SECOND-HAND HARNESS.
Observe the condition of the Leather; if it is soft and pliable, it is good:—if dry and stiff, it is bad. This is also the case if the Grain is cracked, or if the Sewings are gummed up with grease, and the veined marks on the edges are effaced. See that all the Leathers at the buckling and looped parts are whole and perfect;—the trace ends, the collars, the cruppers, the belly bands, and billets, shew best at the buckling parts how much the Harness has been used.
The Furniture (except the Ornaments) usually remains longer perfect than the Leather does, but look to the corners of the Buckles and Rings of the Territs through which the Reins pass, and to the Ornaments; likewise the inside Winker-pieces and the head chains; these are the likeliest parts to look to for a proof of the Furniture, but the Leather is the best guide, for if the pipes and ley of the Collars, traces at the points, and the breeching at the straps, are perfect, the Harness is likely to be a good one, though a Second-Hand Harness seldom proves (after the expense of alterations and changing the Ornaments, which necessarily must be done before it can be used) to be so Cheap, in the long run, as a New one.