1. lit. Work in which a horse has to strain hard against the collar, as in drawing a heavy load or going up hill.
1872. Black, Adv. Phaeton, II. xxii. 138. Giving a long spell of collar-work to horses.
1887. T. A. Trollope, What I remember, II. viii. 132. There were still fourteen miles, nearly all collar work, between that [Lucca] and the baths.
2. fig. Severe and close work.
1871. Daily News, 25 Jan., 4/6. Breaking down in harness, under the severe collarwork of these democratic days.
1875. C. L. Kenney, Mem. M. W. Balfe, 38. When the day’s allowance of stiff ‘collar work’ was accomplished.
