Possible Clues:

• Restraint
• There's rain in it, by the sound of it
• Difficulty dropping duke's race horse equipment
• Straps on a horse
• Short durable cape - that's the gear
• Leather straps for an animal
• Sound of rain's part of it
• Put it over the horse if there's rain, by the sound of it
• Racehorse gear
• Husband joining a navy ship under European control