31 July 2005
Insights in Neck Collars in use
My daughter came to visit today (to use our washing machine - a long visit!) She is very pregnant, so doing no riding or driving. Body "on hold" but eyes and brain fine! So after we did the usual catching up natter, I thought I'd drive each of the ponies in the field so she could give me feedback on how they were going.
The problem I have to solve is that I have lent my show harness to a friend for the Lowther show class on Saturday. Ruby is not ready for such a big show in an arena that has a natural grandstand, draws large crowds, and proves somewhat exciting for the horses. This loan, however, means that Ruby's good plain leather collar, and the "fits everything" set of hames that must go with it, are out of my use till Saturday night. So I wanted feedback on the other collar/s I thought I might use on both Mr T and Ruby this week.
I drove T first. He's unfit, so all I wanted was to do some quiet walking and trotting to warm his shoulders a little. We're preparing to take him as a lesson pony to a beginners' "taster day of driving" later in August, so he needs a few short gentle drives to get his brain back into working mode and his shoulders toughened to pulling after his long semi-retirement, before we do anything longer or more demanding. The collar I tested is an old, once- smart English one, 19.5", straight in profile and a touch narrow. It's the next size down from the nice show collar which is a bare 20" but slightly wider at the top of the neck; that show collar is too big for Mr T when he's in normal condition so he has seldom worn it. The only hames that will go anywhere near it, other than the ones I've lent out, are the ones that came off a small-ish 19" collar. But, on the bigger collar the draught point is of course lower than it should be; perhaps 1.5" lower. I wanted to find out if my daughter could see any effect on the ponies' way of going.
Mr T is a trooper and walked willingly as I drove him round the clumps of thistles (next holiday job - cutting down the thistles!). He also took up a trot happily, but was stiffer on the right rein; no big deal since he has been laid off for nearly 2 years. I only drove him for about 15 minutes. Jen said he looked as though he was trying to shift the collar up his shoulders by moving down through it! When he managed to do this (the collar is a touch long for him) he got the draught into the sweet spot and was happy and engaged and tracking up. But she said if he slackened off and the collar (and draught line) dropped again, "he fell apart and looked horrible!" So, I have a choice: either drive him in his smaller, barely-19" collar with the same hames, which should lift the hame pull into about the right place, or return to the heavy 3" wide padded breast collar for a week. I now need to drive him in the smaller collar and observe again, in order to decide. Tomorrow maybe.
We then drove back to the yard, put T in the little paddock out of the way, and put the same collar on Ruby. It's a much closer fit on her; she is deeper in the neck and shoulder. It fits well for length but for her, this collar is really a little bit narrow at the top so there's no room to shift the collar at all. She too worked kindly, but pulling faces; and oddly her normal slight left-handed bend had turned into a right-handed bend. Jen said Ruby gave the impression that she was doing the work to please me, despite being uncomfortable. So this collar is out as far as Ruby is concerned. I have no others that will fit her, they are all too small, and the hames that fit her previous "fat fit" 21" collar are the ones out on loan. So for Ruby, there's no option: it's a week in the breast collar for her.
I should have taken pics, but we were too engrossed in looking at the problems!
What I need to do some time in the near future is to draw a pattern of the show collar and the hames, and get a combination ordered that I can use for daily work. That will mean that the good collar can be kept nice for show use and if I do lend it to someone, my ponies, particularly Ruby, will still be comfortable. Does anyone have any tips on recording the precise shape of a collar in order to match it when purchasing something similar? I can easily do the cap-to-throat and side to side and draft measurements; I can also draw the inner and outer profiles with a pen held vertically, onto a big sheet of paper. The collar is a straight one, so there are no complications of a "bent-top" shape to be accommodated. Any extra pointers very much appreciated.