throat-latch, throat-lash, n. Saddlery.
[f. throat n. + latch n.1 1, lash n.2 1.]
A strap passing under the horse's throat which helps to keep the bridle in position.
| 1794 W. Felton Carriages (1801) II. 167 Bearing-reins hung to the throat-band by throat-latch dees. 1829 Sporting Mag. XXIV. 175, I never saw a horse driven in the throat-latch in Germany. 1890 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Col. Reformer (1891) 106 He..held on to the bridle-rein with such tenacity that the throat-lash giving way, it was jerked over the horse's head, leaving the reins in the rider's hands. |
| transf. a 1825 Forby Voc. E. Anglia, Throat-latch..2. The strings of a hat, cap, &c. fastened under the chin. |
| attrib. 1794 [above]. 1901 G. W. Cable Cavalier xix, He had a retreating chin, a throat-latch beard and a roving eye. |
Hence
throat-latch v. trans., to put a throat-latch upon.
| 1829 Sporting Mag. XXIV. 175, I throat-latched him, and never drove a better leader. |