# New harness. How is the fit?



## WashingtonCowgirl (Sep 27, 2012)

Ok, so this was a little more awkward than I had expected lol. I ordered a stock harness, because I couldn't for the LIFE of me find a tape measure. I've also never measured his height... oops  I did pretty good at guessing apparently, because it's not too bad (at least, I don't THINK its that bad) It doesn't help that his topline is so awful right now. I'll be switching up his feeding program a bit after he moves to the new boarding place

Ok. So first few pictures are when I first put it on him. I couldn't figure out how on earth the crupper was SO long. Like, down touching the breeching long. Then I stood back and took a couple pictures and realized that the saddle was too far back, and that seemed to fix things.





His "Ugh, this again?" face  (I'd like to add at this point that he is tied by a halter. He was wearing his new bit to get used to it before we did a little ground driving)





After I fixed the saddle. Is it still too long?









From behind. Its not crooked, he was standing a little weird





All done










So, thoughts on fit?


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## studiowvw (Sep 27, 2012)

He looks really cute!

I'm not an expert, but the saddle should be a bit farther back - more like the 1st pic.

Can you shorten the back strap more?


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## WashingtonCowgirl (Sep 27, 2012)

studiowvw said:


> He looks really cute!
> 
> I'm not an expert, but the saddle should be a bit farther back - more like the 1st pic.
> 
> Can you shorten the back strap more?


Thanks



No, its on the shortest setting. If the saddle needs to sit back further than I will need to order a new one.


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## Matthijs (Sep 27, 2012)

you can get rid of the clip on the back strap that may just shorten it up enough. Saddle and girth should be in one line and yes it should sit further back. The way it sits now it would interfere with the leg movement.

As I said loose the clip and you may need to shorten the back strap or punch more holes in it, no biggie.

It is a saddle without sliding backband and with wrap straps, not for trail use. This type of setup is used in the showring.

The main reason for using wrap straps is to replace britching and sometimes even to pull the cart from the saddle.

If you want your horse to be comfortable

A) you use the breast collar and tugs for pulling

B) the saddle for direction, to keep the shafts from hitting the side of the horse, to limit upward movement by the under girth and downward movement by the tugs

C) the britching for breaking so the cart does not ride up the horse.

The sliding backband saddle allows more freedom for the horse in a two wheeled cart, when the horse turns like Ripley in my avatar you still have support in both tugs.

If you decide to keep this harness you can use it but I would just use it with the wrap straps through the tugs and not or only loosely around the shafts. That way your horse can move without jarring the cart.

Spend a few bucks and buy the little book understanding harness by Barb Lee, you will not regret it.

matthijs.


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## horsenarounnd (Sep 27, 2012)

Try taking out the snap between the back strap and saddle. Attach the back strap directly to the saddle through the ring on the back of the saddle. That will shorten the backstrap several inches and you should have no need to remove the breeching from the saddle. If that doesn't shorten the back strap enough, it appears that you still have several inches between the conway and where the hipstrap passes through - punch another hole and slide the conway further back. On some short backed horses I have had the conway buckle right up to the hip strap.


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## WashingtonCowgirl (Sep 27, 2012)

Ok will do! Besides the length of the backstrap does the rest look good?


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## jleonard (Sep 28, 2012)

This looks like an Ozark harness, or at least very similar, which are great starter harnesses for both recreation and the showring. Just because it does not have a sliding backband and open tugs does not mean that it is a showring-only harness. It will be an excellet harness for you both to learn with until you decide which way you want to take your driving and upgrade to the more specialized equipment.

You will not need to cinch the wrap straps down tight to keep the shafts from sliding forward as they do with show harnesses that do not have breeching. The purpose of the wrap straps in this case will be to keep the shafts from being able to tip up and possibly flip the cart over backwards. They will need to be sung enough that they are not drooping but not tight. I am sure there is a diagram on here somewhere with the correct way to wrap a wrap strap. Once you get all of the fit issues tweaked your horse will be very comfortable in this harness, I don't want you to get discouraged and think you bought the wrong thing.

Like others have said, move the saddle back and punch holes in the backstrap if it is still too long once the unnecessary clip is removed. Does the saddle have decent padding and a gullet or does it sit on his spine? If it is not rubbing his spine you might just lose the fleece, it is making the saddle sit funny and tilt backwards. This issue will be lessened when the fleece is broken in and not quite so fluffy, but unless you really need it for his comfort I'd do away with it.

The way your breeching is sitting now it looks pretty good. It may need tweaking once you get the backstrap issue sorted out. There is also room to punch holes where the crupper attaches. I have found that that is a good way to take up slack without pulling the hip strap too far forward. I haven't been on here much lately but seem to remember someone bought a very similar harness a few weeks ago and was having the same problems with the backstrap being super long, you might see if you can find the post and see if they came up with any creative solutions.

All in all it looks pretty good for your first fitting attempt!


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## WashingtonCowgirl (Sep 28, 2012)

Thanks! Yes, it is an Ozark Pleasure harness. As everything stands now, the plan is to get him going good with a cart and then get a hyperbike and more of a trail type harness.

I'm honestly not sure if the saddle will pinch/rub him without the fleece, but I think I'm just going to leave it and break it in. I'm not putting him to a cart for at least a couple weeks depending on how often I can get to the barn. We will be doing tons of ground driving in harness from now till then, so time to break everything in and make any needed adjustments. I will take a look for that other thread





I really hope that the breeching doesn't need adjusting down, as it is on the longest hole already.


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## hobbyhorse23 (Sep 28, 2012)

Ah, that stupid snap. The first thing I do is chuck it when I get a new backstrap from Ozark! LOL. Should fix a lot of your problem and the rest can be addressed by punching more holes in the crupper straps. Looks like the breeching is about the right length for his bum and you have the height about right...the holdbacks look like a good length. You'll probably find the hip strap is pulled forward when you get the backstrap shortened up, which is a bit of a bummer. His browband appears a bit tight and uncomfortable, you may want to exchange it for a longer one. Can you post a picture with the breastcollar so we can check that? That's often the hardest part to fit and if the traces aren't right you'll need to exchange it before you can drive.



Matthijs said:


> It is a saddle without sliding backband and with wrap straps, not for trail use. This type of setup is used in the showring.The main reason for using wrap straps is to replace britching and sometimes even to pull the cart from the saddle.
> 
> If you decide to keep this harness you can use it but I would just use it with the wrap straps through the tugs and not or only loosely around the shafts. That way your horse can move without jarring the cart.


I'm with Jessica here, this is a perfectly fine trail harness and I used one just like it from Ozark for years. Yes, a sliding backband is BETTER over rough ground. Yes, open tugs are BETTER, especially with a well-balanced cart. But properly adjusted wrap straps (snug but not tight) are perfectly comfortable and vastly improve the ride of a not-quite-perfectly-balanced cart like most EE's for both horse and driver. I tried putting the wrap straps just through the tugs once thinking self-righteously that surely that would be just like open tugs, and OMG!!



Never again! Kody begging me within minutes to stop and do them up properly as the cart was flopping and slapping all over the place. Drove us both nuts!

Nice leather wraps will stretch and absorb a lot of the jolting without transferring it to the horse too much unless you cinch them down way too tight. The shafts can still float up when your weight goes in the cart but they're held in place by the leather so they can't oscillate so much and irritate you both. I base my opinion on that of my horse, who never hesitated to let me know when he felt something was uncomfortable or not up to his standards.



Kody loved his Ozark harness and is still very happy to have me put it on (wrap straps and all) after driving in his sbb/open tug ComfyFit harness for years. He likes the soft leather and how light it is and doesn't mind the wrap straps at all. He DOES mind driving the EE in the much "better" trail harness because the shafts bounce and the draft is too high. He'd rather wear the Ozark saddle for pulling that one.



jleonard said:


> Does the saddle have decent padding and a gullet or does it sit on his spine? If it is not rubbing his spine you might just lose the fleece, it is making the saddle sit funny and tilt backwards. This issue will be lessened when the fleece is broken in and not quite so fluffy, but unless you really need it for his comfort I'd do away with it.


I think the fleece is pretty much a necessity with Ozark saddles. They're better padded than most mini harnesses but nowhere near enough to keep the check hook from rubbing against the spine especially with a load in the tugs. I think most of the awkward angle is because the saddle was sitting too far forward in those pictures and was up on the withers, tipping it back. Should be much better once properly positioned!

Leia


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## WashingtonCowgirl (Sep 28, 2012)

I will fix that and then get more pictures (including ones with the breast collar), though it won't be for about a week as this weekend is crazy busy. The browband wasn't tight, but it was on over the halter and he wanted to go out for a walk so he would toss his head a bit and mess it up. I might just remove it though, as we aren't using it for anything but ground driving.


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## lucky seven (Sep 29, 2012)

Thanks for showing those photos, I have been looking at those ozark harnesses too. I plan to take lessons before I buy because at this point I don't know what the parts are for. lol, did you also buy a cart from them? Is your boy trained to drive or was he just modeling.


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## WashingtonCowgirl (Sep 29, 2012)

lucky seven said:


> Thanks for showing those photos, I have been looking at those ozark harnesses too. I plan to take lessons before I buy because at this point I don't know what the parts are for. lol, did you also buy a cart from them? Is your boy trained to drive or was he just modeling.


Yes I did. There were no issues and they have great customer service. I also ordered a few other things from them as well. He has had 50 days with Patty Cloake, but I have no idea how much was actually accomplished during that time so I started him over (sort of) I basically just started from the beginning and moved to something new every other day to see if there were any holes in his training. I've driven him 2 or 3 times, but the cart I was using was a deathtrap and his harness wasn't adjusted very well. Lets just say I'm very lucky that he has a VERY solid temperament


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