tool, such as a plow, plow, harrow or wagon. The clamp allows the horse to put all his strength into moving the load or other work. Essentially, it allows the animal to use the back of the hull and hind legs to push the load, as opposed to using a yoke or chest belt when you have to pull the load with one shoulder. The clamp is also better than the yoke, as it reduces pressure on the trachea.

Since the invention of the clamp, horses have become extremely important for success in agriculture and in the transportation of heavy loads. When a horse is harnessed using a collar, it can provide working efficiency (measured, for example, in ton-kilometers per hour) 50% more than an ox, due to its higher speed [1] [2] . A horse is also generally more effective due to its greater endurance and ability to work more hours per day. The clamp has played an important role in the economic development of Europe. The replacement of oxen with horses for plowing led to economic growth, the establishment of market relations, a decrease in dependence on subsistence agriculture, and also ensured the development of education, art and early industrial production.

Content

Construction

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.

History

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

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