I have come across a leather piece that looks like a collar for a very big dog but it is for a horse.?

Question

This piece of leather I know is for a horse.

It could possably be some sort of collar for a young horse, I am more versed in the Hunter Jumper world than I am in the Racing world

The leather piece has a buckle and holes like a dog collar and the name plate says Seattle Slew/Mama Dean.

Can anyone tell me what it might be.

Answer 1

It sounds to me like a cribbing collar, but I've never seen one with a nameplate.  Cribbing is a bad habit where a horse will bite onto wood and suck in air... it makes them feel happy for a second while they're doing it, but it's bad because it destroys the wood in the barn where they do it and it's bad for the horse to suck in air to their stomach and they could get wood splinters in their lungs from it.  So you put on a collar near their ears to make it harder for them to suck in a lot of air.  Here's a picture of a horse wearing a cribbing collar: http://www.equineman.com/images/equine_e...  and here's a picture of just a cribbing collar, it sounds like the one that you're describing where it's a single piece of leather unlike the first picture: http://www.kyhorse.com/store/images/crib...

Answer 2

a photo would be helpful...

Seatle Slew was a famous race horse years ago.. he is dead now..

probably just something identifiying him when out in the field.. Thoroughbred breeding farms often have hundreds of foals.. yearlings.. etc.. so they have to have a way to identify them easily.. although it probably wouldnt be leather for that purpose...

Answer 3

It's for identification of foals that are on the farm. They wear these around their necks. Seattle Slew would be the foal's sire, and Mama Dean would be the foal's dam.

This particular horse was named Captain Slew, and was a winner for Dogwood Stable. You can see him listed, on Dogwood's roster as a 3-year old at the link below.

http://www.dogwoodstable.com/pdfs/DWS_ne...