Can anyone offer suggestions where to find...

[EnJay]

Hi all....I am finally ready to start driving, so I went through the equiptment I have. Unfortuantly, I am missing the martingale, a caveson and most importantly, Blinders on the headstall!! The gal I bought the harness from had apparently cut them off for some reason. Anyway, I found a few places for the martingale and caveson but NOTHING for blinders. Anyone have any suggestions? Dumb question, but can I glue thick pieces of leather back on? Or something else? I've seen the blinders that go on like fly masks but still cant find them online. Any suggestions would be GREATLY appreciated, I really want to start

 

[MagicTheMini]

Those are three things you do not need to drive. I have never used a martingale and I rarely (only at shows, bacause they are required) use a caveson and blinders. You can find all three things at minitack.com. L

 

[MyLilShowGirl]

IMO...all these pieces are necessary(not so much the martingale...but I like using one) , so make sure you get them before you drive.

Do you have a local harness maker??If so, Im sure you can talk to them and get these pieces made.

Good luck!

Kris

 

[hobbyhorse23]

Those are three things you do not need to drive. I have never used a martingale and I rarely (only at shows, bacause they are required) use a caveson and blinders. You can find all three things at minitack.com. L

:aktion033:

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Martingales are NOT necessary to drive, and while cavessons are a good idea and blinders required in the ring, none of them are necessary to start driving your horse at home. My horse much prefers to drive in an open bridle and is actually much less spooky that way as he can see what is causing scary noises. You need to train your horse to drive "open" if that harness didn't come with him, but if it did then you can hitch up and go! (Yes, there should be major caveats here about green drivers not trying dangerous things with green horses, etc.; please understand that I'm abbreviating because my hands hurt today.

: Use common sense and never assume your horse is trained for anything!)

Most harness makers don't advertise bits and pieces like that, but you can order them from just about anyone who sells harness. All you have to do is ask- that's the great secret of buying harness. :bgrin

Leia

 

[Minimor]

I definitely agree with Leia. You do not "need" a martingale--I've been driving, first Morgans & now Minis, for years and have never used a martingale (I don't even have a martingale). Some horses prefer an open bridle, a few do better with blinkers, and many will drive with or without blinkers. As for the cavesson, I seldom use one outside of the show ring. That might be "never" use one outside of the showring. I always pulled the cavessons off my english bridles when riding, and I don't think I've yet had one of my Mini cavessons out of the harness bag.

If your horses is already trained to harness, you'll just have to make sure he is comfortable at being driven in the open bridle. A horse that's always driven with blinkers can find it unnerving to find himself hitched up and able to see what is behind him, so just do some ground work to make sure he's comfortable with seeing as well as hearing what's coming along behind. If he hasn't been driven previously & you're just starting him now, he'll get used to the open bridle from start to finish, & shouldn't be a problem.

 

[ClickMini]

You can get any of the harness pieces from Ken and Cindy Porter at http://www.horsecarts.com I actually just ordered some bits and pieces from them myself. In order to get a harness with the blinders, you may actually need to order a new headstall. All of the pieces are kind of connected together. Talk with Ken or Cindy and I am sure they can help you determine what you need.

 

[EnJay]

Thanks so much for all the helpful information, I will defiantly checkout those sites... The miniature I am getting (next week...YEAH, I'm so excited!) has been trained with the martingale, caveson and blinders so I want to continue with what he is used to. Maybe at some point when I am more comfortable I can experiment without the blinders etc but right now I just feel more comfortable doing exactly the same as he's used to if that makes sence Thank you SO very much and I will start searching!!

 

[dangerranger]

Keeping your horse comfortable in like equipment is very smart. you may find that what you need will come cheaper as a complete headstall. there are not a lot of harness makers on the west coast. so you may have to search the internet. DR.

 

[rabbitsfizz]

The cavesson does nothing- or really should NOT do anything, it is not intended to so I really would not worry about it.

If the martingale is doing anything I would really look at getting your horses teeth floated and then maybe getting him a few lessons with a good trainer as, again, the martingale should not be doing anything at all, in a well trained, happy horse.

The blinders are a matter of choice- I have never used them and, luckily for me, I do not have to use them even in the ring here, as Open or Closed bridles are a matter of choice.

Whilst I agree completely with keeping the horse happy, I can assure you the martingale will do nothing towards achieving this - that is there for driver comfort and is often at the horses expense.

It goes without saying that the same applies to my bête noir, the check rein.

 

[EnJay]

All good points....The owner indicated she trained him using the martingale and caveson so, being a "driving newbie" per say I really didnt know what was needed. I wanted to keep using what she was using as not to (un-nerve myself perhaps while on my own?!) So can someone explain then what the martingale is actually doing? And I was also told the caveson was so the horse cannot "spit the bit out", so if it is and its not there, then what?

 

[rabbitsfizz]

If the martingale is correctly adjusted it can help out if you are not sure of your hands (how good/bad they are) to do this it should be in line with the level of the reins when you are holding them in the correct, relaxed , position.

This will mean that should you accidentally raise you hands the reins will still go in line to the bit- it gives you a bit of leeway for a few silly mistakes that anyone can make, and means the horse is still comfortable.

Any other use is actually incorrect- the running martingale was never devised to actually lower the horses head- only keep it in line with the bit.

It prevented the horse putting it's head up over the line of the bit, nothing more.

You can see how adding a tight martingale to the harness of a horse with it's head oiked up in the air by a check rein would cause huge discomfort.

The martingale should not be regarded as anything other than a training aid and will not be found on any European harness, ever!!

 

[EnJay]

Thanks Rabbit! That makes me feel alot better. I defiantly think then it would be a good choice as used how you mentioned in the first part...I am green at driving and learning myself, so that bit of lee way makes all the difference to me in "not screwing him up" if you know what I mean.

What about the Caveson? Is there anything else I can use/make to accomplish the same thing? I'd like to get some new items that I can actually see and feel at the show here in March; until then I'd like to go the "frugal" route

 

[Minimor]

I would point out that people often misuse the cavesson. Really the cavesson is supposed to be nothing more than decoration, but people often use it to keep the horse's mouth closed. To do this the cavesson must be over-tightened, and then it crams the horse's cheeks into his molars, which is not a comfortable thing for him. If it's necessary to keep the horse's mouth closed one should use a dropped noseband or a flash cavesson.

Some people also believe that the cavesson holds the blinkers in against the horse's cheeks. While a "noseband" that is nothing more than a strap that runs through the cheeks & buckles around the nose, it may serve this purpose somewhat. The thing is, your higher end bridles have a separate cavesson which does not run through the cheekpieces, and this proper cavesson will do absolutely nothing to hold the blinkers in against the horse's cheeks. A well made, properly fitted bridle should not gap away from the face, but if it does to some extent then a shoelace run from cheek to cheek, across the nose, will fix the problem. A narrow little lace will be barely noticeable, and won't squeeze the horse's cheeks into his teeth.

In harness a martingale isn't so much for the driver's hands raising too high--after all, with the lines run through the turrets no matter where the driver's hands are, the lines always run straight from turret to bit! When riding, yes, the martingale can compensate for the rider's hands being too high. In both riding and driving, if the horse sticks his nose up & out, without a martingale a snaffle bit will pull up into his molars--the horse can evade the bit this way, and at the same time may resist even more because the bit--especially a jointed snaffle--will crush his cheeks against his molars--again, causing him pain, and this in turn creates more resistance. If the horse is wearing a martingale & shoots his nose up and out, the martingale will cause the reins to continue to work on the tongue and bars--the downward pressure created by the martingale prevents the bit from riding up in the mouth. Thus the rider/driver has better control of the horse.