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MODEL 1874 CAVALRY CURB STRAP – SEVERAL DIFFERENT
PATTERNS: A necessary piece of the 1874 Horse
Equipment, this Model 1874 Curb Strap served to retain
the Model 1874 Shoemaker Bit in the horse’s mouth. As
pictured in Ordnance Memorandum No. 18, the strap was
attached to the large rings at the top of the bit and
passed under the horse’s chin.
As evidenced by surviving specimens, in spite of the
description provided in O.M. No. 18, the Model 1874 is
known to have been made in at least three different
patterns.
While none of these survive in great numbers, the most
commonly encountered pattern is the style shown in the
diagrams of the Ordnance manual, a single piece with the
two billets sewn to the chin pad and equipped with brass
buckles.
A second pattern, known but encountered with less
frequency than the published pattern, was assembled and
attached as the one reference above, but was fitted with
Civil War black japanned iron buckles instead of the
brass buckles, and probably predates the brass buckle
versions as the Ordnance Department attempted to use up
the buckles on hand in their inventory.
The third pattern is generally scarcer than the other
two, and is seldom seen except in the most advanced
cavalry collections. Likely an evolution of the
standard pattern shown in the manual and developed as a
more expedient method of attaching and removing the curb
strap, this third pattern is made in three separate
components: the center chin pad fitted with brass
buckles and the two separate attaching billets, each
terminating in a permanently sewn standing loop. These
billets were fed through the large rings at the top of
the M1874 bit and passed through the standing loops,
allowing the billets to remain on the bit when the curb
strap was unbuckled to remove the bit from the horse
(see photograph).
The addition of a Model 1874 Curb Strap completes a
Model 1874 Shoemaker Bit, and the combination of black
leather and brass buckles is a nice complement to your
cavalry collection.
Listed below are the 1874 Curb Straps currently in stock
and each one described and priced individually below
with accompanying photographs. |
