Horse collar of the Oseberg ship burial). The problem with a breastcollar harness was that the actual shafts of the cart, chariot, or other vehicle are attached to a surcingle around the barrel of the horse. The breastplate primarily kept the surcingle from slipping back, not as the primary pushing object. This results in the horse literally pulling the load, a less efficient use of the animal. The modern breastcollar has traces which transfer the pull directly from the breastcollar, but a horse collar still is more effective for pulling heavy loads. After the breastcollar harness, the next and final evolutionary stage
Girth (geometry) Girth (geometry) In three-dimensional geometry, the girth of a geometric object, in a certain direction, is the perimeter of its parallel projection in that direction. For instance, the girth of a unit cube in a direction parallel to one of the three coordinate axes is four: it projects to a unit square, which has four as its perimeter. The girth of a sphere in any direction equals the circumference of its equator, or of any of its great circles. More generally, if "S" is a surface of constant width "w", then every projection of "S" is a curve of constant