# Bought a harness



## Rocklone Miniature Horses (May 2, 2014)

Disposable money is hard to come by but i worked very hard last month to be able to afford a harness. Here is hoping it fits, as i have been told it comes up large. It is all i can afford, so my driving dreams are based on it! Now to learn how to put it on...


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## MiniNHF (May 2, 2014)

Make sure you when you take it apart to take pictures of it first so you remember how to put it back together. May sound silly but I looked even more like an idiot when I couldnt figure it out LOL. Ive taken every piece of tack apart before and put it back together because they love teach you that in pony club and my silly self thought this wouldnt be any different; boy was I wrong haha.


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## Renolizzie (May 2, 2014)

I hope it fits.

I just bought a fairly inexpensive harness for my bigger mini. I am hoping it fits, as well


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## poniesrule (May 2, 2014)

Ditto on the pictures!!! It took me almost a day the first time I took mine apart, I had to go online & figure out where each piece went! There are a couple exploded labeled pictures here, search for them, they are AWESOME! When I bought my first mini, he came with his harness, so I bought another harness for my other guy but guess what, didn't fit... I am now on harness 4 and praying it works! It's not as easy to re-sell them as I thought it would be. The hubs is a little annoyed with all the leather hanging in his garage! Oh, and definitely post pictures of your guy/gal in harness, everyone is super helpful with fitting questions


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## Rocklone Miniature Horses (May 2, 2014)

It will come apart so I'll have to build it up anyway. But if it doesn't fit it's being returned and I'll be giving up. Can't afford to go higher for something I really don't need lol


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## Marsha Cassada (May 2, 2014)

Every driver has to start somewhere! I'm sure you can make it work unless it is totally out of size.

The headstall is the most critical. My advice is to take off all the check parts, over or side, until you have it fitted properly.


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## lucky seven (May 2, 2014)

_I have the same problem, not a lot of money and the first harness didn't fit. I want American made but find them high priced for a mini that may not have any interest._


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## paintponylvr (May 2, 2014)

IF you at all crafty - you can make a harness yourself. I even have two that I made out of RECYCLED, braided HAY STRING that I made originally in 2009/2010. I'm still using parts of it, other parts have been replaced as necessary. You can make a harness out of nylon, 550 paracord, haystring, bio/beta thane or if able to do leather work - you can do it that way. You can braid, stitch, rivet, screw or use conway buckles for your straps. Hand stitching is the most time consuming part also requiring specialized tools to make it easier to do (stitching horse of some type, or a vice mounted to some type of sturdy bench, needles, awl and punches of different sizes). There is a book out there for making your own harness out of leather. Not sure if it has the measurements for a mini sized harness - I haven't had the chance to look at it... I've been told it's a good one if you choose to make or repair your own harness.

Some of our hay string and paracord - Braided Tack

The main part of a harness that is hard to build yourself is a good surcingle/gig saddle - especially with a tree. The weight of you and your cart is at times carried on that piece - the better one you have, the more comfortable your horse will be. BUT for training purposes, I started most of my current driving ponies with a simple Weaver training surcingle that cost all of $30... I got enough use out of two of them in the first two years that I wore them out. Got a 3rd and now need another one or two...

My very first breast collar - made for me by an Arab/SB/Hackney pony trainer - was made from a used western pony girth covered in a sock and had the crown from a used horse size halter riveted to it for an adjustable neck strap. The traces were made from military straps that cost nothing - they'd been thrown out by a military unit and he'd gotten them. My only cost was the snaps. He must have used good ones - they still work and they are 17 years old this year! That first harness didn't use breeching. I had a training surcingle that i purchased with a mare that I bought - it had the back strap and crupper on it. I've used it for the basic measurements for our larger Shetlands - had to make them much smaller for the mini sized ponies.

Some of the Mini websites carry a harness surcingle or gig saddle OR can get you one if you ask. Our website used to have many resources - but the Links page is currently out of commission. There are also Amish stores that can make parts for you - you don't have to have all of it at one time if you can't afford it all to start training. Breeching and crupper are needed once you start hitching, imo. I will share some resources if you are so inclined - privately.

I have an Amish shop in OH that I deal with a lot - they can repair harness that I currently have (if I can't or don't have the time). A friend called me from a Horse Rescue "yard sale" - there was a mini sized gig saddle for $10 (NICE ONE with brass hardware!!) with a backstrap and breeching but no crupper. Two hours later, they still had it and I bought it. Called the shop in OH and had them make the pieces I needed to match it (brass hardware) - with simple conway buckles. Inexpensive that way. 2 years later - I've replaced some of it with stitched straps and proper buckles plus the girth straps on the "saddle" had worn out and they replaced those. Now I just need to do the shaped breast collar with buckle in traces...


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## paintponylvr (May 2, 2014)

lucky seven said:


> _I have the same problem, not a lot of money and the first harness didn't fit. I want American made but find them high priced for a mini that may not have any interest._


MAKE ONE!! You can have fun, and it's so much less expensive if driving doesn't work out.

https://picasaweb.google.com/purplepaintpony/BraidingHaystringHorseGearTack#5514281845997822114


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## lucky seven (May 2, 2014)

_Good idea! Loved your photo of the finished braided harness. I'm going to start saving the haystrings instead of putting them in the garbage._


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## Jenny (May 2, 2014)

If the harness you bought doesn't fit and your on a tight budget, try looking for a used one. There are really great quality used harnesses out there for really reasonable prices. I just bought a beautiful used harness for only $400! I was ecstatic when I found it as I was planning on spending over $1200 on a new harness. It just needs to have a few adjustments done by a leather works place, and it will fit my guy perfectly!

I hope your new harness fits! I was so excited when I got mine and I'm sure you are too.





As far as learning how to put it on, I recommend first learning what each piece of the harness does, it will help you understand the purpose of each harness part which will help you . Then, take it apart and put it back together like 10 times and then you will know where everything goes. That's what I did, anyway.



There's lots of information out there on how to fit a harness. One really good resource is the American Driving Society website.


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## Rocklone Miniature Horses (May 3, 2014)

I've actually got a saddle maker friend who makes bespoke items but never done mini harnesses. If this doesn't fit I might ask him for a quote.


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## hylights (May 3, 2014)

I have been driving for years, and was always able to find a decent used harness affordably, but was amazed at the cost of mini harness! The first one I bought 6 yrs ago was bio thane and cost me $500 and I wasn't all that happy with it. This year I made a list of "must haves" for a cart and harness and had to stay in a $2000 budget.

I decided I had to have a torsion axle on an easy entry , and I wanted US made. Working Horse tack had that.

I had to have a bio harness with a tree in the saddle, a nice bridle and euro collar. I have had Yonies harness for my standardbred and loved the quality, so went back to them.

I did meet that budget, and those requirements, But now I have 2 little guys,I just got done having the second mini gelded and spring shots and coggins. Oi!

I have purchased harness from Ron's harness for my horses before, and they are leather but well made and heavy, not cheaply made, but inexpensive. I may have to go that route for mini #2, although right now my boys are the same size and until the second one is actually going the same harness and cart will fit.

One of the things I did when constrained by budget was to start with a good made nylon harness and piece by piece replace it with what I wanted. Yonie's harness catalog has pieces for sale separately, as I believe comfy fit does also.

Hopefully your harness will fit!

Driving is fun


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## paintponylvr (May 5, 2014)

lucky seven said:


> _Good idea! Loved your photo of the finished braided harness. I'm going to start saving the haystrings instead of putting them in the garbage._


Save the long string from round bales or find someone that has it. The small, square bale string won't work for this type of project. Yes, you can splice it in but it weakens the end product and makes it very bulky... If you are doing a flat braid and doing traces that are 8 ft long (will be shorter for a smaller mini) - each strand will start out 4x that length or 32 ft long.

and here's where I got my inspiration! Ubraidit dot com.

There is someone out there who makes the harness from paracord. She drove with it at AMHR Nationals in chariot racing - she has frequented this forum but I'll have to look up who it was since I'm not remembering right now.


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## lucky seven (May 6, 2014)

paintponylvr said:


> Save the long string from round bales or find someone that has it. The small, square bale string won't work for this type of project. Yes, you can splice it in but it weakens the end product and makes it very bulky... If you are doing a flat braid and doing traces that are 8 ft long (will be shorter for a smaller mini) - each strand will start out 4x that length or 32 ft long.
> 
> and here's where I got my inspiration! Ubraidit dot com.
> 
> There is someone out there who makes the harness from paracord. She drove with it at AMHR Nationals in chariot racing - she has frequented this forum but I'll have to look up who it was since I'm not remembering right now.


I use the square bales, but will ask around if my friends that use round bales will save the strings for me. I will check out that website. Thanks!


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## Rocklone Miniature Horses (May 6, 2014)

Got my harness. Tried it on my 30" fala/amha blend and it's naturally too big but not so big that it could not be altered, but that means that it should definitely fit my mare who's 32" and twice as big on the body lol if not I have a friend with a leather one who has another friend who said they can alter it to fit my mare



just the cart to fund now.


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## paintponylvr (May 8, 2014)

lucky seven said:


> I use the square bales, but will ask around if my friends that use round bales will save the strings for me. I will check out that website. Thanks!


I do "rattlesnake" braids with the small, square bale strings (4 or 6 strands in a round braid). If I'm riding w/ someone else in a vehicle, I can often braid a full strand in less than 30 minutes. I can do 2 during a 1 hour movie. I can make them with the knots on the ends or can do a loop on the beginning end (mostly what I do) and a turk's head knot on the other end (usually I just knot it and melt it). I've also used a regular 3 strand braid and spliced strings in to make "lines" or ropes that I've then used for gates and temporary fencing. I've got ropes that are a couple 100 feet long! But they do break at the splice points when they break.

I then use these strands as bucket hangers. At this time of year, with rubbing to shed, they break all the double ended snaps - tying the buckets up is harder to get undone if needed but lasts longer. Ties for the ponies at their buckets. I do use the "shorts" for doing some of my collars (the blue/white is flat braided - much longer strands again) - will have to see if I have any pics... Ami is wearing one that is looped to a metal ring. The partial name tag is still attached (removed since these pics) - from when I had ponies names on the collars and names at their buckets while someone else feeding them. Ami is also wearing a flat braided, training headstall w/ buckles like on a driving bridle.









Have them hanging in my horse trailer - they work as ties for the ponies, ties for fencing or supplies when I use my horse trailer to haul it home and to hang the harness up (I've taken as many as 8 harness's in the trailer w/ the wagon - each harness can be hung completely with one tie w/ it's collar and bridle & lines), they are also used as the "connect" to hook a 16' panel around a round bale of hay - one at the top & one at the bottom... My horse trailer is a pretty simple stock type with a center gate.


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## Rocklone Miniature Horses (May 16, 2014)

Here is my harness. My little bloop looks so grown up :')

The bridle is a bit too big so i am on the look out for a webbing bridle (also the blinkers don't have wire) Any ideas?


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## poniesrule (May 16, 2014)

I have a harness that doesn't have wire either... it's actually a pretty easy fix! We cut baling wire into the same length (one piece looped around both of them), & used black electrical tape to attach it to the blinders, you have to change the tape occasionally to keep it looking pretty, but it's quick, cheap, & easy. I haven't shown yet, so don't really care if the tape is noticeable especially since it's my everyday harness. This same bridle is used without the browband because it was too big. I will try to get pictures this weekend as I ironically planned to re-tape. Your mini- he/she(?) looks so cute in harness!!


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## Renolizzie (May 17, 2014)

Your little guy looks so cute in his harness. Thanks for the photos.


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## paintponylvr (May 21, 2014)

That angle looks like it fits well. Great view for you!!


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## Rocklone Miniature Horses (May 22, 2014)

Have taken it to a harness maker to get a few more holes. They showed me the wire! i had totally missed it






So i am happy with that



They are also going to make the bridle a bit smaller and finer as its a little large atm. But now i have to decide if i want to go bitless or with a bit?


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## Renolizzie (May 22, 2014)

I'm no expert but I haven't heard anyone who drives recommend going bitless. Hope some knowledgeable people will chime in on this topic.


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## Rocklone Miniature Horses (May 22, 2014)

I have heard of it before, as a friend drives and has competed for many years in driving. My mare is a good spud and very responsive, so i have just been attaching the reins to the loop the bit goes on, cause its too long so the bit is falling out. Its off to get more holes in it in a week or so and i have got the lend of a straightbar bit so i will have a go but i think she will prefer no bit tbh. Its purely pleasure, she won't be showing. My foal will eventually show hopefully though


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## Marsha Cassada (May 22, 2014)

A bitless bridle works totally different than a bitted bridle. One can do a lot of damage to a horse's tender pressure points with a bitless bridle. A good fitting bit is not a torture device. It is simply a communication tool between horse and driver. If your bit is "falling out" I can hardly believe you are using that bridle. It is a mistake to take advantage of one's horse's good nature by asking her to use poorly fitting equipment--it may not be "purely pleasure" for her.

An advantage to showing is everything one can learn! It's not always about competition, it's about education, too.


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## Rocklone Miniature Horses (May 24, 2014)

I'm not using it, it was on once to see what the fit is like and it's now off to get holes in it. The only reason the bit falls out is that there needs to be another hole put in the bridle and that's why I wasn't using a bit at all. I am not averse to them but given the choice if go without if I could. But if not that's okay too.

I'm learning every day and believe me my horses welfare is paramount.


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