Driving harness

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Highflinger

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Hello
I am looking to purchase a webbing driving harness for my 14.2 Fjord - he has a full size head ( takes an xl grazing muzzle) but is short in the back but very wide - typical fjord!
Having looked online i am very confused on which will fit him, - i think he may need cob size for some and full size for the rest. Any guidance gratefully received!
 
Plas Equestrian will do you a made to your measurements set of harness for about the same cost as a decent imported off the shelf one. It will be made in the UK and you will get lots of knowledgeable advice from an experienced harness maker ( no I don't work for them but have used their harness for many years ).
 
It’ll depend on make but I expect cob would fit (my zilco cob size is on small holes on my 15.2, other than traces which will depend on your carriage set up).
 
My Plas halter fell apart the first time I used it so I'm not a huge fan. You are much better off getting a Zilco, they hold their value if you need to sell them and if you change horses they can be adjusted to fit easily by swapping parts in and out.

There are several people selling them. I find Kim Murray who runs chandelles the cheapest and she is incredibly helpful. She will tell you which measurements she needs then supply the individual parts of the size you need to make up your harness for the same prices as off the peg. Its roughly £300 to £400 for a webbing zilco, you can sometimes pick them up cheaper second hand, but for something tricky to fit its easier and probably cheaper to buy new.

I have mine in a Rene Schoop heavy weight trials harness now and absolutely love it, but I was very lucky to pick it up for pennies second hand, they are expensive new and probably overkill for starting out.

My 14.1hh cobby pony is in a mix of pony, cob and full in both RS and Zilco
 
Zilco measurements are available for every harness, just get out the baler twine and a measuring tape and go wild!
You'll soon know which one should fit him best, you may well have to mix and match, my zilco came up small on the head but everything else was true, but everyone is different.
 
Would also recommend Zilco, it's so easy to swap parts in and out so that everything fits properly.

LW - I love Rene Schoop's harness but could never justify paying full whack for it. Although Rene was very helpful sourcing bits and pieces if we needed them (I'm based not far from him and we have a mutual friend).
 
Leo Walker said:
I have just been speaking to someone about that and we both came to the conclusion that Zilco isnt generous in bridle sizes, mainly nosebands to be fair.
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I wonder if that is related to them making a lot of endurance items for arab horses with dinky heads?
 
Faracat said:
I wonder if that is related to them making a lot of endurance items for arab horses with dinky heads?
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most likely, mine fits perfectly but i had to put a hole at the very end of the noseband to get it to go around a 'normal' head, very annoying as another size up would have been too big, it was purely the tiny noseband.
 
I drive one of my Exmoor ponies and ended up with a mix match of harness due to the size of his head and short stocky body. Most of it is Zilco. I found Dragon Driving a good source of harness.
 
I guess so- mine fits both pony and cob size nosebands but has a little head! There’s lots of holes so if you’re punching extra the size up you’ll be about mid hole.
 
rosemary28 said:
LW - I love Rene Schoop's harness but could never justify paying full whack for it. Although Rene was very helpful sourcing bits and pieces if we needed them (I'm based not far from him and we have a mutual friend).
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I love it. Its much thicker and chunkier than the zilco ones Ive seen, even the ZGB, so its suits my stocky little mare. The traces look like they would pull a house behind them! The customer service has been second to none as well as mine was a bargain ebay purchase so I needed to swap the breeching over and they had one made for me :)
 
Leo Walker said:
I love it. Its much thicker and chunkier than the zilco ones Ive seen, even the ZGB, so its suits my stocky little mare. The traces look like they would pull a house behind them! The customer service has been second to none as well as mine was a bargain ebay purchase so I needed to swap the breeching over and they had one made for me :)
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Rene and co are so helpful, and have always pointed us in the right direction if he himself can't source something. I have a carriage that came from him which is great, just lacking the horse part...:cool:
 
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