Item #69683 : Original period manufacture. Pliable black leather strap, overall measurement is 17 inches, with a blackened steel snap hook at one end. These straps allowed the trooper to "link" his horse's bridle to the next mount in line when fighting dismounted. "Horse Holders to the Rear!", meaning that the 4th man would retire behind the firing line controlling four horses, his, and three of his comrades, those horses connected by Link Straps.