# Antique Horse Collar



## dogpatch (Dec 26, 2017)

Very good condition! It's a good sturdy field collar with "adjustable draft" hames, meaning that the tugs (traces) could be raised or lowered to suit the implement or vehicle being pulled. This allowed the collar to be set so that it is always seated fully against the shoulder, to distribute the draft (weight of the load) evenly over the entire surface of the shoulder, and the hame and tug would always remain perpendicular to one another. The draft would be changed, for instance, when going from a plow (low draft) to a wagon (high draft). The hames could also be used on different sized collars, (this is the largest size of three adjustments on the top hame strap), so the draft could be changed for different sized collars. The collar and hames could be used on a single horse or a multiple hitch, owing to the rings at the bottoms of the "ratchets", which would support a neck yoke strap - or not. The upper rings are for the reins to pass through. It looks as though the tug (trace) hook has been lost from the right hand hame. There is another type of hook available from the Amish that might work. These hames were/are usually used with chain tugs.


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## dogpatch (Dec 26, 2017)

As for adjusting the hames on the collar, it looks like there's a bit of a gap between the hame and collar at the bottom. You can eliminate this undesirable gap by loosening the bottom hame strap a hole or two until the hames seat firmly in the "hame bed" (the groove between the rim and body of the collar) and tightening the upper strap. You would want to pull the bottom hame strap end out from between the collar and hame. It is the strap that will be unbuckled to take the hames off the collar, not the top strap.


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## QtrBel (May 31, 2012)

Everything dogpatch said. From the fittings the hames could be from as early as the 20s.


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