We just got a harness that turned out to have hip breeching. We really like the looks of it but want to make sure we are using it correctly. I have been looking but am having a hard time finding much about adjusting it and even putting it on the horse correctly. My main questions are: I assume the ring on top of the hips sits the same as the spider would on the box breeching, correct? & where exactly do I want it to sit? Also where do the quarter straps hook, there is a ring with a loop on it that was loose in the box, I am assuming this goes on the belly band and the quarter straps hook to that? Are all other tightnesses of straps about the same as with a box breeching? Oh, the strap that comes up the backbone from the crouper... Best I can figure is it goes around the top Hames strap, or am I way off base on that one? For use on a single horse with a cart do you run the standard shaft loop conversion or?? And finally, for use with a team (we are going to make another one to match it), it did not come with any Pole straps, does it run the same set-up as the more standard harness or is there a special way to do that? Also any links to pics would be great, I can't seem to find any.

On a single, I will say that a hip or Yankee britchen is not the best option. That does not mean that it doesn't work but It takes a little work. I have attached a photo of my son's mare single with a cart.

The Quarter straps go from the britchen to a ring under the center of the horse. The hold backs then come up to the shafts. In the photo, you can kind of see the snaps and ring. This is not the ideal as the hold backs should be forward about 6 more inches.

With a team, the quarter straps go to a pole strap that has a ring on the end. the pole strap comes between the front legs and connects to the neck yoke directly or to a 3 way snap.

I have the 3 way snap and it works but so does the loop in the end of the pole strap and threading the breast strap through the ring.

You are correct the spider ring sits just in front of the high point on the hip. The britchen is then on the down slope of the hip about as close to the tail head as you can get. In an ideal world the britchen should cross over the hip and the quarter strap then to the pole strap without a change in angle.

This picture is close but the britchen should be closer to the tail to make it more correct.

The back strap does go around the upper hame strap. I don't have a good picture of that on this computer. This harness has a split back strap and actually attaches to the hames.

Here is one last picture that I think shows most of the parts that you are questioning.

Good luck and welcome to the dark side of harness. May you never have horse pucky on you britchen again. (GRIN) KM

Thank you, thank you, thank you KM!! That was a world of help!! We tried it out on Sunday for a ground drive and love it, it is light and easy. Here is a pic of one of our youngsters in it. After comparing pics I think I need to tighten the belly band (I had gone with a fist below the belly as I was taught with a standard harness) and try to keep the breeching closer to her tailhead, but the darn thing creeps. Otherwise if any more experienced eyes see anything I missed critiques are welcome! My Bf will be making another one or two to match it for our other girls so we won't be doing much solo driving in it, just until I get the next one going enough to hitch them as a team.

Looking forward to puckyless breechings!! Thanks again!!

Aargh, my pics didn't work... To see them go to http://pacificarabian.blogspot.com/2008/09/finally-another-post.html and scroll down, you can click on them there to make them bigger.

Murrini: I wonder why you think they did not work. I formatted the post so they would come up. Maybe they were too big for your browser to accept? Did anyone else have trouble viewing them? Sometimes it takes me a few tries to get photos to come up correctly within posts that porch sitters send, but I am usually able to get them in the end, regardless of the hosting site.

Joe

Joe, yesterday they did not come up at all, today one is coming up, so I'm not sure what is going on, very well could be something on my end... They are large files so that could be the problem. This was my first attempt at putting pics on the porch so next time I will make sure the pics are a bit smaller. Thanks for everything you do Joe, you make this site great!!!!

Joe I could not get them in the original post.

I don't see them.

You may need to tighten the crupper to pull the hip britching where it belongs. Fat horses are more round in the hip and it makes it harder to keep in place also.
Don't know why anyone would tell you to leave a whole bunch of slack in a belly band. The only reason to use a belly band is to keep the tugs down where they belong when you cross a ditch or such. If your tugs get too high, you can get enough lift on the collar to cause it to rise and choke your horse. If that happens, you need to be pretty fast at cutting your hame straps or you will have a dead horse. You just don't need them tight either.

Thank you Dale, We will try that. I'm not sure why they run that way, other than that was how they were taught... But going back and looking at pics I can see that most people run them snug, which makes more sense to me. I think we will try her on a small stone boat this weekend with it, if we get it built, so I'm sure I'll be asking more questions afterwards. Thanks again guys!!

Joe,
Another reason to snug up the quarter straps; in fly season it's very likely a hind foot will get tangled up in the belly/quarter strap attachment as the horse kicks at the flies. This results in a very exciting exercise; better than watching boats being launched at a busy boat ramp. Safety for you and your horse always comes first.

I see that this post is back from 2008 but wanted to point out that the harness on the blonde draft horse is lacking a breastcollar and pull strap. The quarter straps from the britchen should not be attatched to the belly band. They need to come to a pull strap and then to the breast strap which should be attached to the collar.