Neck Straps
Many bells Most people assume the body strap is the most common type of bell strap. That may indeed be true today, but many bell straps made in the early 1800s were neck straps, not body straps. Neck straps actually have several practical advantages over body straps:
Many bells |
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Horse is wearing a neck strap of graduated bells and a "New England" body strap. Vintage photo |
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One to several
bells Construction A few makers constructed their neck straps more like a narrow horse collar. They sandwiched padding of horse hair, fine straw, or fiber between the bell strap and liner, then sewed the two straps of leather together along their length to hold the padding in place. Many neck straps have a buckle at one end and a tongue at the other, exactly like a trouser belt. This type of neck strap goes completely around the horse's neck. The tongue is either passed behind the hames or twisted around the wither strap before it is buckled, depending on the style of harness used. This precaution keeps the bells in place if the horse puts its head down. Other neck straps have a buckle and tongue at each end. In this case, each end of the bell strap is meant to be buckled around a hame on a draft-style collar. (A hame is the metal arm that goes around the collar and often ends in a large decorative knob. Two hames are required on a collar.) Fitting
a Neck Strap The bell strap should not restrict the horse's breathing nor should it affect the fit of the harness. The buckle usually lies on top of the horse's neck. Safety tip: Be sure to buckle a neck strap so it cannot slide out of place if the horse puts his head down. The length of a neck bell strap depends on the fullness (width) as well as the length of your horse's neck or collar, so be sure to measure carefully. When in doubt, too loose is better than too tight. Here are some rough guidelines:
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Robert Bates of Morrison, Colorado, and his Clydesdale gelding Shaq. Shaq is wearing a Classic Bells neck strap around his 30" collar. The strap has 21 antique bells ranging from 1 1/2" to 2 5/8" diameter. Click on the image to see a larger version. Photo courtesy R. Bates, © 2003. |
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Neck strap of sleigh bells worn by Hanne, a Norwegian Fjord mare. This strap fits around Hanne's collar and buckles to itself. Courtesy Beth Beymer & Sandy North, Starfire Farm, http://www.starfirefarm.com/ |
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Each end of this Classic Bells neck strap buckles around a hame. This method of attachment is ideal for a collar with draft-style hames like this. This strap a close re-creation of a vintage neck strap, right down to the bright tassels. |
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Finn, our Norwegian Fjord gelding, wearing a Classic Bells neck strap of small bells. The strap buckles over the horse's neck. Two small straps snap to the saddle to keep the neck bells from sliding off if the horse puts his head down. This style of neck strap works well with a breast strap harness as well as with a saddle. |
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Burro wearing a neck strap with large, widely spaced bells. His pint-sized rider looks like he's having fun. Vintage photograph. |
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Handsome, lined neck strap of graduated petal bells. Many of the oldest and largest bells in our private collection are mounted on neck straps -- not body straps. |
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Bridle rosette showing an unusual strap of neck bells just under the horse's throatlatch. Click the image to see a larger version. |
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Strap of three old neck bells, much used and lovingly repaired. The two sleigh bells date to the early 1800s.The open bell and the strap itself are younger. |
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(1) Terry Keegan, Douglas Hughes, Claude A. Brock, Ran Hawthorne. Horse Bells. National Horse Brass Society, Surrey, England. 2nd ed. 1988. |
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