3 vintage horse brasses on black leather straps.

A horse brass is a brass plaque used for the decoration of horse harness gear, especially for shire and parade horses. They became especially popular in England from the mid-19th century until their general decline alongside the use of the draft horse, and remain a collectors item today.

The use of horse brass dates back to the pre-Roman period with a complete set of horse trappings with amulets, found in North Africa in 1932. Although the early forms were mostly made of bronze, some have been discovered made of silver, or gold inlaid and inset with semi-precious stones, those of brass belong to a much more recent period. Just when these brass ornaments began is a matter of conjecture, but it is recognised that they are more or less replicas of trappings that were used in pagan times, before the Christian era