Measuring a horse for a collar has many and varied methods of under taking this task.

I find the best to measure the near side front leg (left) at the top where it meets the body horizontally around the leg and that will give you a good indication of the collar size.

 You can measure a horse’s collar by putting two carpenters’ squares together to form a “C”. Place the top of the “C” in front of the withers; place the bottom of the “C” two inches in front of the shoulders. Be sure to allow finger room at the base of the throat. Measure the inside of the “C”.

 The collar should be so it fits the horse so that there is a gap at the bottom so you can put your hand in between the collar and the horse.

The collar when fitted should not rock on the horse’s neck.

 To measure a collar you measure the inside of the collar from the top to the bottom.

 There are many different styles of collars but they all do the same thing and that they allow the horse to push against the hames for the load to be moved by the horse.

 The basic parts of a collar are is the face, which is the part that sits on the horse, the back that is the side of the collar that you see when on the collar. The rim, which is on the front of the collar and the hames, sit in between the rim and the back.

 The styles of collars are full sweeney or half sweeny and the difference is that a half sweeney  has a narrow face on the top to allow for a bigger crest on our horses as they are not used as often as they used to be.

 More damage is can be done to horses by having too large of a collar than any other reason,  because the collar rubs on the shoulder of the horse and creates a sore.

When you finish working a horse after you take off the collar, feel the surface for any sores or scolding on the horse where the collar has been sitting. If you find scolding which feels like a rippling of the skin like when you been in the bath too long.

One solution for scolding is to put urine on the scolding and it will heal faster.

Always run your hands over the horses neck where the collar will sit before you put the collar on and run you hand over the inside of the collar to ensure nothing will hurt the horse.

 Remember do not open the throat of the collar to wide when putting the collar on and put in on near the head of the horse here the neck is narrowest so as not to cause the collar to bust at the base.

When you have finished using a collar, hang in upside down on a piece of 90mm plastic pipe so the collar does not go out of shape.

 Maintain you collars with pure neat’s-foot oil and they will last you a lifetime.

More to come.......