I am looking for a new breast collar for my QH. We do LD’s in a barrel saddle.(No, I’m not crazy). It fits me and my horse quite well. I’ve been using the standard western breast collar that attaches to the D-rings in from of the cinch rigging, but am interested in trying a “pulling collar” that follows the line of the horse’s shoulder and attachs around the pommel of the saddle. I’m told it allows more freedom of movement in the shoulder, and my horse has a huge stride out of his shoulder. (moves like a hunter) My current breast collar has never galled him, though he did develop some “scurf” a few days after an LD in the rain. I think the rain made him a little pruney. Has anyone ever used a pulling style collar? Do you think it would make him more comfortable, or am I crazy for trying something this unorthodox? He’s the type that needs a breast collar, (very narrow/tapering body), but I’d like to stay out of the way of that nice shoulder as much as possible. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks.
Breastplate is the term you are looking for. A pulling harness is part of a heavy driving harness. Go to any of the endurance tack web sites to look at the options. At this vendors site you will see a great slection of options:
http://www.hought.com/endbp.html
Personally I prefer a design that allows maximum adjustments. I like every strap to be adjustable and I prefer no overlay or underpadding on the shoulder straps as this reduces the adjustability of the shoulders. I prefer to let the shoulder straps out and shorten the chest to girth strap a lot. This will place the chest “O” ring lower on the chest which allows the horse to reach really low to drink from mud puddles or eat off the ground without being choked or rubbed by the “V” of straps at the center of the chest.
Style S or A on this web site look particulary good to me. Also, they are lighter weight in construction. I find myself going for lighter and lighter weight tack as it all adds up. I was amazed at how much heavier one BP can be over another. Mu current horses don’t even need them so I have 4 BPs gathering dust in tack room and trailer. Cruppers are coated with dust too, but I keep one of everything in the trailer in case I go to a ride where the terrain is really extreme, you just never know!
I went to Patti Stedman’s “Shut Up and Ride” ride and after a short exploration ride the day before the competition I went back to camp[ and put a crupper on Mouse for the first time. Bless his little heart, training took all of 5 min and we went out and up and down that vertical slide called a hill on the first 1/2 mile of trail. Only hill that ever slid his saddle onto his neck!
Bonnie S
I Know what you mean by ‘‘pulling collar’’. I also do western and they are very popular with ropers. An english style Beta or Biothane breastplate would be a better idea. They follow the same lines and are not as heavy as the wide leather pulling collars made out of skirting leather. If you don’t like the beta, Toklat has an eng. style fleece breastplate that is very nice. Or you can use fleece tubes to cover a regular breastplate if you want some padding. Good Luck!!
Zilco makes a wonderful breast collar that is pretty universal. Black only though, I believe. I got mine from Cooltack, I think.
Its been awhile. Just google Zilco.
Also check out Valley vet for a pulling style from Reinsman. It
is nice leather and more western in style. I’ve never had either of these gall a horse.
Let us know what you find!
I like the lighter weight of the Eng. ones, but will have to make some adjustments to attach it to my western saddle. I hadn’t thought of converting an Eng. breast collar, but it would follow the lines I want, and be light weight. Thanks guys!
I like the Zilco. But they do come in colors depending on if you use standard size or oversized.
I know what kind of collar you mean too when you say pulling collar. It’s popular with the ropers in my area.
