# another harness question



## Molly's Run Minis (Jan 11, 2012)

i dont exactly know how to say this, but i'll give it a try. is there a way to connect a harness to a draft type collar?


----------



## Farina (Jan 12, 2012)

Sorry I would love to help, but I don't understand your question. Sorry.


----------



## paintponylvr (Jan 12, 2012)

**edited to add pics since problems with the link to Picasa***

You do need to have hames - the steel halves that wrap around the collar. They have adjustments at boththe top and the bottom to make them smaller or larger. They lay in the groove of the collar. The traces and breast collar strap are hooked to the hames - not directly to the collar. The lines are run thru rein turrets on the hames. On some hames there are rings at different places - for training I've used lower ones. For actual driving you use the top rings. The lines don't run thru rings on the backpad/saddle on a work harness - not sure about with a carriage harness (think they do?). The "combined" harness we jerry rigged for a friend we ran thru the rings on the pleasure harness too, but it put too many angles on the lines - no direct line on them from hand to bits. Also - created problems with the buckles on the stub lines. They would get caught and we learned in a hurry that that is almost an instant wreck if you don't have good "whoa" on your ponies/horses, since this meant that each horse had one side with no contact at all. Had we not had the "whoa" in place AND their heads connected - I'm not sure what would have happened - only that it would not have been "nice" (and they were "fresh", the wind was blowing and they weren't responding the way they should have to "whoa"...).

You can get a set of hames w/ short tugs attached and then use buckle in traces to utilize them. A "real" working style harness uses a different type backpad/saddle then a pleasure, pleasure show or cde type harness and the girth is buckled much looser than with these other harnesses. However, once your collar is set up with the hames and the short tugs - you can utilize any pleasure type harness you'd like.

Here are some pics -




Kreature & Eclipse It is hard to see here - but the collars were purchased seperate from a work harness due to finances. HOWERVER, the hames were purchased with the collars. One had the short tugs allowing the pleasure harness (nylon from Rons Harness) to be used on the black mare. The other didn't have those and we "jerry rigged" harness to work on the palomino gelding. Other pics in this album show both these ponies wearing proper work harness that is mine (the pair belong to a freind of mine)...




Kreature - 2 - better pic minus some parts... No quarter straps hooked into the breeching with a pole strap and breast strap hooked to hames on the collar. This would NOT work on a wheeled vehicle as you would have NO brakes at all... For dragging a drag or logging it works fine... Understand that the breeching can be pulled sideways if he's attached to a partner w/o the quarter straps... click thru the album and you can see what I'm talking about.




Eclipse 2 - another better pic. Her hames have the short tug. Traces not hooked up to her yet. The short tug is dangling just in front of her left shoulder in this pic. The orange under her belly is our braided quarter straps but I think they are hooked to the hold back straps on the breeching rather than directly (can't tell from pic and I didn't do the "jerry rigging"). It worked for starting the pair as driving together until we brought them to my place to work with the actual work harness. Vicki's new work harness is now on order... Should be ready by the end of January.




Kreature & Eclipse 2 - Here's a good angle that shows what we had set up.... The quarter/pole strap on the palomino gelding is actually a full size riding horse breast collar (




- at least we were able to use equipment we had to desensitize/familiarize them to what they would be working with) - with the 2 sides hooked into each side of his breeching and the single strap going up to between his front legs to the breast strap (braided haystring w/ snaps hooked properly to the hames). The quarter straps on the black mare ARE hooked into the hold backs - quarter straps weren't long enough...

The only thing different/wrong is that the pole strap is not hooked thru/to the girth. This is normally done on a work harness. On full size harness it's done by running the GIRTH thru a strap holder on the pole strap, whereas on my small pony work harness the pole strap is just run between the girth and the pony (remember the girth is loose - freaked me out at first getting used to that!!) ... Holdbacks are used on a work harness when driving single with a cart or carriage but "lazy straps" are used to carry the traces when working as a pair either with or without the tongue of a carriage, wagon or farm equipment. Lots of farm equipment is pulled w/ no tongue - just the pair hooked to the single or double tree.

Have to run!!

***Edit to add *** Here's another harness configuration - pics are ones that I took at the 2010 NC Plowing Contest put on by the NC Working Horse and Mule Association. The horses & mules are wearing collars and hames and then have a simple backpad of nylon (broad) and chains for traces. Works well for them in real plowing situations. Maybe this link would work? https://picasaweb.go...ngHorseMuleAssn# to show MANY different interesting harness and hitching configurations for working horses. Some of my ponies are in this file, but need to add a few... This is my album of pics taken w/ my camera.










***Edit again to add *** Margee - the woman in the bottom photo w/ stout, "old style" percherons was invited up to OH to compete in US Plowing Championships in 2011. I'm not sure how the divisions were split up (single, pairs, woman to handle, ride on plows vs walk behind plow, age groups, breeds of horses etc) but whichever group she was in - she placed 3rd & I think they said there were more than 10 competitors in her group. That was considered AWESOME by the MEN in our group of NCWHMA folk!! Personally, I totally enjoy going to the functions just to watch Margee work this team. She always comes w/ one of the founders of the NCWHMA and he owns the horses/plow/rig that hauls them, but he's teaching her the ropes with his stock. In the meantime - the same group of men have watched me handle my ponies (sometimes w/ cart/wagon and at a walk behind disk & another a borrowed ride on disk...


----------



## Molly's Run Minis (Jan 12, 2012)

paintponylvr said:


> You do need to have hames - the steel halves that wrap around the collar. They have adjustments at boththe top and the bottom to make them smaller or larger. They lay in the groove of the collar. The traces and breast collar strap are hooked to the hames - not directly to the collar. The lines are run thru rein turrets on the hames. On some hames there are rings at different places - for training I've used lower ones. For actual driving you use the top rings. The lines don't run thru rings on the backpad/saddle on a work harness - not sure about with a carriage harness (think they do?). The "combined" harness we jerry rigged for a friend we ran thru the rings on the pleasure harness too, but it put too many angles on the lines - no direct line on them from hand to bits. Also - created problems with the buckles on the stub lines. They would get caught and we learned in a hurry that that is almost an instant wreck if you don't have good "whoa" on your ponies/horses, since this meant that each horse had one side with no contact at all. Had we not had the "whoa" in place AND their heads connected - I'm not sure what would have happened - only that it would not have been "nice" (and they were "fresh", the wind was blowing and they weren't responding the way they should have to "whoa"...).
> 
> You can get a set of hames w/ short tugs attached and then use buckle in traces to utilize them. A "real" working style harness uses a different type backpad/saddle then a pleasure, pleasure show or cde type harness and the girth is buckled much looser than with these other harnesses. However, once your collar is set up with the hames and the short tugs - you can utilize any pleasure type harness you'd like.
> 
> ...


thanks! but, the pics arent working.


----------



## paintponylvr (Jan 12, 2012)

darn - i thought that only happened with Photobucket... Tonight I can load the pics to my computer and put them up seperately... These are her pics. I was just trying to link to her album. I am a "double member" of Google (work email and personal w/ Picasa) so hadn't realized that it doesn't always work for someone not on picasa or google. Frustrating. SORRY!!


----------



## brasstackminis (Jan 14, 2012)

Molly said:


> thanks! but, the pics arent working.



Hey Molly,

This is just a guess, but check to see if you are logged in? I have noticed that I can not see the pictures unless I am logged in. The pictures are working for me





Karen


----------



## paintponylvr (Jan 15, 2012)

brasstackminis said:


> Hey Molly,
> 
> This is just a guess, but check to see if you are logged in? I have noticed that I can not see the pictures unless I am logged in. The pictures are working for me
> 
> ...



Hi Karen and Molly - the original links were to a Picasa Photo album belonging to my girlfriend that I do a lot of driving with. The ponies she has were purchased with and/or thru me and a lot of her pictures were taken by me and a lot of my pictures were taken by her. However, her listing in Google has switched to Google plus and Chrome - and the album that pops up is locked. Molly wasn't the only person not able to see the pictures linked... While on my lunch break the same day at work, I was able to copy the pics and post them - I was just trying to avoid doing that.... Wish the word links would have worked.

But Karen you are right, too. 1/2 of all the pics posted on this forum only show up or can be opened when you are logged into the forum... I haven't firgured out why. ..

Also - my pics and the postings are only for a working type harness (farming) - not a buggy harness w/ a buggy collar - which is somewhat different.


----------

