A sheet, made out of a description of coarse country cloth (karwah), is necessary for each saddle or set of harness, to wrap it up in, and keep the dust and dirt off. It should be sufficiently large to wrap the saddle up in completely, and in the summer the "syce" can bring it with him to act as a horse-cloth to throw over the quarters when standing about. These saddle-sheets can be made by any tailor in a few hours.
Bridles, double (dahna), snaffle (kazai), can be hung up on the walls, but a piece of cloth or a few sheets of paper should be fastened up behind them; and they should be frequently taken down if not in daily use, as the white ants are most destructive. It is best to have one or two extra saddle-stands made with pegs on them, and to hang the bridles on them in the middle of the room, away from the walls. This may be a little more expensive, but a saddle-stand can be brought for Rs. 5 that will hold a couple of dozen bridles, worth Rs. 20 apiece. At one time plated bits were used in India, but I think steel ones are the best. "Syces" never can tell the difference, and I have more than once found a plated bit being industriously scrubbed and polished with sand.
Unless particularly desired, brown harness with brass mounts is the best--for India, at all events--for pony-harness, and it is this class of animal that is generally used in an up-country station. Not one "syce" in a hundred knows how to clean black harness properly, and if this is not done nothing looks worse, whereas almost any native can clean brown leather after a fashion, and even if it does not stand close inspection, it will pass muster at a little distance. Fairly good brown harness is made out of country leather, and it does well enough for rough work, but it never has the finish of English. Country leather reins and country bits should never be used; they are not reliable, and are most dangerous; these should always be English.
The ordinary two-wheeled pony-trap or dogcart, used in an up-country Indian station, is best varnished, not painted. The hot weather ruins paint, and, unless in some of the very large towns, it is nearly impossible to get them properly repainted again. Any native workman can, however, varnish a trap with white or copal varnish. Before allowing new varnish to be put on, the trap should be produced for inspection with the old scraped off, as it is a favourite trick to daub new varnish over the old, when it cannot properly set, and the first hot sun cracks and blisters it. In the hot weather a large earthen basin, called a "naund," should be kept full of water under the carriage in the coach-house; the evaporation of the water will keep the woodwork moist, and prevent its cracking with the heat. A matting made of the fibres of the "khus khus," or lemon grass, should also be put round the nave of the wheel, and kept wet, for the same purpose, as it is exceedingly likely to crack with the heat. The shafts of the trap should not be left resting on the ground, as they will warp and bend; they should be supported either by a wooden trestle, or else by a couple of ropes from the beams of the roof. The whip, when not in use, should be hung by a string at the upper part to a nail in the wall, and a weight, such as a brick, tied to the butt end to keep it straight; otherwise, in a very short time, it will get crooked.