Functional object - Horse hames

Historical information

Used on a farm in the late 19th or early 20th century.

Physical description

A pair of tubular steel horse hames which are linked together by a five links chain at the top to two rings. There are two large flat steel hooks attached to the sides with bolts and nuts and it has two metal rings at the bottom. It would have been attached to a horse collar and used to to distribute the load around a horse's neck and shoulders when pulling a wagon or plough. The collar often supports and pads a pair of curved metal or wooden pieces, called hames, to which the traces, which attach to the wagon or plough, of the harness are attached. The collar allows the horse to use its full strength when pulling. It was used in the late 19th or early 20th century.

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