Interchangeable breastcollars?

[HoneyPie]

Will a comfy fit breastcollar buckle into a ozark carriage traces? Also i am considering purchasing a full comfy fit harness for my other gelding and hope to put them to pair next year on a four wheel carriage. I see on on Chimacum's website you can change out parts to make a single into a pairs. Has anybody done this and do they like the setup? Also are the pairs parts compatible with the ozark harness or will I have to purchase a pairs harness made by the same company?

And this is a next year purchase but I am currently considering the mini undercut market cart from Oxbow carriage, anybody have an opinion on this? I don't want a marathon or a buckboard.

Thank you.

 

[Matthijs]

We have the Comfy fit pair harness and added the pieces to use them for singles. This works like a charm! Now the other way not so easy the breast collar for a pair has two D rings attached to the front sides, these are to attach to the pair pole or the yoke.

I think these rings can be added, but there is a cost besides shipping back and forth.

When ordering the pair harness you will need to add tugs, we opted for the quick release, they work in all aplications. You will also need two sets of reins, one pair and four singles is what we have.

We opted for the saddle with the sliding backband, that works for us as we do not own a four wheel wagon with independent shafts, we only have two wheeled carts so the sliding backband provides more comfort for the horse in turns as it will distribute the pressure, (if any) to both tugs evenly.

We also upgraded all the reins to leather. We have the leather pair reins and then two pair of 7" reins for the HyperBike and two pairs of 12" reins for the smart cart and the Amish training cart.

Then lastly we added two full collars and hames also from Chimacum Tack. ( with longer holdback straps, martingale and water hook straps)

It seems like a little overkill, but we are extremely flexible now and know that our horses are able to do their job in comfort no matter what we hitch them to.

 

[HoneyPie]

Do you like the collars and hames? I considers putting them both in draft style since they are both heavier bred minis. I might just order a set of pairs and buy single parts if I need to. Thank you for your info.

 

[Matthijs]

Yes, we love the full collars and hames, they have a lower angle of draft wich is perfect for the HyperBikes and would also be preferable if you were to do any heavy pulling like harrowing or the like.

For most carts you would want to lower the single tree.

Another big plus side we discovered was that the horses are moving their shoulders more freely.

All in all I would say thumbs up for collars and hames.

Only drawback of going for a work harness is that it is not so easy to use for single horse, the saddle is just not made for use with tugs and having shafts hang off it.

There are some makers that supplie ad on pieces but I am not impressed with them, I would not want my horses to have to endure that kind of discomfort.

 

[HoneyPie]

I have single harness for my EE cart. I would only do collar and hames when I put them to pairs in my four wheel carriage. I had heard several people say the collar really freed up their shoulders and increased their pulling power. I have no intention of putting them to any heavy pulling but if I can make their regular work easier I am all for it.

 

[studiowvw]

Hello - I used my Ozark carriage harness traces buckled into the Comfyfit deluxe breastcollar while I was deciding whether the Comfyfit traces could be modified (they were too long). There was no problem buckling them in.

 

[HoneyPie]

Studiowvw- Thank you.

 

[hobbyhorse23]

Also i am considering purchasing a full comfy fit harness for my other gelding and hope to put them to pair next year on a four wheel carriage. I see on on Chimacum's website you can change out parts to make a single into a pairs. Has anybody done this and do they like the setup? Also are the pairs parts compatible with the ozark harness or will I have to purchase a pairs harness made by the same company?

Like Mattijs, I have. I already had two Sport Harnesses, Kody's old brass from Camptown and Turbo's new stainless one from ComfyFit, so I simply ordered pair reins, two new deluxe pair breastcollars with the D's and breeching attachments, two sets of tug replacement straps and side holdbacks. A second complete set of traces and leaving the breeching attached to the pair breastcollar means that to switch back to single harness all I have to do is reattach the tugs and single harness holdbacks and I'm done. It's still inconvenient to make sure I have all the parts and keep them where I can find them, but it's better than having to buy a second complete set of nearly identical harness when you're on a budget. Since you'll need to buy the pair breastcollar and all it's assorted parts anyway for the horse in the Ozark harness, I'd personally go ahead and buy the saddle, bridle and breeching to go with it and have two complete single harnesses and a matching pair set. I'm with Mattijs and have the sliding backbands for my boys, they're really great for single work and don't seem to cause any problems in the pair turnout. I am not a fan of the leather products from Chimacum, would definitely consider them a "downgrade" due to the quality. Their synthetic stuff is the best in the business though! I do have the leather-lined harness and it's fine in that context.

Leia