[drivingpairs] Re: Harness and Horse Choices
- From: "Anewton" <anewton@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <drivingpairs@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 29 Nov 2003 21:11:45 -0500
I think Kathy has shared some great food for thought but as someone said
every horse person has an opinion. I much prefer neck collars when I drive
single and tandem. I find that there is no problem with rubbing whether at
speed in competition or recreational driving. The angle of draught makes it
much easier for the horses to pull and provides much better freedom in the
shoulder area. I have had many more rubs especially in my marathon vehicle
with a breast collar and its easy to feel the downward pressure of the
neckstrap on the back of the horses neck. .. A neck collar disperses the
weight much better in my experience. Adjustable collars and hames can be
bought that fit many different size and shape of horses. I made the switch
this past spring and am very happy using neck collars in both competition
and pleasure.
Ansley
----- Original Message -----
From: kathy robertson <goodhors@xxxxxxxxx>
To: <drivingpairs@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Saturday, November 29, 2003 3:22 PM
Subject: [drivingpairs] Harness and Horse Choices
> Welcome to the group. We have great discussions and a
> lot of viewpoints to draw from!
> I have a couple of questions for you. Do you have a
> certain main goal in your driving? Your later posts
> mentioned Combined Driving, but also driving for fun,
> maybe some shows? I am just bringing this up because
> your horses mentioned, are gaited horses. I like
> gaited horses, this is not any kind of critism. Just
> bringing to your attention that formal carriage
> driving, of any kind, requires a correct trot in gait
> requirements. If horse can't do a regular trot, he
> cannot compete and expect to place in CDE or Carriage
> classes. I have seen a really pretty pair of blue
> roan TWH out trail driving, some single TWHs with a
> cart on picnic drives. They were nice! Just never at
> carriage competitions.
>
> > We have a jet black Sabino Missouri Foxtrotter
> > mare who is supposedly trained to drive, (I haven't
> tried her out yet) and her coming 2 year old. I know
> the Foxtrotters have a good mentality for driving--the
> Paso Finos are intelligent and seemingly calm at this
> point, LOL. The future should be interesting.
>
> Harness choices are dictated by what you expect from
> your horse. A lot of the Recreational Drivers group
> go out for many hours, DAYS!, on rough ground. They
> expect MUCH more from their animals than most modern
> folks would ever ask. A neck collar does give a
> bigger surface to pull against, spreads the load over
> bigger skin area. Hames can change the leverage
> factor horse uses to the vehicle. Actually RED folks
> might sometimes be considered EXTREME drivers. Very
> specialised in how they have fixed equipment and
> harness. Their equipment would be used differently
> than the pleasure driver, or for CDE competitions.
> It never hurts to do comparisons of styles to use.
> Tweaking this or that, makes you more confident in
> your choices, knowledge lets you make changes. What
> works best for a show, could be a poor choice for the
> all day Sunday drive.
> All harness styles should have a good leverage angle
> to pull with, well fitted to horse and vehicle. Wide
> breast collars, shaped throat fitting on the top, is
> nice on the horse, allowing head down comfortably.
> Full neck collars do not work well on horses bouncing
> along at a canter, or perhaps at speed of
> cross-country with the spring mounted pole of a modern
> vehicle. That kind of movement in full collar, would
> probably bruise the horse!
> We have both breast collars and full neck collars.
> We much prefer the breast collars, to ensure better
> fit with constant changing of horses in work. We use
> them going down the road, but are often out 3-4 hours
> at a time. Horses are thin skinned, rub easily. Not
> tolerant of constant pain! Breast collars do a better
> job for us. Not really enough load to need full
> collars, plus we gallop at times. Full collars also
> take skin conditioning to keep from getting sore.
> Neck and collar area must be kept very clean to
> prevent burns, rubs.
> For what most of us do using our animals, the wide
> breast collar is a better choice for animals. Pads
> are good if they stay in place. A lot of synthetic
> harness is very good. Everyone LOVES the ease in
> care. Check for quality of fit and buckles. Poor
> hardware and fit are the biggest complaints in cheaper
> synthetics. Allow your Amish man to COPY the harness
> you like. Most use Standardbred horse as harness
> model, sizing. Doesn't fit other horses well. Wider
> harness saddle for singles, to carry shaft load over
> bigger skin area. Buckle-in trace buckles are
> recommended, single or Pair, so you just change traces
> to suit vehicle. Don't cut holes in the traces that
> don't fit! You might like to check out the more
> modern harness, with two rings on breast collar chest
> of Pair harness. Allows you more options when
> harnessing to vehicles. There are a lot of folks here
> who can recommend good harness makers, and a couple of
> good harness makers here on the group!
> Seldom is anyone wrong in harness discussions, but
> what you want to do in driving, would focus your
> choices in one or another direction. If you have
> time, you should view the archives, lots of
> information there! Titles are often misleading, so
> you have to follow the replies, and things may go off
> in totally different directions! Keep asking
> questions, someone will try to help you.
>
> Kathy Robertson
>
> > I was actually looking at pairs harness when I
> > stumbled across this group. I have two leather horse
> and one cob single harness. I am thinking of going
> > to Beta for the pairs harness, for the maintenance
> > factor. Then a person on
> > the Recreational Driving list recommended that I use
> > collars--something I have
> > avoided because of fit. Since I don't do any "dirt
> > work" would it be too bad to
> > drive the pair in breast straps instead of collars?
>
>
>
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