Horse Collar Harness

Timeline

1. c. 200–800Yellow River basin · ChinaFrom the Han through the Tang, China commonly used the breast-strap horse collar, allowing a single horse to bear heavy loads; compared with throat-compressing collar harnesses, it greatly improved the horse's working efficiency, supporting northern plowing and transport.
2. 1123–1130Western European manors · FranceShoulder-and-back horse collars transmitted via Central Asia and the Islamic world became widespread in Western Europe; in the 1120s, manors used horses to pull heavy plows for deep tilling of clay soils, and combined with three-field rotation, the trend of animal power replacing oxen accelerated in northern Western Europe.
3. 1200Eurasian-African pastoral-agricultural belt · EurasiaThe shoulder-and-back horse collar became the standard configuration for animal-power plowing and transport across Eurasia in the pre-industrial era, remaining a key tool technology for raising agricultural output until steam and internal combustion power became widespread.