 2008
• Wigelsworth, Jeffrey R., Science and technology in medieval European life , Greenwood Publishing Group, 2006