HORSE COLLAR
Coaching or draght horse weight. Stuffed with straw and was lined with wool/linen fabric green and orange striped on a natural background.
The lining has almost completely disintegrated but samples of the fabric, plus hosrsehair which was found on an intermediary layer between the fabric and straw have been kept. The top edges of collar joined by a buckle and belt.
18 August 2020: A second encapsulated, disintegrated sample of the same lining fabric is also being stored with this artefact.
These traditional working collars are shaped pad that fit around a horse's neck. When a collar was made, it was filled with stray. The fabric lining would be already sewn in place and the straw wetted, then pushed in carefully with a long metal rod. Attached to the collar are metal bars called hames. Long straps or chains called traces are joined to these and the horse pulls the cart or plough by the traces.
