My new harness; shaped breast collar

[paintponylvr]

Ok, I didn't want to steal a couple of other threads. But I stated that I would post pics when I finally got it...

I wanted to order it way back last fall/winter - but it didn't work out to do so. I was able to order it and as luck would have it, I ended up picking it up in person instead of having it shipped. Thought it was sooo cool, pulled it out of the box (I'd ordered two - one for me and one for my pony driving friend who also got some extra things that I also picked up...)...

So - I wanted something similar to the marathon type harness (s) made by a couple of different companies - but knew I didn't have the funds right now for that... Need to sell a couple more ponies! Anyhoo - thought it looked great and I was thrilled! Made a mistake - didn't lay it completely out on the counter, the floor or on a sawhorse and totally missed that the hold backs I thought I'd ordered weren't there! On either harness. sigh.

So will have to order those - for both harness (s).

On the plus side - it's beautiful! I was soooo excited to finally get it - as soon as the farrier was ready to leave this am, I ignored my grumbling tummy for a while and got the harness sized and tried out on a pony I got back from a trainer in March and havent' worked yet due to a lot ofissues (she came home sick... refusing to eat and underweight - have fixed that)... Even sorta hitched her and ground drove her with the sulky cart.

They went over and above what I was looking for and it's good to go. It's supposed to be a small pony harness and parts of it definitely are. Others seem large/small. Not to worry - I will make the adjustments.

The headstall is all stitched! No rivets anywhere this time. I got an open one but when I get my holdbacks, I will go ahead and order the blinders so that I can swap them back and forth. I had them do the buckle lines rather than the conway buckle lines they normally do. It came with their "normal" 1/2 noseband, but I had them include an extra strap for a noseband. It is a snug fit in the area of the bit, so I expect it will stay w/o a problem. It doesn't pinch, so I left the 1/2 noseband on the headstall.

The breast collar is shaped with buckle in traces. Seems a bit long for a small pony harness, but maybe not. The trainer was driving this young mare in a mini harness (my mini harness hasn't ever fit her). It is lined with lining leather (i think - it's sssoooo cushy!!). I could see using this harness w/o the padding that I went ahead and purchased too.

I ordered this harness with my smaller ponies in mind. This saddle is sized more for them, I think. I haven't tried it on any of them yet... Got home at 11 pm, Thurs nite and did chores, unloaded the 4 ponies I took to OH with me for other harness sizing and help w/ lines for a multiple hitch & cleaned them up, into bed and then back up by 6 am to do chores before farrier arrived at 9. Friend came by and picked up her harness but gave me a hand w/ this pony and the harness and took pics w/ my camera.

This 4 yr old mare is 1/2 shetland, 1/4 arab and 1/4 hackney pony. She's a bit smaller than I was expecting her to be - think the last time I measured her she was 43" at the withers. She's definitely grown, but didn't "stick" her yet. She is bigger thru the barrel than the ponies I bought this harness for - but as long as it will work on her - I will use it until I have to order a larger one. So the gig saddle part is a little shorter than I think it should be, but the girth works well on her. The shaft carriers are sitting high - tieing into the too short part? The saddle is shaped a bit - again following the draft design, but not as obvious and it works for me. There is a "tree" of sorts - but not as sturdy/stiff/solid as some that I've seen. It will work for my needs at this time.

The backstrap is too long and so is the "y" split for the crupper. But we were able to get the back strap adjusted by really doing up the holes. I will need to punch more holes in the "Y" split for the crupper - since have to go back up to OH, will take it w/ me and have them do the holes...

The breeching is OK - but will be too short from ring to ring around her haunches when she's mature and muscled from driving. Again, I didn't plan on using this harness for her - but would only need to add/change out a couple of things to use it on her as well w/o purchasing another complete harness. The traces are run thru the breeching ring to keep them from dragging while ground driving and this pic was before we did a 3rd time of shortening the back strap...

The complete pic of her ground driving -

and after htching her -

The best part - I spent less than $300 for this harness - even with the extra blinders and the holdbacks. And to get an idea on the size of this mare - the cart wheels are 20". This is the cart that I got - well used - in 1997 with this mare's granddam - Satin, a registered Hackney, is 48" at the withers w/ a drop, she was 19 yrs old in the below pic and had been shown the 1st 14 years of her life before I got her.

 

[Marsha Cassada]

Lots to look at and think about in your good photos.

 

[maggiemae]

Who is that your driving

 

[paintponylvr]

In the first part of my post, I'm driving a 4 yr old 1/2 shetland mare, Flower - AKA - LP Painted FluerDeLis. She is sired by our Shetland stallion - All That Style N Class and out of our 1/2 Arabian 1/2 Hackney pony mare - Star - AKA - hnh Star Games.

This is the first time I've had her hitched and the first time I'd seen her hitched. I'd just pulled her out of the pasture and knocked the hair/dirt off of her. She came back from the trainers in beginning of March (she was supposed to stay until the middle/end of April) because she went thru a 2nd period of refusing to eat and was losing too much weight. Even after first getting her back home - she took a while to get back on feed... Vet said she was OK as far as they could tell - we didn't run any blood tests. Her manure was "normal" for her and she WAS drinking. I think she quit drinking properly from the trainers' auto waterers. Every time I stopped on the way home - she drank two buckets(the mini sized ones) of water. It was only a 3 hour drive! But I made sure I stopped as it had turned hot and I found out right before leaving that she was thirsty when she sucked down what I'd left hanging in the trailer from the previous day... The trainer actually thinks I'm off my gourd letting her go so long befor working her, but I wanted her good and settled in AND then I needed to get a harness that would fit her... I wasn't expecting this one to fit her but this works...

The dark pony pictured at the bottom is her grand dam - registered hackney pony - Silk N Satin. The woman who purchased her from me was driving her here. I bought her back early the next spring when she was closer to foaling when they decided they didn't want to deal with a foal. They then leased a series of ponies from me as their daughter grew - both in size and in riding ability. Satin had two more foals for us before I resold her at 23 years of age. She became a treasured dressage lesson pony at a barn about 40 miles from us.

The cart is the same - just different wheels/tires - same size as previous and has been refurbished due to the old wood on the shafts splitting and the circle bar getting cracked when another pony had a "melt down" on the trail.

 

[rabbitsfizz]

It looks quite a nice harness for the money but the saddle doesn't do it for me and I would not be using it without padding- also it seems an awful long way back on your pony (nice pony btw, love the breeding|!)

 

[paintponylvr]

Jane -

Well, I did get the pads for both the saddle and the breast collar. Other than the western saddle pad you see under the gig saddle on the old Hackney mare above, I've never used any padding on our harness before. Not a problem, I can certainly pad it.

As to it being too far back ?? The front of the saddle is right at the base of her withers. Flower's withers, at a young age, seem to be doing what her grand dam's withers did - tall, narrow and knifey. Great for riding with a tall gulleted saddle, but not so great for driving, LOL. Even the trainer's fully treed, with room at the gullet, marathon saddle (camptown) didn't really sit any higher/closer forward unless you actually seat the harness saddle on her withers. Sorry, I don't have any pics of that. In fact the only pics I have are the handful I took when I spent 3 days with the trainer in December before leaving this mare there...and these.

I can play with it some. I can also get a larger gig saddle, with straight edges and maybe a bit wider for her larger size...

Your recommendations?

AND THANK you on the compliments on this young mare. I REALLY wish her dam was large enough or better yet, I was small enough to ride her. She's a lovely mover and WONDERFUL little horse/medium pony.

 

[rabbitsfizz]

I could see she was built like an Arab!! I guessed the reason was as you have said it, too...I wonder if anyone has ever had a cut back harness saddle made??

You can always send the mare over to me, she would be a perfect height for me to ride!

 

[paintponylvr]

I was also looking for the pics of Star (Flower's dam) showing her withers - I don't seem to have a lot... LOL. Here's one of me lounging/circle driving her before actually hooking up both driving lines and ground driving her from behind. She is also a tough one to fit, though this heavier quick hitch, training harness (when used completely it has everything for training Hackney ponies except the hip strap and breeching) fits her ...

I don't have her "driving" videos in the Photobucket account - they wouldn't load properly and then play, so I just have them here at home... And they aren't on this computer.

I'd love to have Star have a job. I think she misses having a regular "job". The girls are all too big for her now - 'Dira is lite enuf but her legs would wrap around her. Sierra is taller than me and almost my size... Skye never actually rode Star that I'm am aware of and she, too, is very tall and between 'Dira & Sierra in weight. I could sure work something on her purchase price, but I can't "send" her over for you, LOL. I could do my part of the quarantine and testing and get her to where she needs to be to embark on crossing the big pond but that would be as much as I could do...

I have a lot of memories of Star with two of our daughters'. They aren't professional shots and maybe positioning isn't perfect but they are just cool shots (TO ME) - especially since I was the one who took the shots, LOL.

I won't put up any more photos of Star, Flower's dam, since they are all riding or standing shots but she does have the knifey withers too and from pretty much a yearling all the way to now. She currently doesn't have a lot of wither - simply because she's put weight back on since her last foal was weaned and she pasture round (looks a little "porky"!)...

 

[paintponylvr]

Wynn would kill me if she knew I still had this picture out there... But in it's own way it's a beautiful shot of Star and I don't think it's too bad. Wish I was that small...

Here's a pic of her with a smaller adult who knows how to ride and ask for proper collection/movement.

** if she had proper driving training added in - she'd be a well rounded pony!! **

 

[susanne]

WOW. If we were able to add another horse, I'd arm wrestle Jane for Star! She's my kind of pony (and even though Mingus is a gelding, he loves tall, leggy bay mares, lol!).

I always love the comment that with Hackney Ponies, the neck and tail practically come out of the same slot...

 

[rabbitsfizz]

Wouldn't she look AWESOME in pairs with Mingus???

 

[susanne]

.

...sigh...

EXACTLY what I was thinking, Jane!