This neck strap was made for a Thoroughbred ridden in English tack, although it will work nicely with a western or Australian saddle (a western saddle is shown here) or a breast-strap harness.
This neck strap has 25 petal bells spaced 2” apart. The bells are fairly small – only 1 1/4” in diameter – which allows this tight spacing to work well. They were probably made sometime between the mid to late 1800s.
The dark brown bell strap is 48” long and 7/8” wide and buckles around the horse's neck with a separate 7/8" wide wither strap. The wither strap adds another 4-6" of length. This length will fit a cob to medium-sized horse, such as a Quarter horse or a Norwegian Fjord such as our Finn.
Two narrow straps snap onto rings at the front of the saddle. These straps keep the bell strap from sliding if the horse puts his head down. “Keeper loops” between the bells hold the bell strap and the lining strap together.
A typical English-style breastplate has another strap that runs from the bottom of the main neck strap to the girth (cinch). We omitted this connector strap, because this bell strap is meant to be mainly decorative. The connector strap could easily be included, if desired.
This particular item is a custom, one-of-a-kind project made for a past client. Items in this Custom Projects section are for information only; they are not available for regular sale.
