Harness question

[Silver1]

I just saw a piece of harness with out the...I don't know the word for it, I just think of them as brakes, the strap that goes under the tail and around the horses thighs, so that when going down hill it works as a sort of brake to stop the cart from shoving into the back of the horse.

Now I'm wondering, with out that, and in a light cart that does not have a brake...how do you go down hills??

[galadriel]

It's breeching--but I have no idea. As far as I know, in a cart, you must have breeching.

I made up a harness for our mare that doesn't have breeching, but it's for dragging. Harness horses may be used to do a number of things involving dragging--timber work, farm work, and so on. I think you probably wouldn't need breeching for any of those. But as soon as the horse is hooked to a vehicle with wheels, I'd think that breeching would be an absolute must.

Of course, I don't have anything like the driving experience that some of our other member have :) so perhaps some of them will have a chance to read/answer your post.

[Chip]

As far as I know you must have the breeching, you can always buy it seperately.

[Silver1]

Thank you! Another question, is there somewhere that takes you through harnessing a horse step by step? I have written guides, and I've went through it step by step a couple of times with a friend, but it would really help if I had a visual guide that I could go back to. Perhaps there is a book with lots of big pictures in it?

*prays you will make a lovely new article on harness soon*

[galadriel]

I found a great online source for driving material:
http://www.axwoodfarm.com/Library.html

It looks like there isn't a step-by-step harnessing guide, but they do have a LOT of info. They might be able to point you to one, or you might find the stuff there is enough :)

And again, the NR driving experts might have some suggestions for you.

[Chip]

There are three things I would suggest

1/ Find an experienced driver or a Driving Instructor to help you do the job a couple of times
2/ Buy a video
3/ Have a look for a good book, there are quite a few around.

have a look at the BDS Website. Type in Carriage Driving Books on your address bar and you will gets lots of sources to find books and videos. Hope this helps, sorry if it doesn't .best of luck

[Esther.D]

If you have brakes on the cart you don't need breeching (although most UK drivers use it anyway - just in case, but I have noticed quite a lot of European drivers don't use breeching if they have brakes on the vehicle). A lot of modern four wheelers and some heavy traditional four-wheelers have brakes. Modern ones have disc brakes fitted in the hub. Two-wheelers do not generally ever have brakes so must have breeching unless you live in the Netherlands or somewhere with no hills :D

[Wally]

You can use a fasle breeching on a 2 wheeler, this goes from shaft to shaft level with the horse's bum so when the vehicle runs on the breeching stops the cart hitting the horse. It's not the best way to stop a non braked vehicle, but it is common on show vehicles or in areas with no signifigant hills.

[danni_at_69]

You should ensure that the harness is complete before even thinking about taking a horse out in harness. This does act a as break and will distribute the carridges weight evenly. The best thing to do is talk to an expert or read up on books, Hope this helps! :)

[Silver1]

Oi, to make it perfectly clear:

MY Harness is complete! I was watching a driving competition at the time I saw a harness with out breeching. I was surprised to see them with out it.

I agree that a book seems to be the right answer, and I will look for a new driving instructor, though I very much doubt I will find one. Does anyone know of a book that has instructions in them that aren't written like the instructions that came with my harness?

The instructions say "Clip C to E and F (which isn't shown on the harness picture) to A but don't put C on before F...

[Laetitia]

Have a look on the BDS website as they have a list of LHHI around the country. L