# Breaching help



## JMS Miniatures (Oct 12, 2011)

I guess I don't know how to correctly tie the breaching straps to the cart. I tried not to tie them so tight but the shaft loops are bigger then the shafts of the cart the breaching didn't do anything to stop the cart from coming up on him. So tonight I tried to tie the breaching straps tighter, seemed to help alot but it restricted him when I asked him to hand gallop. It kept jerking when he tried to extend out. Also it seemed that the breaching was riding up on him. So was hoping if people could show me pics or at least tell me what I need to do differently. I want the breaching to do its job but don't want it to restrict him either. The cart has loops on the shafts that I assume the breaching straps go around it but they straps never stayed if they were too loose, I even wrapped it around and thru the loop but not sure if you are suppose to do it that way or not.

Thanks!


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## Minimor (Oct 13, 2011)

I don't have a photo handy. The way I was taught as correct is to run the hold back strap through the loop on the shaft, then wrap the strap around the shaft however many wraps are required to make it the right length to be buckled back. After the last wrap you run the strap back through the loops and then buckle it.

On the Morgans I generally judged the adjustment by putting my hand in the breeching, in the middle of the horse's backside, with my hand turned crossways, thumb against the horse, little finger toward the cart. That is quite a bit of room on the Minis--for them I just estimate what I feel is the right amount of room between breeching and horse & go with that--once you're familiar with the fit you can pretty much tell.

I haven't had any problems with the breeching interfering with any gait, even a gallop. I wonder if perhaps you have your breeching adjusted too low on your horse's backside? The lower it is the more it will be affected by the horse's leg movement at the gallop.

The thing I have found with mini breeching--harness makers are often very stingy with the leather. When I was driving our 37" gelding this fall, with the Mini hold back straps there simply wasn't enough strap to wrap the holdbacks correctly. All I could do is run the strap through the loop on the shaft & buckle it back, no wraps at all. One of my harnesses has pony hold back straps on it, and they wrap so nicely. When I hitched one of my 34" geldings I had enough strap to make one wrap around the shaft--since he was that bit shorter height and length wise his breeching was that little bit closer to the loops on the shafts so I had a little more leather to work with. Still, since the harness was sold as an up-to-38" harness I would think they could make the straps a little bit longer so the horse can be properly hitched.


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## New mini (Oct 13, 2011)

Minimor

I was taught the same way to test if the breeching is right for the horse once attached to the cart. I have been driving a 14.2 hand pony however I am finally bringing my mini home this weekend. He has never had breeching on him so I have to get him used to it before I attempt to drive him with it attached to the cart. Since you say that the closed fist is going to be to loose on a mini can you give me an idea of what might be the correct distance? I know I will probably have to adjust but at least I will know where to start and not really spook him. He is a B mini 35.5 inches if that will help

Thanks


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## JMS Miniatures (Oct 13, 2011)

Thank you I'll have to try that. I don't think I have it to low on him as when he gets faster the breaching starts riding up on him. I may have had it too tight last night and it was catching him


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## Minimor (Oct 13, 2011)

I probably use about 3 fingers, rather than my whole fist (I also don't have small hands, so that makes some difference too) to judge it. The one day we were driving one of the 34" horses and I probably had the fist size amount of slack in the breeching. It stopped the cart (one person riding in the cart) okay, but it did give him a pretty good "poomp" in the rear end when he stopped. Poor little guy stopped instantly when asked to whoa, and then for a second it looked like the cart was going to lift him off the ground.




He took it well though, green as he is. I shortened the breeching a little bit & then after that the stops were much smoother.


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## RhineStone (Oct 13, 2011)

I generally use a flat hand measurement with a mini, especially one that is smaller or doesn't back well yet. They need all the help they can get, and when the breeching is too loose, they can't back very well.

Myrna


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## susanne (Oct 13, 2011)

Another thing...which, like everything, I learned the hard way...

Be certain that you hitch on as level of ground as possible. Otherwise, the cart will roll forward or backward; either way and your breeching will end up too loose or too tight when in draft. You want the cart to be in "neutral," not "drive" or "reverse!"


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## hobbyhorse23 (Oct 14, 2011)

JMS, I have a sneaking suspicion from your description that you might not have been attaching the holdback straps to the right thing. Did you run them up to the tug loops themselves initially? If so, no wonder they didn't work well and he was having trouble!



If you're using a standard show cart there may not even be any footman's loops, which are the metal brackets on the underside of the shafts the breeching is meant to be run through. They give the holdback straps a solid purchase on the cart so the shafts can't slip forward through the leather wraps; if you don't have them, you'll need to install them. You can temporarily use the leather trace carrier loops that are riveted onto the shafts to anchor your breeching but they aren't meant to take much stress and should only be used as "slightly better than nothing."

Here's a picture of my breeching on the Hyperbike. You've got the two hipstraps coming down, the breeching itself going around the rear, a trace carrier (something you don't need) hanging down from the breeching ring, then the holdback strap going forward and wrapping around the shaft. On a normal cart where the trace is running horizontally I take the holdback forward under the trace, run it through the footman's loop on the underside of the shaft, wrap it two or three times (whichever is appropriate) from outside to inside around the shaft, then pass it back OVER the shaft and trace and buckle it in. Before buckling it, pass the end of the strap through the last of the loops (the one closest to the buckle) to help snug it down. This way if the leather should give at the buckle the holdback will have a sort of knot around the shaft that may hopefully hold until you can get the horse stopped.





The breeching itself should sit about midway up the curve of the rump- low enough that it won't ride up but high enough that it won't take the horse's legs out from under him. Usually with full-sized horses we say about the height of the stifle joint but I find with minis and our relatively taller carts it's usually above that point.



New mini said:


> Since you say that the closed fist is going to be to loose on a mini can you give me an idea of what might be the correct distance?


I use about three fingers, give or take. You need it to be tight enough that the shaft tip doesn't swing forward past the point of the shoulder but not so tight that it restricts the horse when he moves out and every horse is going to be a little different as to what that measurement is.



susanne said:


> Be certain that you hitch on as level of ground as possible. Otherwise, the cart will roll forward or backward; either way and your breeching will end up too loose or too tight when in draft. You want the cart to be in "neutral," not "drive" or "reverse!"


Everyone does things differently- I like to hitch on a slight upslope so the traces are tight and I can adjust the breeching correctly right from the start. If the horse is on a completely level surface there's often more "slop" and it's hard to tell at first if you've got both ends right on a first hitch. Both methods work and have their advantages.

Leia


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## JMS Miniatures (Oct 14, 2011)

No I'm using my easy entry that has the footman loops. The way your picture is looks alot like how I set up mine but what I really need to do is to take pics. Now one thing I didn't do was take the remaining strap thru a loop.


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## MiLo Minis (Oct 14, 2011)

If you go on my website in the education pages there is a diagram I made showing how to wrap the holdback straps for breeching. How tight to make them? This isn't something that you can really say for sure because every horse moves differently and some need more room than others. I generally start with the width of my 4 fingers but I have small hands. Once you are hitched you can try moving the cart forward and back to see how far the cart will ride up on him when stopping or going downhill. This is best done before you get in the cart because if they are too loose the first time the cart rides up it can cause him to bolt or otherwise react. If the breeching is slipping up when he moves you likely have it too high to start. If you are driving on a lot of hills it is better to have it slightly low than too high. I like to have it on the lower part of the flat of his buttocks as seen from the side. That way it isn't as likely to slip up which is a lot more hazardous than down!


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## JMS Miniatures (Oct 14, 2011)

Thank you so much thats going to help out alot!


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## MiLo Minis (Oct 14, 2011)

JMS Miniatures said:


> Thank you so much thats going to help out alot!


You are welcome!


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