crupper

[ kruhp-er, kroo p- ]

/ ˈkrʌp ər, ˈkrʊp- /

a leather strap fastened to the saddle of a harness and looping under the tail of a horse to prevent the harness from slipping forward.

the rump or buttocks of a horse.

armor for the rump of a horse.

Origin of crupper

1250–1300; Middle English cro(u)per, variant of cruper < Anglo-French. See croup², -er²

I good naturedly offered to take him on the crupper, and let him ride as far as the market-place, and he eagerly thanked me.

The International Monthly, Volume 3, No. 2, May, 1851 |Various
The load was then tied closely to the crupper of the saddle and the boy was ready to start on his homeward trip.

The Boy Settlers |Noah Brooks
Then getting to a safe distance, he proposed to pull the string and lift the tail for his brother to pass the crupper under.

Phaeton Rogers |Rossiter Johnson
The crupper was adorned with two golden lions, figured with their paws raised in the act of striking each other.

Richard I |Jacob Abbott

It is thus, besides, that Bourgelat measured the head for comparison with the crupper (see p. 266, paragraph 4).

Artistic Anatomy of Animals |douard Cuyer

crupper

/ (ˈkrʌpə) /

a strap from the back of a saddle that passes under the horse's tail to prevent the saddle from slipping forwards

the part of the horse's rump behind the saddle

C13: from Old French crupiere, from crupe croup ²