I decided to throw in my two cents as this winds to a close.

I am firmly in the camp of those who use a breast collar religiously.
Even when I'm only going a few miles on a flat trail. On mountain
trails I use a crupper as well.

You may know that my other hobby is poker. My profit comes in part from
understanding odds. Can a breast collar cause an accident, resulting in
harm to horse or rider? Of course it can. Do I "need" it on a flat
trail? No. But the odds are much greater that having it will prevent a
problem, or lessen the severity of an accident, than that it will cause
or contribute to one. So I go with the odds.

In more than 13,000 miles of rides (plus training rides) I have never
had a breast collar get caught in brush or cause an accident, but it has
prevented them.

BTW, I do attach it last and remove it first.


--
Joe Long aka ChipRider
jlong@...