Breeching

[goodhors]

Best to check your Rule Book for the kind of showing you will be doing. Breed shows often have the thimbles or wrap straps on the shafts, no breeching when put to those light show carts. These light carts are driven 99% in arenas, on groomed surfaces, with the various breeds. Not an outside, field or rough track type driving vehicle.

While the Carriage Driving in Pleasure Showing, using the heavier wood-wheeled carts will require breeching in the Rules they show under.

I do think ADS has changed their Rules for CDE Singles, so they now require breeching even with brakes on the vehicle.

It always comes back to the Rules you will be competing under, so you as the Driver/Competitor, need to know your Rules. You HAVE to go thru the Rule Book, learn all those picky details to prevent doing wrong things in situations and being eliminated or ineligable because you didn’t have your harness, attire or accessories done correctly. Not knowing the Rules is your problem, part of not being prepared to compete.

This is an old thread, not sure if OP still needs this kind of information now.

[Tee]

All good - thanks folks!

[Domnopalus]

I don’t mean to hijack this thread but this is exactly the problem I’ve been having, except that my shafts are metal and the footman’s loops are too far up for the breeching. I have two carts that have this problem with the loops being too far up–I would imagine this is because there is another style of harness or something that is meant to be used with these, but the worst part is I can’t even screw in footman’s loops or shaft stops because the shafts are metal. Could I weld them on with JB weld or something crazy like that? I really don’t know what to do about this problem. Thanks!

[goodhors]

Measure and mark on shafts, where you need the footman loops to fit the harness you use. Load the cart and take it to a local welding or fix-it shop to have them weld on metal loops in your marked locations. With loops wide enough for the breeching straps to go in easily. Not a tight fit to strap width.

I would not use JB Weld at all, it won’t probably hold up to the forces put onto the footman loops. Having footman loops break while horse is trying to stop or hold the cart back will cause an accident. May ruin your horse, cause a runaway as cart bashes horse in the rump or hocks each time you say “Whoa!”. Most horses run from that kind of punishment.

JB Weld is NOT good to use on vehicles with horses. Not up for that kind of stress.

[Domnopalus]

Good call on all of that; thank you! Will NOT use JB Weld.