Equipment

Marsha Cassada · May 7, 2021

I use the saddle of my sulky harness for ground driving. It has a breast collar and back strap/crupper. I probably should invest in a surcingle, as the terrets don't allow for side pressure. I've tried running the reins through the shaft shackles, but thee reins don't move freely.
What do you all use for ground driving?

Cayuse · May 7, 2021

I use my older driving harness. I buckle the ends of the holdback together, then take the wrap strap and run it through the shaft carrier and the looped hold back and buckle it back onto itself. That holds everything from flapping around. I might not do this on a youngster as I suppose the loops could hang up on something, but both mine know the ropes. I bought a surcingle once and didn't like it as it slipped too much, my guys need the crupper to hold everything steady.

Willow Flats · May 8, 2021

Ditto to what Cayuse said. I still have my sursingle and it's ok for a a short time but it would slip a bit after a while. I don't use the breast collar, just the saddle, backstrap and cupper.

Dragon Hill · May 8, 2021

I use a surcingle, but they do slip without a crupper. I like the that the lines don't catch, because I think smoothness is important. Plus you can decide how high or low you want your reins.

MindySchroder · May 8, 2021

I typically don't use anything on Zorro other than a piece of rope that has two loops, one on either side, for ground driving. This lays across his back and I thread the lines through them, just keep the lines from dropping down so he can step over them. The loops in the rope are not big enough for the lines to slide back and forth but it's not there for any other reason than to keep things tidy:

I also have a surcingle for long lining. I don't use this much for ground driving but it's nice when we are working on posture and doing circles and such. It does allow the lines to slide in and out and has lots of ring options:

The nice thing about the surcingle is it has 3 straps that go from the saddle to the crupper that help to stabilize the saddle when they are working. The driving saddle just has the one turn back strap, so it often results in a sideways saddle. Of course when doing long lining we have to be sure our girth is much tighter than it is when we are driving with the cart or ground driving in straight lines. That helps stabilize things as well!

Here is a blog I wrote discussing whether a long lining kit is necessary based on the goals we have for our driving: Should I buy a harness or a long lining kit?

It might save you a little money!