people who do driving (not cars!)......homework help.....

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alicep

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Good afternoon all. im soon going to be making a single driving harness for course work but need some research on single and pairs driving harness and the differences between........

ive googled and got some great diagrams that show the different parts of each type of harness but didnt get much info, just websites selling stuff! but i wondered if the HHO hub of knowledge could give me some of their knowledge on both types of harnesses.

Thanks
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general points about the two types and the specific differences (i think).

basically i dont know anything about driving or harness and need to gather the info
 
Hi, It depends if youare making a show harness or a driving trial harness?
Trial harness' tend to be more padded and ergonomically designed to enable the horses/ponies to flow freely at speeds through the hazards and cones, show harness' are more traditional and can have either a breast collor or old fashioned neck collor and hames.
Hope a bit of that helps, could do with some more details to help more!
 
there is so much. if you go on to saddle up into the driving forum i think the part of the harness are named. There are lots of different types of harness its not something that easy to answer
 
Erm, you could learn about it for ever but
.... Well harness.
Full collar, Private drive type harness. Has a full collar, hames, hames strap and traces for pulling! A 'saddle' or pad depending on if it is treed or not hold the shafts. From this, along the spine runs the backstrap, which goes to a crupper around the dock. Over the loins there may be loins straps, which go down to the breeching. The breeching sits half way between the dock and hock, stifle to stifle. Its is attached to the shafts by breeching staps, and the shafts have breechign D's to hold them in place. From this there is usually trace carriers. The breeching may be left off to enhance the horses quarters. The carriage will then either have a break, or false breechign is used. False Breeching runs between the shafts on the breechign D's. If no breeching is used trace carriers, wich are just attached to loins straps may be used. The bridle is a 'normal' driving bridle, and the reins are always brown leather.
If a breast collar is used the carriage must have a swingle tree. The brest collar has a strap around the front, and one over the neck to hold it up. Both the breeching and breast collar can have 1 or 2 straps to hold it up. Any decoractive or patent parts will be even, and the pad is large and strong enough to potentially have the weight of the carriage on it, for a two wheeler. The saddle can either have fixed or sliding tugs, which are the actual loops the shaft go through. This depends on the type of carriage and use you are designing for. The tugs can also be different types, which again depends on what you want to use the harness for. These are held close to the saddle by a belly band, which goes just above the girth. The girths are usually like mini riding ones, with single buckles. On most harnesses a strap called the false martingale runs from under the collar and is looped around the girth.

With pairs harness, the bridles may be more extavegantly decorated on one side. The horses are attached to the pole by pole straps, or chains that come off the collar. A full collar it come off a kidney link, breast collars have loops of them for it. These loops can either be sided, so they are nearest the pole of that side of harness, or both sides so can be used both ways. The saddle can be finer, as it doesn't carry any weight, and has no tugs. The backstap and crupper are the same. The breeching seat (the actual bit that goes round tha bum!) has straps that come fowards and attach to the collar. This mean when the collar is pulled fowards(as in the carriage is moving faster than the horse) the staps are pulled fowards, bringing the breeching into work. In pairs trace carriers only the one designed to be on the outside is usually decorated. Most of the buckles on the harness can be done just on one side, although it is much easier if they are adjustable both sides. The false martigales are the same. The reins have a draft rein, and a coupling rein. The draft rein goes from your hand, to the outside of the pony on that sides head. On this are holes/buckles from witch the coupling rein attaches, going across to the other pony. The other rein is the same, somtimes a ring is put around where the reins cross to keep them neat.

Sorry for the spelling
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The main differences I can think of are the split reins, so that the driver can control the same side of each pony with one hand, and the fact that there's a pole instead of shafts, which means a way of attaching the vehicle to the harness at the front, not at the sides.
 
Lol, I teach harnessing at our "experience carriage driving" days and rara basically just stole my whole speech! lol

If you pick up a sallie walrond book there are some great diagrams of different types of harness, "driving the harness horse" i think is the one which is particularly good for that.

I would also just like to shout (because i live with non horsey people and they keep telling me to shut up!) that I'M GOING FOR A 2 HOUR PAIR LESSON WITH MARK NEXT WEEKEND! WOOOOHOOOOOOO!
 
Oh and between me, rara and the others I think we could provide a few photos!
Sod it, any excuse, here's some photos!
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This is a rather handsome mags with an overall well fitting wheel (back of a team) harness, although generally wheel horses would wear a full coller as they are doing most of the work. He's not in his coller or breeching so some of it looks a little loose but he's mastered the art of being exactly where he doesn't need to do any work. Its a pretty workman harness, nothing too flash, only a few bits of patent on the outside. (ignore the gwarky baby percheron in the background)

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Same harness from above, minus the breeching with a loin strap instead.

Barnaby.jpg

Same harness again but this time with a full coller and our gorgeous barnaby in it. And its been tarted up for a wedding. Minus the collers all that harness is between 20-30years old and still going strong.

01-06-04_1005.jpg

Weirdly this is the only single picture I have! I'm normally driving the singles so i'm not really in a position to take a pic! Its maggie again, can't see harness very well... but who doesn't like seeing the magnus! lol
 
Oh my god YOU GUYS ARE AMAZING!!!!!!! thank you so much rara and ezme that info is brill and the horses look so fab in their harness!! again thank you xxx
 
I've just been staring at the pic of barnaby (he's retired in holsworthy now and i really miss him) and I've realised how badly parts of the harness fit.... I mean I've worse at North devon show but we have standards. Luckilly the vehical is a 19th century landau and pretty light but it has no breaks, your workin off the breeching constantly....

FYI the collar is too long, putting the trace tugs too low and meaning the point strap is too long. The breeching is also too high and could probs be shortened a hole too. Luckilly I happen to know that our coachman would have gone over the harness before we went to the wedding. I hadn't been driving very long at this point.
 
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