# Where can i get a harness like this?



## Celtic Hill Farm (Jun 1, 2010)

Is there a place i can get a harness like this http://minitack.com/mw500.htm without the buckles on the traces?

Thanks, Ian


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## Sue_C. (Jun 1, 2010)

Celtic Hill Farm said:


> Is there a place i can get a harness like this http://minitack.com/mw500.htm without the buckles on the traces?Thanks, Ian


Dare I ask WHY you don't want the buckle in traces?

Usually the higher end harnesses do have the buckle in traces. I have seen lots of the cheaper bio harnesses with sewn on traces. Have you contacted them and asked if you could get a set there? I find most tack shops are quite accomodating.


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## Celtic Hill Farm (Jun 1, 2010)

Sue_C. said:


> Dare I ask WHY you don't want the buckle in traces?
> 
> Usually the higher end harnesses do have the buckle in traces. I have seen lots of the cheaper bio harnesses with sewn on traces. Have you contacted them and asked if you could get a set there? I find most tack shops are quite accomodating.


Personally, i think there's too much going on, i like a solid trace. I never thought to ask, i figured they have what they have.


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## Mellis815 (Jun 1, 2010)

Celtic Hill Farm said:


> Personally, i think there's too much going on, i like a solid trace. I never thought to ask, i figured they have what they have.



I haven't seen a trace without buckles in a LONG time, I think more people want their harness fully adjustable and the makers have just followed that trend. Have you tried a nice leather harness? We have used biothane in the past and find that they are more binding (until they are broke in well) and they tend to crack. Our leather ones, which look just as good to show in, seem to "mold" to the horse and are not binding in any way. Just an idea


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## susanne (Jun 1, 2010)

I hate the sewn-in traces on our training harness -- the slots at the singletree end are too far apart for accurate adjustment -- the traces are either too long or too short.

Our next harness will definitely have buckle-in traces. Form follows function.


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## Katiean (Jun 1, 2010)

I agree that with the buckle on traces there is just too much going on. I also do not line the neck strap to have 2 buckles at the ends. Too many buckles and too much clutter for my way of thinking. Maybe if you ask you can get a different breast collar.


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## Celtic Hill Farm (Jun 1, 2010)

Hummmmm, It does make it more adjustable which would be good for the donkeys, i never looked at it that way. I have a smuckers that i LOVE but it wasn't in the best condition when i got it so right now it's in plastic bags w/ neatsfoot oil and tomorrow im going to set it out in the sun.


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## hobbyhorse23 (Jun 1, 2010)

I agree- sometimes it's just impossible to get the traces adjusted right using only the slots at the end. Smucker's and some other brands of leather carriage harness do get bulky at the shoulder with buckle-in traces but the one from Ozark isn't bad at all. I own the leather version and it's pretty slim.

For breed ring driving I don't like a double-ended neckstrap but for just about anything else it's very nice as it better distributes the weight of a heavier contoured collar and keeps it sitting in the right place. No more dipping and flipping and dropping below the point of the shoulder if the traces go slack!

Leia

Edited to add: It's generally not recommended to soak a harness in neatsfoot oil as it can rot the stitching. Be sure to check the harness over thoroughly when you clean it!


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## disneyhorse (Jun 1, 2010)

The more buckles, the more adjustment you have. The well-made harnesses should not be bulky.

I also agree that soaking in neatsfoot oil is "old school" and not the best as it will rot the stitching in most cases.

Andrea


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## sassy1 (Jun 2, 2010)

Celtic Hill Farm said:


> Hummmmm, It does make it more adjustable which would be good for the donkeys, i never looked at it that way. I have a smuckers that i LOVE but it wasn't in the best condition when i got it so right now it's in plastic bags w/ neatsfoot oil and tomorrow im going to set it out in the sun.


I agree with the others - there would be way more adjustment in that set (which looks very nice in the catalogue) than in one without buckle-in traces. I have had to make 3 sets of trace extensions for one set of harness that doesn't have adjustment as I need to use it with different vehicles.

A trick when oiling (and I too won't use Neatsfoot oil either) is to place the harness into a dark garbage bag and then hang the bag up in the sun. You will find that the dressing will penetrate the leather better, and it has the added advantage that it isn't as messy!


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## Sue_C. (Jun 2, 2010)

PURE neatsfoot oil should't rot the stitching, but the neatsfoot oil _compund _will. I much prefer the "dressings" better...they have come a long way.






Good idea about the paper bag...maybe I will try that on the one last leather harness I have. My new ones are beta from Country Carriages, and I love them _so_ much, I don't see me going back to leather.


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## Celtic Hill Farm (Jun 2, 2010)

Hum Okay, i hope it's the pure stuff. I really like the Patent Leather look on the harness, i don't care for the "dull" look of beta.


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## RhineStone (Jun 2, 2010)

If you have a Smucker's, you have one of the better made harnesses on the market.



Hopefully, it comes back to condition. I like Lexol myself, or Harness Honey.

Another "benefit" of buckle-in traces is the ease of getting the horse disconnected from the vehicle in an emergency. We witnessed a wreck about a month ago, and where one of the horses was laying down (it was a pair), it made it pretty much impossible to unhook the traces safely from the singletree. However, someone just unbuckled the traces at the breastcollar and released the backstrap and the horse was free from the vehicle.

Myrna


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## hobbyhorse23 (Jun 2, 2010)

RhineStone said:


> However, someone just unbuckled the traces at the breastcollar and released the backstrap and the horse was free from the vehicle.


How do you release the trace from the shoulder that is lying on the ground? Seems like that would be harder than reaching the singletree!





I do agree that it's a good safety thing to be able to release at either end and will add that I'm going to talk to Janie at Chimacum Tack and see if she can get quick-release hardward for the Freedom Collar trace attachments as well. In that accident in KY I learned that buckle-in traces are good...as long as you aren't injured and have the strength to fight thick traces free of the keepers and then pull on it hard enough to free the tongue of the buckle! I had hurt my right shoulder and my left wrist and only adrenaline allowed me to get her free. I still would not have been able to if there had not been someone there to back the frightened horse up and get some slack in those traces for me. I could free her of the entire breeching assembly by simply undoing the backstrap and from the open tugs by undoing one side of the overgirth but the traces could have ruined everything. I could not reach the broken singletree back in the bushes and I almost couldn't get them undone at the shoulders. They were too thick (synthetic) to cut easily but that would have been my only choice.

In that moment I realized why some companies use quick release hardware at shoulder AND singletree! It seems like overkill for a mini but if you need it, you need it bad.

Leia

Edited to add: Wait a minute, Myrna. In a pair the breeching does not attach directly to the cart so why would someone have to free the backstrap? Wouldn't it be the traces and the pole strap only?


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## RhineStone (Jun 2, 2010)

hobbyhorse23 said:


> How do you release the trace from the shoulder that is lying on the ground? Seems like that would be harder than reaching the singletree!
> 
> 
> 
> ...


OK, I was trying to post without it being too complicated, but the horse on the ground made it impossible to get to the standing up horse's traces. The ground horse was in the way with his head under the standing horse, and his legs thrashing out away from the vehicle. I do think they released the traces at the singletree of the down horse. We had to release the backstrap on the down horse, because he had his breeching wedged under his tail so tight, it was causing his tail to be straight up, which was causing him to thrash more. Yes, they probably undid the pole straps. I was at the backside of the down horse, though, trying not to get kicked. We somehow managed to get them all out without cutting the harness, though. My point was that some buckles are good. (Cheap breeching snaps, bad, but that is a whole other topic...)

Myrna


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## Katiean (Jun 2, 2010)

We had a horse flip over back wards while practicing at a show. This horse has very little patience when it comes to standing still. She flipped over back wards and Jessie jumped out of the cart and held her down so she would not thrash. I just pulled the traces off of the single tree and unbuckled the shaft wrap and then the shaft loop from the harness. The horse was up and after being checked over and made sure she was OK, we harnessed her back up and made her do it again. She has never flipped since.


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