[drivingpairs] Measurements-Tandem
- From: kathy robertson <goodhors@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: drivingpairs@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 18 May 2003 21:46:31 -0700 (PDT)
For our large horses, 16.2h wheeler, 1500# when fit,
17h leader, 1400# fit. Both wear an 84 inch blanket
and it fits well. Add in 3ft for neck and head
length, to get a true picture of horse size, big and
LONG!
Reins we used were 29ft, 1 inch or, 8meters and 80cm.
This was a good length, gave us some extra leather,
whatever vehicle we were hitched to. Traces were from
our regular team leaders from the 4-in-hand harness.
We hitch our leaders long in the team. We will canter
our horses and want enough room between. Traces were
96 inches, including the D end, to trace tip. Leader
wore a pair breastcollar, which would put the trace
buckles back farther on body, than a single horse
breastcollar would. NOTE THIS!! Gives us even more
length. With the over girth and support strap,
instead of tug loops or trace carriers on the saddle
of single horse harness saddle, pair breastcollar
stayed pretty quiet.
I must correct my other message. Our leader bars are
made of round aluminum. Not the square steel I said
before. Husband has have made a number of singletrees
of square stock, and I got confused when remembering.
He said he used the heavywall, aluminum, electric
conduit. It appears to be 1 1/2 outside dimension.
On the SET of leader bars, I am going to call the one
a wheeler bar and the other, the leader-side-bar, so
we can seperate them for description.
The wheeler bar is 21 3/8 inches, end to end. There
is a pair of metal collars at each end to hold the
straps in place, that go back to the wheeler traces.
The space between the metal collars is 1 3/8 inches,
for a 1 1/4 inch strap. The straps on the bar ends
add stability to the wheeler bar and transfer the load
straight back to wheeler traces when leader goes into
draft.
Leader-side-bar is 24 inches end to end. It has a 2
inch clevis on each end which anchors the 3 inch snap
shackles(quick relese shackles). Clevis is set in a
hole 1/2 inch in from end of bar. This
leader-side-bar has a thick, flattened end for the
clevis hole.
Both bars have an added piece of metal, resembling a
large footman loop in the center of each bar. It has
about 3 1/4 inches opening, to pass the connecting
strap under. We have connecting strap between bars,
going all the way around the bars. This loop keeps
the connecting strap centered on each bar, with
connecting strap bolted closed in the center, between
the leader-side-bar and wheeler bar. Heavy connecting
strap must be able to take the load when leader goes
into draft. Our connecting strap is quite thick and 3
inches wide, to fit under the loop. The width is very
helpful in preventing independent swinging of the two
bars. We also padded our bars so there would be
reduced impact, if bars should hit anything by
accident.
The snap for D-ring center of breastcollar harness, is
about 3 1/2 inches to bar. The space between the two
bars is 1 1/2 inches. So if you add it all together
it comes out, D-ring on breastcollar, 3 1/2" snap, 1
1/2"bar, 1 1/2" space, 1 1/2"bar, plus 3" snap
shackles. So I make it about 11 to 13 inches
distance that the leader bars add, between wheeler's
chest and leader traces D-rings. Snap shackles hang
may hang down long, but they are seperate from the
bars themselves. Bars are pretty close to wheeler's
chest, reduced swing. Perhaps the snap shackles
weight helps? We just did not have much swing,
whatever we were doing with this Tandem. The worst
swinging leader bars I have seen, were thelong,
lightweight wooden ones, used in Carriage driving.
Trace carriers on leader were of a length to carry
traces level from leader's breastcollar. We do not
use the belly straps. Trace carrier is fixed on the
backstrap, so one side doesn't get longer or stuck.
We use the loose, hanging Roger rings, not the rings
on the browband. Should be large, at least 3 inches,
so reins run freely. Tie the bottom of the ring down,
to prevent wheeler flipping it around. I like the
rings by the blinkers, but reins will still catch
under blinkers sometimes. I just don't want a rein in
the eye. Whip lash should reach the leader's saddle.
You can add length to a regular whip by adding
parachute cord, pretty light. Expensive tandem whips
are NOT for daily use, BREAK easily! Get as long a
stick as possible, and add enough cord to reach the
leader. Practice using the whip, you need to be able
to put lash where you WANT it to go. Adjust the whip
balance to make it light in your hand, you can weight
the butt end to counter the lash weight. Shorter
stick will work too, just takes more work to get lash
where you want it. You don't want a tired hand from
whip weight or poor balance.
I don't know if you can reduce the measurments to make
it work for smaller horses. Lot of fitting is trail
and error as you work the horses. We wanted room,
leader is fast and big. Smaller horses would have
other factors to consider. Husband drives the Tandem
with rein twitches, compared to the Team, with loops!
Kathy Robertson
__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
The New Yahoo! Search - Faster. Easier. Bingo.
http://search.yahoo.com
_________________________________________________________
To Unsubscribe, change to Digest or Vacation mode go to:
http://www.drivingpairs.com/dpmem.html
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Other related posts:
