Help figuring out harness & cart specs??

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When you do start ground driving you can also drive our "Driving Hours" thread. We record ground driving and driving hours
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And we have prizes ? too.
 
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For those of you that said you have this harness, could you post a picture of it on your horse?

There are no images of it in use that I can find.
 
The bridle part is just a huge mess, stiff and funky, blinders seem not quite even and it's a little too short for the bit to fit. So it will just be kept in storage unless I can figure out how to get it to work.

The "dye" used comes off, I can only imagine the mess my pinto will be if she sweats or it rains...Anything I can use to fix that?

I have a leather cleaner n conditioner that works well on old n stiff leather, but I don't know if it'll turn into a huge black mess....lol

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Breeching is a very important aspect of a harness. Would you seriously drive a car without brakes? That is what breeching is, brakes. And for backing. I do not drive any of my vehicles without breeching on the horse, with the exception of in the show ring, where it isn't needed. If you drive anywhere hilly or your mini has a heavy load, it is almost cruel to ask them to hold it back on a hill, stop it or back it with just the back band IMHO.
 
Breeching is a very important aspect of a harness. Would you seriously drive a car without brakes? That is what breeching is, brakes. And for backing. I do not drive any of my vehicles without breeching on the horse, with the exception of in the show ring, where it isn't needed. If you drive anywhere hilly or your mini has a heavy load, it is almost cruel to ask them to hold it back on a hill, stop it or back it with just the back band IMHO.
Thanks, but I'm not against it. I just wasn't sure what it was for, as they aren't always included in all the pictures and videos out there or can be an add-on/remove item on some websites.

Anywho, mine came with it and I plan on using it as nothing here is flat. =)
 
Awesome! I sure didn't mean what was typed the way it reads! I'm glad you took it the way it was meant not the way it reads. ?
 
Anyone know if the neck strap is supposed to be on the neck for this particular harness or clip to the saddle? There are no in-use pics that I could find, but I'm guessing it is just for the neck.

I need to add some holes so some things can fit better, then I'll get new pictures. But you can see that she is totally chill about it. ? Even listening to lunging directions.

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How are harness adjustments going? Sometimes, I've found, harness are like clothes. One size fits all sometimes means one size fits nobody. I hope this isn't the case for you
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No idea. Look at the pics and you tell me, lol. I still haven't found pics of any other minis in this harness, so can only guess based on what many other different brands look like.
Been trying to find a good leather hole punch, but most under 50 have horrible reviews and I can't spend more than 50 on a tool I'll use once and then it sits for years on end, hah. The rotary ones everyone hates.

Nylon is so easy to make holes in, regular screw, then heat up a nail and melt it open. Done. But leather, not so simple. =/
 
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I have a rotary leather punch. $12 and it works just fine for me. To make a couple holes now and again that's all you need.

As for the harness, this is just my opinion and there are a lot of people on here that know much more than I.

The saddle doesn't come down very far Looks like your breeching is a bit high. The neck strap needs a connector (you can improvise anything) or you can lengthen it all the way and slip it over the water hook on the saddle if it's long enough. I did that for years on my harness. Just make sure that it doesn't make the breast collar cut into the throat. It looks a little high to me in the third pic. It's tricky with minis to not cut off their wind while also not restricting shoulder movement. Once you start putting a load on your mini (start with a small tire or log maybe?) they will be able to tell you if something is just not working for them.

The bridle needs adjusted all over it looks like.... Maybe post some better pics of that?
 
I agree with MajorClementine that a rotary leather punch should work fine, that's primarily what I use for all my leather work, including making 2 bridles.

Harnesses can be a pain to try to figure out at first , they're easy to get frustrated with, especially the bridles, the bridle I got with the Ozark Mt russet pleasure harness is pretty nice , fits the horses okay without a ton of tweaking, but I still don't like messing with it. I agree with more pictures.

As far as breast collar fit. I think it changes a little depending on what they're pulling, if anything. If my horse is pulling something from the ground, sometimes I need to take it up a hole, as it gets pulled down, but, as MajorClementine said, you don't want it too high. Hang in there !
 
I'll hang a haynet up high, so she's busy eating amd not helping with all the leather that doesn't have chew marks on them yet, lol, and try to readjust the harness tomorrow.
 
yes the military punch will work fine for what you need. It is all I have ever used for the past 40 or so years. Much rather use that on leather than fight with nylon!

If it is hard punching start with a small hole then make it bigger--works very well that way.
 
If you want to see what the harness looks like on my minis, I have a bunch of pictures of him posted on the "your drive day" thread. You will have to hunt around for them though. Both the black and bay minis are wearing the same harness that you have in all the pictures except for the sledding ones. The bay mini is wearing the same bridle but the black has a different one. The black mini has a very refined head and the bridle was just too much leather and too big. The bay is 30 inches and the black is 34 for reference.

I am too pooped out this week from the show to take any close ups of them, but after next weekend when I start driving again maybe I can.
 
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One needs a leather punch all the time. Harnesses are always in need of tweaking. My punch is very old and the common size is broken off, so I use the two sizes beside it. Why don't I buy a new one???
 

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