Nylon Harnesses

[Feather1414]

Found one on the sale board actually and I am planning on buying it. Just for training of course. Currently I do have a leather one that I use, but I figured I could use a second harness and it would probably work really well for driving down the roads around here and such.

Experiences with nylon vs leather harnesses?

I don't think I have ever seen a topic on this and I was just wondering.

 

[Katiean]

I have a nylon harness and I would only use it for training or run about the neighborhood. I only bought it because my other harness would not fit (too big) my 32" mare and I could not find a leather harness to fit her. I only paid around $35 for my nylon harness (complete) and I don't think I would pay more than that for one. They are easy enough to clean but they just are not that pretty.

 

[stormy]

Nylon harness comes in all differant qualities. The one I have is fully lined and padded, double stitched, really a quality harness. I have had one that was narrow and very sharp and caused sores were it would rub. Check the quality, well made they are an excellent trail harness, easy to maintain and very strong. Take a knife though when on the trail, if you get in a bad situation they do not break.

 

[Bluerocket]

Have never seen one I would consider using -- usually the crupper looks very uncomfortable and the blinkers are missing the stays.

If I were looking for a non-leather harness - I would go with betathane or biothane - not nylon.

I have discovered that with harnesses (as in many other things) you get what you pay for.

JJay

 

[Feather1414]

The one I am looking has a leather crupper, leather saddle and caveson. It has blinders and really looks fairly decent. I figure I will try. If not I can always re-sell.

 

[maryann]

We used one once on a horse we were training. Hated it. It streatches and does not fit well

at all. I think the lady that bought it for her horse paid over a hundred dollars for it. She was

trying to save a few dollars over a leather one. It ended up costing her as she ordered a

leather one soon after she got her horse home .

Mary

 

[CZP1]

Nylon is good for training a young horse and getting a horse used to a harness and the fittings. I would just ground drive a horse with a nylon harness

But as everybody said, you get what you pay for, sometimes you come across a great bargain and will serve it's purpose.

 

[Minimor]

Be sure to check measurements carefully before buying. Some nylon harnesses fit so badly, I have to wonder what they were actually made for. The ones I have seen in person, well, if you had a horse that actually fit them, it would be a very oddly proportioned horse.

These days there may be some better quality nylon harness out there, but I still see some very poor ones too.

 

[Katiean]

The nylon harness I bought has a thick attached pad on the saddle. It actually is built just like a leather harness but it is nylon. I still will only use it for training. I am still punching holes in mine to make it smaller and more. I still wish I could find a leather harness that would fit my girls. They just look better.

 

[Boinky]

maybe now a days they have better ones but all the nylon ones i've ever tried the nylon swells and is hard to get in and out of buckles (just like on older halters that have been out in the weather ect). they also get frayed. I'm very ANTI-NYLON. if thatss all i had i'd use it but i go to every effort to avoid it.

 

[disneyhorse]

Nylon is only good for stable halters.

Andrea

 

[Laura]

*IF* you modify it to put leather breakway sections on every SINGLE attachment, I might say it's OK to use....well, no I wouldn't

Nylon does not break. Leather does. That could be the difference between your life or your horse's life. The absolute last place you should use a nylon harness is on a green horse...

 

[_minihorses4ever_]

Nylon is only good for stable halters.

Andrea

I agree.. I will always use leather harnesses.

 

[whitney]

I have a nylon harness, it was given to me by my cousin. I wanted to make sure driving was for me before I bought an expensive one. I like it so well I've yet to spent the money for a synthetic. I have a synthetic dressage saddle that I just hose off. After 30+ years of saddle soaping and oiling leather you couldn't give me a leather ANYTHING. After driving now for 3 years with my freebee I have set my sights on a synthetic. Also the nylon helped me learn how to adjust and fit a harness properly, you can modify them with scissors, hot nails, and yes Ginia dog collars.

Here's Tweet in her "free" nylon harness. I did bling bling up the headstall.

 

[Laura]

[SIZE=12pt]The main difference between a synthetic saddle (yes, they do rock!) and a harness is that to be safe, a harness has to be made to break in an emergency.

[/SIZE]

 

[hobbyhorse23]

[SIZE=12pt]The main difference between a synthetic saddle (yes, they do rock!) and a harness is that to be safe, a harness has to be made to break in an emergency.

[/SIZE]

Tell that to all the top level International combined driving competitors who use synthetic harnesses for marathon. I don't think a single one of them uses leather for the cross-country phase! Dressage and cones, yes, but not marathon where they are asking the horse to lunge forward through deep footing at a gallop, hit the water at full speed, make sharp fast corners and hold the cart back going down steep slopes at a run. Good lord, if something broke there you're dead. (I've got a video of it happening if you want, and that was a synthetic harness that broke.

) That's why you use quick-release shackles and carry a knife.

To me the problem with most (not all) nylon harnesses is that they are poorly designed, poorly fitted, and usually not up to the job they are marketed for. The better ones have felt padding under the breastcollar, saddle, and hopefully other places like maybe the breeching. Anywhere that bare nylon touches the horse under pressure it is going to rub, maybe break hairs, and certainly dig in and cause discomfort. Nylon that gets dirty and wet is stiff and nasty. Most synthetic harnesses ARE nylon but covered with a slick plastic coating that is easy to clean and gentler on the horse. I grew up trail riding my big horse with a nylon headstall and the old felt/canvas girths and well remember the rubs and how nasty the tack got. We always padded our girths with fleece and were careful to keep the bridles clean and dry. As a non-weight-bearing part the bridle (like our nylon barn halters) was usually fine.

I use a felt-padded nylon surcingle for my lunging and grounddriving work and have no problems but that's because all it's doing is holding the reins up. I wouldn't want to see that same saddle holding up cart shafts or even being used for lunging with side-reins because with any pressure on it it's suddenly being pulled in odd ways and becomes uncomfortable for the horse. Nylon by itself is not an evil material and I have seen one or two good harnesses made from it. They had padded treed saddles and padding EVERYWHERE to keep the nylon off the horse, something you can do aftermarket with some good harness pads or sheepskin tubes. But most of the ones I've seen in the mini tack catalogues I wouldn't trust for more than putting on the horse to wear loose in the roundpen just to get used to the feel of straps on their body.

Leia

 

[whitney]

Laura I'm not convinced that a partially broken harness is better than a fully attached harness on a runaway. Do you have any personal experience that you could share? It was also brought up on another thread that a mini would have a hard time breaking a good leather harness?

 

[Feather1414]

*IF* you modify it to put leather breakway sections on every SINGLE attachment, I might say it's OK to use....well, no I wouldn't

Nylon does not break. Leather does. That could be the difference between your life or your horse's life. The absolute last place you should use a nylon harness is on a green horse...

I wasn't planning on using it on a green horse. Just Dealer for country drives. I do have a leather one and I love it. However I do use it in the show ring sometimes and I would like to have one to drive around the roads and trails out here.

Plus I try and get my horses used to everything. The other day I was driving down a road and a VERY loud truck blew past me. It was Dealers first drive in a year and he barely flinched.

 

[Laura]

[SIZE=12pt]You bet

My story involves not a nylon harness, but a VERY thick & cheap leather harness. When Mia was 2, she and I were driving her little gelding Teddy. Teddy was a very experienced CDE horse with literally thousands of miles in harness. He was super sweet and steady as he could be. [/SIZE]

Mia and I were driving around a large square drive around our neigbor's property at a good road trot when Teddy suddenly went airborne and bolted. This wasn't a spook or a canter, he was flat out and twisting & , bucking as hard as he could. When I tried to pull him around to circle, the cart flipped. Mia was thrown out, thank God. I'm tearing up and shaking just remembering watching her fly out of the cart. As the cart rolled, my left leg was trapped underneath and Teddy dragged the cart and me about 50' before I could wrestle his head around enough to get him stopped. I pushed myself away from the sideways cart, tring to free myself and he was leaping forward panicking, dragging me each time. I was on my belly, but free of the cart, still trying to hold onto him when he got enough momentum going to drag me again and I had to turn him loose.

I crawled to Mia (since I couldn't walk with a shattered lower leg), who was on her feet crying and scooped her up and looked for injuries. She was FINE, by the grace of God. It took about 10 minutes for one of the drivers going by on the highway to realize that I wasn't just waving, I was flagging them down for help. The wonderful lady called 911 and got first responders there, then an ambulance.

By the time Teddy was found more than 2 hours later, he had himself wedged into one of our large dog kennels, the cart still attached and on it's side, one shaft between his legs. Luckily he had only bruising and scrapes from bouncing off of trees & fences in his panic stricken run home. Who knows what all happened between where the accident happened and where he was found.

If we had had a good quality harness, I do believe he would have been able to break free of the cart during one of his many apparent collisions with things along the way. If my leg or body had been trapped in that harness (or a nylon harness), I would have been killed, there is no question in my mind about it.

We were SO lucky. Mia ended up with one tiny bruise on her forehead. When I had a chance to look at my leg, my foot was turned at a 45 degree angle to my lower leg. I ended up with all joints in my left ankle completely ripped apart and a shattered/crushed heel and mid-foot, where it had been dragged under the cart. I still walk with a limp much of the time.

None of this could have been prevented with a different harness of course, but poor Teddy would probably have at least been able to get away from the cart. If Mia or I had been tangled in the harness.... I can't even think of that:::::Shudder:::

The point is, we ALL want to stay safe and keep our horses safe. In a nylon harness, you have next to NO chance that it will break in an emergency. With a leather harness, you have a CHANCE, and some chance is better than none...

 

[susanne]

Laura,

Thank you for sharing what I'm sure is a horrible incident to relive. I've thought of your story many times, and am so thankful that Mia was not hurt and that your injuries were no more serious than they were. I wish every driver could read your story -- especially those who think that nothing can go wrong with such a small horse.

I have to say, though, that it reaffirms my strong belief that we should never assume that any harness, no matter what the material, will break and ALWAYS carry an appropriate knife for emergencies. I realize that a knife would not have helped in your case, but I'm not sure that a higher quality harness, with its corresponding better hardware, would necessarily have broken.

Every harness (and cart) is a potential danger for driver and horse, and we all would do well by considering what we would do in the worst case scenario.