Collars: Full vs Breast type with heavy horses

[Forever~Autumn]

Hi,

I'm currently looking to buy a set of harness for my Clydesdale gelding, and I was just wondering why they (and Shires) tend to be driven in a full collar and hames?

Is this purely traditional or does their build play a part in this - i.e. breast collars are not suitable for them / the heavy work would cause undue stress on their neck??

Just curious as I see loads of breast harness for sale but few with full collars except on specialist websites.

P.S If anyone knows of harness makers / suppliers in NE Scotland please drop me a note!! :D

[Esther.D]

I have never seen a swingletree on a heavy horse vehicle or piece of agricultural machinery..and without a swingletree to move with the horse a breast collar would rub, whereas a full collar is fine. So generally a vehicle with no swingletree = full collar, a vehicle with a swingletree = breastcollar. A full collar is trickier to fit as it needs to be sized exactly, like a saddle, whereas a breastcollar will fit lots of different horses. Hope this helps a bit :)

[Chip]

In agreement with this it tends to be that carriages are usually easier to use with a breast harness but working vehicles are better with a full collar. It was/is believed they can put more power into pulling with a full collar.
The exception to the rule I guess is in showing classes where full collars look the part.