Harness..Leather or synthetic??

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rema

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I have decided that as i am too big to ride my cob mare that i would like to rebreak her to harness.I believe she has been driven many moons ago by a previous owner.But is a leather harness better than a synthetic.And are the synthetic harnesses you see on ebay any good??,and could anybody recommend a good place to buy a cart/trap.I quite like to look of the two wheeler carts as they seem to be fairly lightweight.Thanks.
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Not sure about brands but my old boss makes his own synthetic harness to scurry and it took us to HOYS so it must be ok!
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In terms of leather v. synthetic the only real difference is that some people prefer leather aesthetically, but then it takes a lot of cleaning!
 
I have used both in the past, but now only use synthetic (Zilco) as the leather takes SO much cleaning!

The synthetic stuff looks great - you can compete in it, and it must cost a fair bit less than leather.

With the synthetic, you just wipe it over and it's clean - the sweat and mud comes off so easily compared to cleaning leather and for a lazy git like me, that counts for a lot!

Love it so much I also ride in a Zilco bridle. Won't be giving up the leather saddle yet though!
 
Thanks everyone.I do like the idea of not having to spend for ever cleaning a leather harness.I like the trap on Robinsons website it's just a shame they do not do a bigger version.
 
I love leather harness. The boys wear John McDonald single and pairs sets. I find they are alot more versitile as you can show, do HDT and everything in it. Plus a good quality leather set will last a very long time. Some of ours is 30 years old bar the odd strap. However there are some great synthetics out there (such as Zilco), but always buy the best you can afford, cheap synthetic harness is awful and some is downright dangerous, same goes for leather. Have fun driving! Once you start you'll never stop!
 
I wouldn't use anything but leather.

Just yesterday one of the mares panicked (very uncharacteristic) and broke a trace. If the trace hadn't snapped, she could have pulled the other mare over, hurting both of them, or caused a lot of damage to the carriage.
As it was, we just changed over to the spare trace that we always have with us and carried on as normal.
 
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Most definitely synthetic. Would love Zilco, but they are like £700 so I have 2 sets of this............

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NEW-Cob-Size-Drivi...id=p3286.c0.m14

Fab stuff
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I got this when I first broke Gyp and it really didn't fit him nor did I think it was very safe. So I bought him a leather one which is a much better fit and alot stronger. Would only get leather now as some else says it can break or be cut if you really need to.
 
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Most definitely synthetic. Would love Zilco, but they are like £700

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No way!
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I paid just under £400 for mine 3 years ago from Bennington, and I'm sure it won't have gone up that much. There's also a Tedex one which is cheaper, but don't know what it's like.
 
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I wouldn't use anything but leather.

Just yesterday one of the mares panicked (very uncharacteristic) and broke a trace. If the trace hadn't snapped, she could have pulled the other mare over, hurting both of them, or caused a lot of damage to the carriage.
As it was, we just changed over to the spare trace that we always have with us and carried on as normal.

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There is a fantastic quote from sallie walrond (although i cannot remember it word for word) "if you have a metal carriage and sythetic harness, the only thing left to break is the horse.

I'd always buy leather. it does tend to fit better and you can fiddle more and it scrubs up beautifully, even if you trash it!
 
Synthetic are very much the preferred harness, but I prefer leather - despite the cleaning. I feel that, as said above, it has the ability to break if anything goes wrong. However, you must be careful when buying leather harness as the cheaper ones break far too easily and are potentially very dangerous.
 
I've always wondered about our pair traces tho, they are leather but they have a nylon core... soemthing that wouldn't brake. The do have quick release clips tho so pull the tag and they ping off (although not so great when you have horse with wire tail that with one swish can undo them) so if you were really stuck you can get them out in seconds which i've proved before with a very impressive leap from the top of waggonette brake (in sig) when oli went down lol. the pole straps don't have to core but what do you other driving buffs think? Do the quick releases make up for it?
 
We always use leather- The zilco is amazing but Tedman is also very good and not so expensive. Libbies harness is also OK.

In terms of carriages, it depends on your bedget- You could look on the hartland sight( just google hartland) and see if they have anything as they are very nice to deal with. Belcrown 2 wheelers are also good( again just google it).

2 wheelers are lighter, but if poorly balaced can be heavy on the horse, but most 4 wheelers do give a much nicer ride a
 
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