# Snaps, quick release, and shackles for quick harnessing



## Specialk (Aug 24, 2016)

I am looking into adding snaps or shackles to my harness to make harnessing and unharnessing easier. Areas of possible snaps, reins connecting to bridle, breaching to shafts, crupper to saddle. What areas have you used snaps or shackles? What kind did you use? Pics would be great.


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## Strangeaddiction (Aug 24, 2016)

I personally haven't added any snaps other than to my schooling overcheck to snap to the saddle and to my martingale (which I think they come with snaps standard). I have seen people do snaps on the reins but I personally don't like that feel, I guess I am weird.

I guess everyone is different in the way they harness/unharness, but I do not detach the crupper from the saddle? I also show, so I do not use breaching.


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## jeanniecogan (Aug 24, 2016)

i was going to change my reing to have snaps to the bridle, but an instructor told me that the snaps to bit clang together and vibrate in your horses mouth. she said that it is very uncomfortable in your horses mouth, sometimes even scares them. that's my two cents. have fun


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## Al B (Aug 24, 2016)

I use snap shackles on all of my CDE harness traces and on the neck yoke straps of the pair harnesses.


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## paintponylvr (Aug 26, 2016)

For not showing, single - I have snaps on the hold back straps (where they hook to the breeching - the hold backs can stay on the cart), snaps on lines at the bit (standard on lower end harness - but I'm slowly getting lines changed out - as, though it's quick & EZ, I've had them snap themselves to objects and each other - could be serious wreck and NOT FUN or EZ to get loose); snap on backstrap (just makes it easier to change out to smaller one if necessary or when I made my harness and didn't have more than one crupper/backstrap for a while, it allowed EZ changes) - buckles for actual adjustment; on braided harness, I have rings & conway buckles.

I have one set of traces w/ snaps on them instead of a conway buckle - I DO like that, but in a hard pulling situation, the snap could break (I've had these traces since 1997 but they aren't used everyday either)... This pic doesn't show it well, but there is a snap on the breast collar end of the trace (military nylon strapping) as well as on the driving lines (lounge lines made from MCR & snaps).







These are actually two lounge lines with snaps - used as lounge lines, too, so won't be getting snaps removed though they can be (put on by a loop - love my homemade equipment - have had a lot over the years).

For not showing, pairs, work harness - snaps are standard on a lot of this type harness (even higher end) and so are Conway buckles. Other parts (on my lower end harness) have snaps that I'm swapping out for sewn in buckles (lines). in pics below, snaps are on the breast strap - both ends - different types. Come standard w/ the harness. The small one down between his legs hooks to a neck yoke.

Sorry this one so big, but shows better too - the snap hanging down from the back pad runs up between the hames & hooks to that ring on the side cheeks (mid-neck). The snaps under his belly are the quarter straps, standard on most work harness - size/weight determined by size of horse/harness. The flat back faces up to the belly as it will sometimes come into contact w/ the belly.

Snaps are nice - make changes fast and simple. But they are usually the weakest part of your harness and it only takes a split second for them to get them caught on something they shouldn't - especially bit snaps!! I've learned the hard way... I've had my daughter stop a riding pony next to a wire fence - he dropped his head down next to it and the snap hooked to the wire. Thankfully, though green, he'd learned enough to give to pressure at the bit and after raising his head, lowered again and we immediately got it unhooked; more than once, I've had my pairs hook themselves to each other when they try to rub their heads against one another or the one that was constantly throwing her head; the shocker - when one of my pairs put her head down while trotting down the road and hooked a bit snap to the ring on the neck yoke - that was a nightmare!! to get loose and she did have damage to her mouth - bruising, abrading & a cut to her tongue (no driving for a while and then was bit shy for a long time). I can probably think of a couple of other incidents - 1 of these happened between 2005-2007 & the other two driving ones between 2011 & 2013 - when I was driving new pairs heavily with bit snaps.

Straps I DO LIKE SNAPS ON -

My connection straps when driving pairs - sure they can break, but so much easier than a buckle. You can see both in this picture (orange braided haystring straps at front connected to hame rings and at back hooked to breeching rings). I would not want to stand and buckle these type of straps, LOL.

Lots of snaps in evidence here, LOL - probably won't get these snaps replaced on the lines and all the snaps are different on the connecting straps (made from braided haystring blue & orange) - here the connecting straps are hooked to their halters not the hame rings. They can pull on each other's heads (especially when that nervous bay spot threw her head all the time), but this was the first time they'd been ground driven as a 4 abreast, so I wanted them hooked at their heads.

and once again, the forum is not allowing me to use the Google Photos... I'll figure out something else... I'm so totally POd w/ GOOGLE right now...


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## paintponylvr (Aug 28, 2016)

Coping what I said in previous post and attaching links to pics that apply. Can now do more, I suppose, since they are only linked...

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These are actually two lounge lines with snaps - used as lounge lines, too, so won't be getting snaps removed though they can be (put on by a loop - love my homemade equipment - have had a lot over the years).

 Kechi - grd drvg w/ pvc poles

For not showing, pairs, work harness - snaps are standard on a lot of this type harness (even higher end) and so are Conway buckles. Other parts (on my lower end harness) have snaps that I'm swapping out for sewn in buckles (lines). in pics below, snaps are on the breast strap - both ends - different types. Come standard w/ the harness. The small one down between his legs hooks to a neck yoke that hooks a pair.

Iggy - FQ shot w/ head - 1st fit of work harness

Sorry this one so big, but shows better too - the snap hanging down from the back pad runs up between the hames & hooks to that ring on the side cheeks (mid-neck). The snaps under his belly are the quarter straps, standard on most work harness - size/weight determined by size of horse/harness. The flat back faces up to the belly as it will sometimes come into contact w/ the belly.

Iggy - Lside from RQ - 1st fit of work harness

Snaps are nice - make changes fast and simple. But they are usually the weakest part of your harness and it only takes a split second for them to get them caught on something they shouldn't - especially bit snaps!! I've learned the hard way... I've had my daughter stop a riding pony next to a wire fence - he dropped his head down next to it and the snap hooked to the wire. Thankfully, though green, he'd learned enough to give to pressure at the bit and after raising his head, lowered again and we immediately got it unhooked; more than once, I've had my pairs hook themselves to each other when they try to rub their heads against one another or the one that was constantly throwing her head; the shocker - when one of my pairs put her head down while trotting down the road and hooked a bit snap to the ring on the neck yoke - that was a nightmare!! to get loose and she did have damage to her mouth - bruising, abrading & a cut to her tongue (no driving for a while and then was bit shy for a long time). I can probably think of a couple of other incidents - 1 of these happened between 2005-2007 & the other two driving ones between 2011 & 2013 - when I was driving new pairs heavily with bit snaps.

Straps I DO LIKE SNAPS ON -

My connection straps when driving pairs - sure they can break, but so much easier than a buckle. You can see both in this picture (orange braided haystring straps at front connected to hame rings and at back hooked to breeching rings). I would not want to stand and buckle these type of straps, LOL.

Bell (solid silver dapple) & Cassie (nervous bay spot)

Lots of snaps in evidence here, LOL - probably won't get these snaps replaced on the lines and all the snaps are different on the connecting straps (made from braided haystring blue & orange) - here the connecting straps are hooked to their halters not the hame rings. They can pull on each other's heads (especially when that nervous bay spot threw her head all the time), but this was the first time they'd been ground driven as a 4 abreast, so I wanted them hooked at their heads.

4 abreast - head shot

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Wanted to try to get the shots w/ the comments that I made. Knew that Picasa was being "dropped" or "phased out" (no - "CANCELLED") by Google - but when they first stated that they were doing that, the Q&A sections pertaining to the "New" Google photos said that the functionality from photo albums/individual pics/forums would be the same. Imagine my surprise when it's not that way at all. On another forum I'm on, I can add a " ?.jpg " to my pics and they will show up in the post. I'm looking around for a different spot to put my photos that will allow me to also do the photo albums on my website - because any new ponies now - I won't be able to do that either and not sure how long the links I currently have to pony's individual pages w/ their photo albums will work...

Currently have more than 5,000 photos stored at Google. Have about that many at Photo Bucket as well - and it's not working well for me either (free part of album storage).

If someone else has an on-line photo storage set up they'd recommend, I'd like to know.


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## Marsha Cassada (Aug 29, 2016)

Something I would like to do is have an extra back strap with a snap, instead of that stupid conway buckle. Then I could make a quick change between my two horses with my sulky harness. I think I will pursue that. Everything else interchanges between them find.


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