What is the difference?

Seth, the main difference in my opinion is the choke and breast harness is the best for wheeled implements. The braking capability is best. Most loggers prefer side backer, but the all around harness would be choke and breast or belly backer. Hope that helps.

Never get a more complicated or heavier harness than you need. Buckrake, header, or push binder is about the only place you need a side backer style. If you have a tongue, the belly backer is all you need.

Are you asking for the difference in:

function?
design?
or application?

Or maybe all of the above?

Seth,

Belly backer has quarter straps from breeching to a strap (martigale?) that goes between the front legs to the yoke. On a sidebacker the straps run foward to the jockey yoke that attaches to the yoke. The side backer has a direct line from the breeching to the jockey yoke.

Two advantages to the side backer are working pregnant mares without the up pressure of the belly backer's quarter straps and less chance of a wreck when horses are trying to knock insects off their bellies in fly season.

Neal

I have the belly backer, but I was advised to get the side backer style. BOTH are the same harness, except you can switch out the quarter straps for side straps with snaps and then you add a jockey yoke. When I say they are the same harness, they are 2 completely different styles, but you can make the same harness into each of the styles by sweitching out a few parts in most cases.
Side backer doesn't reduce tounge weight like the new england d-ring, although they look the same.
The biggest adnantage to me of the belly backer is the tounge can't rise as much before it hits resistance. But the downside is that your horse can swat flies in the summer and end up with a leg in the quarter straps if you are not careful.
Sidebacker has no undr rigging, so no danger of a leg getting caught. Safer style in my opinion. Also, if you are working a horse a lot during planting season and it's really hot, with the belly backer the undr rigging gets NASTY. Sweat, dirt, and such. The side backer has nothing undr their to be a sweat catch.
In my opinion, had I to do it over, I owuld go with side backer for cleanliness and safety.
I just didn't like the looks of the jockey yoke. But that's simply in opinion.

The disadvantage of a side backer is the tongue can raise up high as the horses back. I think it comes down to what you are used too. I have a little mare that will sit down like a dog to back a tough load. It is with a yankee britchen and a belly backer. I also like the breast strap as a back up to a hame strap.

For crying out loud; with 1/4 straps in fly season snap them into the little d ring on the tug. Still can back up an empty wagon without a problem if they are shortened up a little. Hell any horse that couldn't do that with the belly band alone would worry me! I bought a side backer harness in nice shape about 12 years ago. Looked at it and then thought like Dale. Converted it to belly backer. Same auction I bought a hip britching harness, stole the tugs and bridals and oiled the rest up. If I ever quit raising colts to start; I am going to put it back together and try it. Would have to figure out a way to tie their butts together otherwise. A horse can back up a fair load with just a crupper harness; dang collar will slide half ways to their ears though. SLIGHT exaggeration.

Forgot to add that if you are using a crupper, keep it clean! Real nasty place to get sore. I only use 1 when ground driving colts. Keeps the harness on straight then; when hooked the lazy straps should keep everything within reason if adjusted right.

Most end up setting their box britchen too low. When asked to back it pulls their hinds out from under them.

I like open backed yankee britchen as it actually pushes down on their hinds. A crupper is necessary for this style.

My nylon harness was light & I could pull the britchen when working without a tongue making it even lighter.

If your horses are hanging up on the quarter straps they are too loose.

Old timers in this region used to call the team harness with quarter straps, just a wagon harness or farm harness. I had never heard the terms belly-backer, or side-backer before getting on this forum. Have never seen a side-backer for real and had to look it up online. This has nothing to do with anything - am just interested in regional history.

Below is a link to an article about "farming with horses". Good information which includes pictures of harness, terminology of all the parts. It's good to have a picture or sketch to start a conversation with. Sometimes a picture can be worth a thousand words. Hope this link works for everyone. Good night reading.

http://books.google.com/books?id=K8mEYr1JZ28C&pg=PA12&lpg=PA12&dq=%22side+backer+harness%22&source=bl&ots=QwKCc8c2jn&sig=ITA4zEidAcMWXQIZpGFClRzQ68s&hl=en&ei=WAoNTZCFBoGC8gbQjaXmAQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBMQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22side%20backer%20harness%22&f=false

That's actually a link to the Google Books version of the book Farming with Horses by the late Steve Bowers.

Joe

I have a mare with sweet itch and she is very flexible from a lifetime of contortionism. Even with the quarter straps snugged up tight on her belly-backer harness she can still catch a strap with the edge of her hoof when kicking at her belly on a gnat-ridden evening. It helps if I make sure her hooves have a very round toe ("mustang roll") - a sharp edge catches the strap much more aggressively. I have yet to have her get hung up but she has snapped an old quarter strap and broken a cheap snap on two different occasions. This mare scratches behind her ear with a hind foot (not in harness!) and can reach amazingly far up her side with the same foot. If she wasn't also my best horse, I'd have eaten her long ago. Her harness is easy to distinguish - it's the one with all the gnat-repelling goop and gunk on the quarter straps. I have been strongly considering going over to "The Dark Side" and converting to sidebacker... D-ring, specifically.

I am worried about the tongue's ability to raise up and bop the horse in the nose with the neck yoke. I am also worried about what might happen if the britchen snuck up over the point of the rump with a sidebacker harness.

With my belly-backer harness, the quarter straps running under the belly do help anchor the britchen down. As Joel says, running your britchens too low takes your horses' feet out from under them. With the extreme hills surrounding my farm, britchen adjustment is critical. I have them up as high as I can safely put them - just under the point of the rump. I don't worry about the britchens getting bumped up higher because I know the quarter straps are holding them down. With a sidebacker harness I have an awful image of the britchen being able to get up over the point of the rump and THEN WHAT?

I'd love to have someone tell me it can't happen but I don't know if I'd believe them.

I use the belly backer system but when horses were commonly used for farm work around here (especially in steep hills) most used side backer harness and D-ring traces. They still used the pole straps and martingales hooked into the belly band to hold the neck yoke at the right height. The jockey yokes sat behind the neck yoke instead of on top of it and were only responsible for holding back the load and not holding up the pole. I'm assuming this was to stop the pole from lifting. In my opinion this is getting the best of the both worlds. If this isn't clear, E-mail me and I'll be glad to send you a picture.

You ought to try Brandt Ainsworth's DVD Harnessing Work Horses. It is pretty good as it shows most all of the styles actually on horses. My favorite style of all is the New England D-ring. I didn't get that because I was afraid I guess to have something different than what most have. Thought it might be hard to find one, several other excuses. But, I have seen them in action. A friend has his team in them and there is literally no tounge weight. It all goes to the back of the horse. Great design.

Ever had one get a rope under their tail? Try to get it out.

Now picture box britchen under their tail. Try to get it out.

This is why one MUST keep cruppers clean n shiney.
(Insert smiley thing here)

Joel, yes most interesting thing that couple of minutes. First time I KNEW that saddle horse could REALLY buck. Only time that worried me; was when I was leading a mini mule that our grandaughter was riding on. I baled off a horse and hung onto that lead rope. Just could see that horse kicking back and hitting her. Mini mule didn't want to go so I should have dallied up shorter.
PS. lines also could get caught there. Word of warning for all you total slack line drivers out there. Damn horse will almost throw itself if you pull back on those lines. Cruppers should be as clean as your collar face for comfort of the horse.

Not only try getting the box britchen out from under the tail but envision the broken tail or runaway resulting from trying to hold back a couple tons of hay on a wagon that is being held back by a horse's DOCK.

Hence my hesitation in converting to sidebacker.

Just noticed a mistake in my other response. I meant to say they used the breast straps and martingales not pole straps.