Driving harness saddle fit

mynutmeg

mynutmeg

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My sister is starting to break her cob in to drive (she has done this before but not with our horses) and looking at harnesses there doesn't seem to be different saddle sizes. We have got him an oiled leather one as suggested by a friend who drives his cobs. He checked the harness fit and is happy with it - I asked about saddle fit and he said they only really come in one size and just sit differently depending on the horse.
Is this true?
Reason I'm asking is that the cob seems to have a bit of a sore back but we're not sure if it might have been caused by the saddle of the harness or something else. There has been some tension recently between him and my mare to the point we've now seperated them. He has only been long reined and pulled a tyre so far so no actual weight from a cart through the harness.
 
I have had four different horses in harness and I now have three different saddles one of which I had to have made, they need to fit just like a riding saddle needs to fit.
 
Yes that's true- near enough no weight goes through a driving saddle on a well fitting turnout, so just a glorified surcingle in effect. As long as it doesn't touch the withers anything goes pretty much.
 
They don't carry weight other than the weight of the shafts on a 4 wheeler so don't need to fit like a riding saddle. I only have driving trials experience but assuming the pad is wide enough and off the withers then you're good to go... We have at times had 14 driving horses/ponies here in teams singles tandems and pairs with 8 makes of harness and only had one pad not fit one pony... I guess it depends how far down the pad is treed to- our stuff is mainly synthetic or made to measure.
To have hurt your horses back with it I think you must have had it far too tight- I think it's more likely to be from something else!
 
it certainly sits nicely on him and is well padded - having never had anything to do with fitting driving tack before I just wanted to check :D
He's not had it done up really tight
 
We have had to have a tree widened on a driving saddle to fit a broad cob. It gave him a definite sore back when too narrow, even though it did give good wither clearance.
 
Might be too tight? They only really need the slack taken up. Lots or people who come from a riding background usually tighten the belly strap like they would a girth. Can you actually see any pressure points when it's taken off? after a good reining session you ought to be able to see if there's a problem.
 
Haven't had it any tighter than we would a surcingle and obvious marks after the harness is removed. He also has a polypad on underneath
 
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