# quick hitch harness



## sams (May 28, 2009)

i havent seen any mini sized quick hitch harnesses or carts, i have a backround in standardbreds so that is what i am used to. does anyone use them for minis? if not, then why? is there any reason against converting my harness to a quick hitch? are ther any safy issues? the other way just looks so complicated and time consuming. Any input or expiriences would be great


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## susanne (May 28, 2009)

Others can answer this question better than I, but since nobody has answered...

Quick hitches are indeed used in mini harness racing (Tanya...SWA on this forum...has discussed them), but the quick hitch is designed for flat, groomed tracks. As with show harness, the horses are not asked to ascend and descend hills, travel roads and rough trails, etc., and the harness is designed accordingly.

For trail and competitive carriage driving, horses of all sizes need a stronger, more padded harness with breeching, wider breast collar and saddle, etc., to protect them and enable them to do what is asked of them.

When I first started driving, harnessing seemed to take forever, but once I knew the settings fit for the particular horse and harness and came up with a few shortcuts (keeping crupper attached to saddle, slipping breast collar and neck hangers over the head), things sped up considerably.


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## Sandee (May 28, 2009)

sams said:


> i havent seen any mini sized quick hitch harnesses or carts, i have a backround in standardbreds so that is what i am used to. does anyone use them for minis? if not, then why? is there any reason against converting my harness to a quick hitch? are ther any safy issues? the other way just looks so complicated and time consuming. Any input or expiriences would be great


I'm not familiar with the "quick hitch". Is it anything like using the french tugs? They are so much faster than shaft wraps but not as safe for hilly CDE driving.


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## sams (May 28, 2009)

a quick hitch is a spring loaded metal fitting on either side of the harness that just clips to the mettal fittings attached to the shafts.


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## hobbyhorse23 (May 28, 2009)

Susanne gave you a pretty good explanation to which I will only add a bit. Quick hitch harnesses, as I understand them, put all the job of moving the cart on the saddle. The shafts can't roll up on the horse because they're attached firmly to the saddle, and the horse pulls from that direct shaft connection and a thin y-shaped breastcollar (the Buxton, isn't it?) holding the saddle in place rather than from a set of traces. A standardbred on the track is going to have no problem at all with that minimalist setup because he weighs 1,000lbs and is hauling a very light sulky with flyweight driver over a smooth track. He accelerates smoothly and slows smoothly with no sudden turns or variety in his terrain. The harness is perfect for what it's designed to do.

Now a mini in the same circumstance can also use that setup and be fine although he's already working harder than the big horse as even with a light sulky he's still probably hauling at least half his own weight, likely a bit more. (That would be, what, about a *500lb load* for that same Standardbred?




) That's a lot of work and may not stay comfortable for long with a shoe-string thin load surface. Also consider that the Standardbred is much higher up compared to his load- he's more equivalent to a guy dragging a light sandbag behind him on a rope. The mini is a guy hauling a heavily loaded wheelbarrow behind him- it takes more muscle mass to move something on a horizontal plane than to be able to lean into it from a higher position.

Then imagine taking that vehicle off the track. Suddenly you've got deep footing that makes the cart really drag, rocks to bump over, hills to go up and down, things that may spook the horse into suddenly starting or stopping...picture a Standardbred in racing harness managing two 250lb people overflowing his little racing sulky, driving for an hour or more in circles and figures and at all different gaits, and trying to perform with grace and balance in that circumstance. Do you think he'd do very well? Or would he start objecting as the straps pinched his shoulders, his back got sore from the weight and the load kept slamming forward and back between withers and crupper?



Oh, and don't forget his head is strapped up tight with an overcheck so he can't get his neck down to pull or give his back any relief. I can't help but think that unless he was a very patient, stoic fellow he'd probably start throwing his head and fidgeting and perhaps trying to rear or buck to communicate what discomfort he's in.

Now let's make this even worse by taking it into the real world. Unless you're truly using a racing sulky for your quick hitch, your cart and driver combo likely weighs _the same_ as the horse pulling it, not half as much. Can you even imagine asking a Standardbred to pull another Standardbred up and down hills in a racing harness?



That is why our very smart ancestors designed different kinds of harness. For a load like that, you're going to use a neck-collar that distributes the load as widely as possible and the horse will be able to get his head down to his knees if necessary to pull, pull, pull. Our minis of course fall somewhere in the middle of those extremes but that's why modern carriage harnesses have been designed the way they are. The saddle holds the shafts up but ideally only supports them, does not have them tied down tightly to the saddle. This allows all the bumps and vibrations to work themselves out without being transferred directly to the horse. There may even be a sliding backband between the two tug loops, allowing them to slide back and forth through the saddle and balance themselves as you go over uneven ground. The horse pulls from traces attached at one end to the nice wide padded breastcollar and at the other to a singletree which moves and protects the horse's shoulders (which admittedly are restricted by the breastcollar) from being jolted as they reach the end of the trace with each stride. There is breeching around the horse's rump which attaches to the shafts and allows the horse to sit down into the weight of the load and hold it back with the biggest muscles in his rump. All of these pieces work together to keep the horse comfortable and enable him to do his job without injury.

The closer your intended usage is to the track, the more suitable a quick-hitch harness is going to be. But if you plan on doing lots of trail drives you'd be better off to "dress for the occasion" as it were.



Show harness, of course, is somewhere in between the two as it's more minimalist and meant for use on a flat smooth surface but does have the breastcollar instead of asking the horse to pull directly from the saddle. (Well, it's supposed to be used that way at least.



) I would LOVE, *love*, _love_ to see a mini roadster horse hitched with a Buxton and quick-hitch though! That would be so incredibly awesome to see and he's not going to get sore just going around an arena with a sulky for a few minutes. It would be fun to have one in parades too as those are on pavement and involve very little hard pulling.

So...yes, you can get one, and no, I wouldn't use one for regular driving unless I lived somewhere very flat and smooth. It's too hard on the horse with a heavy load! What you can do however if you get into serious recreational driving is buy the "quick-release" stuff available for CDE (combined driving event) marathon harnesses. There's a type of tug loop that opens into a cradle you just lay the shaft into and then secure by tucking one strap through a keeper, you can leave your holdback straps wrapped around the shaft permanently and simply snap them to your breeching each time, and the traces only take a moment to slip over the curly hooks a marathon cart has. Hitching doesn't take long when you're using that stuff! You can reduce it to laying the saddle on the back, tightening the girth, buckling the crupper, pulling the breastcollar with traces over the horse's head, and bridling. That's not bad. Then tuck tuck, hook hook, snap snap, one buckle for the overgirth and you're away!

Leia


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## Marsha Cassada (May 28, 2009)

I thought I had a better photo of this. I will try to take another next time I'm out. I have a quick hitch attached to my sulky. I used to have it on my Jerald ez, but it is not appropriate for that. It is great for the sulky, though, and so easy to snap it on and take off, when we are out for pleasure or excercise. The shafts have a latch on them and the quick hitch on the saddle snaps into them. My harness has thimbles to go with this set up. It is my understanding, from the man I got it from many years ago, that it was used for miniature horse racing in Florida. Love to see that!






Jerald can tell you what the company is where you can buy one. I would not recommend it, though, for a regular cart.


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## keely2682 (Aug 6, 2009)

finally found pictures of my mini race bike which illustrates quick hitch connections

(thank u tanya for the picture. i have yet to edit photos into a big collage like she does)

this sulky is very old and was made by jerald

i use it with traces usually and use the quick hitch holes to tie my wrap straps to


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## SWA (Aug 6, 2009)

Hi Keely, LOL, you are welcome. I'm glad my photos can actually help to sort of serve as an educational purpose here.



That my mini mare, Whinnie Pooh, hitched to it in the top right photo and my pony mare, Classy hitched to it in the photo below that. What I loved most about that bike was that I could hitch it to any horse/pony we had, no matter their size (up to 43"), and it was always a smooth well balanced pull for the horse, and fun to ride too.





To answer the questions of the original poster, I don't know why the quick hitch was never "accepted" in the show ring. I would think Roadster classes would at least consider, but to my knowledge, I don't think so. That could have changed by now though...if not...hope it may...someday.





We had our harnesses modified to wear the connecting shackles, just like the Standardbreds. Just took them to our local harness shop at a nearby Standardbred training facility and was easily modified where we could still use the same harness with the breast traces for our other carts, or remove them and put on a mini buxton to wear the shackes for this quick hitch bike. We got our harness shackles for hitching to the bike shackles from BigD...here is their website: http://www.bigdweb.com/ Just click on the tab for "Race Equipment" for shackles for the harness, and also if you want to modify the shafts of a cart, they sell the shaft shackles as well. But, just take heed, that not every cart would still be a balanced pull with this set up. Specific carts, for specific needs.



Hope this helps.


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## Marsha Cassada (Aug 14, 2009)

[SIZE=10pt]I finally remembered to take pictures of my quick hitch, in case anyone is interested.[/SIZE]

This photo shows the two pieces, one bolted onto the saddle and one on the shaft. The little rings under the shackle are pulled down to release the catch.






[SIZE=10pt]This one shows them connected. The shaft piece snaps into the saddle piece. Note the thimbles on the shafts, for braking.[/SIZE]






[SIZE=10pt]Now we are off! Buddy's favorite position is right behind the cart.[/SIZE]


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## susanminiponygirl (Aug 14, 2009)

I had a pony trained to drive by the Amish. They used a 'quick hitch" on him, and drove him all over the roads with several people in the cart.


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## Marsha Cassada (Aug 14, 2009)

[SIZE=10pt]I had this quick hitch attached to my jerald ez cart for a year or so--before I knew better. IMO it is not suitable to use for a cartful of people. Even though my set up, from racing days, has a breast collar, the collar attaches to the saddle, not to the vehicle. If one had a breast collar that attached to the cart and only used the quick hitch as tugs, it might work out all right. That might be an idea to think about. But having sat behind the quick hitch on cart and sulky for 7 years or so, I still don't think it is a good idea for an ez cart, especially carrying several people. For a quick buzz down the road for excercise or fun in the sulky it is perfect.[/SIZE]


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