hanging up a harness

[buck22]

Breeching specifically, how do you hang up yours? Any photos?

I’m currently using saddle racks for each harness and everything fits well except for the breeching. I guess its just the positioning of my racks, but if I lay the backband down the middle of the rack, so the crupper is hanging off the end facing me, and the hipstraps and breeching fall naturally as if it were on the horse, my holdback straps and trace carriers are lying on the ground (why invite mice with a convenient ramp?).

I was looking at getting some proper harness racks, but they seem to have smaller realestate than the saddle rack I currently use. I can’t figure how an entire harness would fit on this:

http://www.drivingessentials.com/product_popup.php?ID=51533

Unless its much bigger than I’m thinking it is (which judging by the screw holes, it isn’t) then its roughly half the size of my current saddle rack.

or this

http://www.drivingessentials.com/product_popup.php?ID=51541

Do you put the butt part of the breeching across the top and let the crupper, backband, hipstraps and all attachments just, dangle? Won’t they get a weird ripple?

Though I don’t always tie up my lead ropes or do the neat figure 8 with my riding bridles, I know how and will do when I’m in a particularly tidy mood. :lol: I would be so grateful to learn the proper way to put up a harness.

[2tempe]

No suggestions, but OP made me remember a funny event. It was winter, so I brought my harness home and using a variety of hooks from Home Depot, hung the whole thing on pipes in my basement. Couple weeks later a guy from Electric company showed up to change my meter, which was in the basement…He got down there, looked at all the leather hanging, got HUGE eyes.:eek: That meter was changed out in about a minute and the guy BOLTED out of the house:lol::lol::lol:

[didgery]

[QUOTE=buck22;6011937]

Though I don’t always tie up my lead ropes or do the neat figure 8 with my riding bridles, I know how and will do when I’m in a particularly tidy mood. :lol: I would be so grateful to learn the proper way to put up a harness.[/QUOTE]

Me too! I’m eagerly awaiting answers.

[buck22]

“stinking of trees”? ^^ creative spam reported

Thats so funny 2tempe! Welcome to my dungeon… mwah hah ha

I used to have a cockatoo that had free range of my home (she was cage trained, but I do have many pieces of furniture that bear her ‘mark’). Only thing she said was ‘hello’ but she had at least 30 different inflections for it. Service people visiting was always a hoot, she’d wander in behind them and always utter a perfectly appropriate ‘hello!’ scaring everyone out of their wits.

[49_er]

I attach the backstrap to the saddle with a snap. When I hang the harness, the breeching is hung up like the saddle.

[Drive_NJ]

We have the full set of harness racks like the first of the Driving Essentials one you picked

On that rack we place the saddle
I keep the breeching still attached to the saddle (by the back band) and just lay it up over the top of the saddle… Yes there is a twist to the backband - but it gets the breeching to lie nicely

(interesting aside - recently a driver friend said they heard you need to buckle your crupper between use or it could lose its curved shape - - not sure if thats totally true - but interesting)

We use the collar rack to hang the breast collar. On one harness we detach the traces and sling them over the rack first - - on the other the traces remain attached to the BC and just coil them around so they done hang

W even bought the harness bridle racks but dont use them - just regular bridle racks. The harness ones have a long flage extending down the side to keep the blinders in place and from pulling the bridle out of shape

We gave a set of the racks to our BO for christmas one year - said we’d mount them on a board to hand in the trailer for travel & shows
she ended up having the farm welder attach slats (?) off the back so she could just hang the racks on stall sides or on the slats of her stock trailer - It all keeps her harness in better shape at shows

Do a google search on Harness room
Some interesting images of old and new harness rooms - though most are displaying full collars

dont scroll down too far or you get some otherwise “interesting” stuff

[MunchingonHay]

dont forget you can run the backstrap up, loosen the keeper and where it loops at the saddle pull, so then the hip straps meet the saddle. then place on the rack, but instead of placing the saddle up against the wall, spin it so the breeching is up against the wall and the saddle is on the out side. this way the swing/curve of the breeching is against the wall and the breeching straps towards the front.

OR

you can get 3 of the racks that you posted frist, (the second one is for zilco so its not going to be strong enough for a full set of leather harness)

place the collar on the top rack that is now attached to the wall about chest height, place second rack about 6-8 inches under that and place the saddle there, and then place the 3rd rack under than one. Get a bridle rack and place that one under the breeching.

you may have to play with the placing of each rack, put why fight with only one rack, get a few.

and I always re buckle my cupper, or any piece that I want to keep its shape.

[goodhors]

I want a big radius curve for my harness strapwork to hang on. No sharp or narrow hangers to put a bend or fold in the leather or synthetic material.

We have old harness racks purchased a while ago. They are the cast iron type with wood pieces to keep leather off the metal. Like these on the left, only iron, not brass.

http://www.smuckersharness.com/pg63.html

I love those bridle hangers, almost a perfect design for keeping the driving bridles shaped right. I don’t really use the collar bracket, too pointed for breastcollars. Does work for full collars. I wouldn’t use the rein hangers, too narrow to suit me.

Garden hose hangers can work well for the big curve of breastcollar, breeching, and coiled reins. Usually a wider area to lay things on, works well for narrower breeching and breastcollar so they are not piled up. Sometimes you can find smaller hose hangers, they can work for bridles, keeping the crown smoothly curved. If my blinker bridle is not being used often, I will put them away in a container. The weight of bit and blinkers is heavy and can stretch the holes with just hanging the leather. Plus then it doesn’t collect dust.

We hang our harness brackets vertically with breeching/breastcollar hanger above, then harness saddle, with bridle underneath. Traces for a single are unbuckled each use, probably laid over the breeching hanger if not hung high from a hook by the D-ring or slot end, so there is no bend at all. Reins are coiled and hung over the bridle. Cruppers are buckled, hung under the breeching rack on narrow can to keep them shaped. Tomato paste cans are a good diameter or juice cans, so the bend size stays correct, unless you want it stretched a bit.

We do the Pairs harness the same way, except everything is left connected for ease (SPEED!) in harnessing. Sure LOVE the synthetics there, so much lighter to handle than leather. Helps not having breeching on them too.

Having your harness spread out will let it dry faster. Keeps surfaces exposed to air by using the various level hangers, with strapping extended between, not just piled up in layers. I may fold a towel to lay over the bracket, so metal and wet harness have an air space between, for better drying. Our horses ususally have a real good sweat going in warmer season work sessions. Takes harness longer to dry, and that towel helps speed it up.

[Equibrit]

My vet had a complex system of hangers and pulleys for removing and hanging his working horses’ harness. There’s pics of it in this thread; http://www.ruralheritage.com/messageboard/frontporch/15488.htm

[butlerfamilyzoo]

I was at a trainers in the aiken area and they just had ropes with snaps on the ends hanging from the ceiling. They didnt take apart the harness, just slipped it all over their heads, her reasoning, if it comes apart, it can get lost, and they have several sets of harness. So as she’s got an arm through the whole harness, she grabs the snap, runs the rope through and snaps the rope back to itself and her harness’ hang. She hangs bridles on a wall since most of her horses/ponies have their own bridles but some share harnesses.

I’ve been trying to figure out what to do with mine at the moment too. I have a rolling saddle rack that one goes on, and i hang the bridle, but the other one i dont have room in my tack area at the present barn to do another saddle rack type of deal and not enough room for hooks either. So i think it might get hung with a rope instead.

My mini harness i had a kengsington harness bag for. It had 3 hooks inside and some velcro keepers, and then too hooks on the top so it could hang on a fence board or wherever i needed it to, plus a handle to carry it. That was an AWESOME bag. But they dont make them bigger for bigger harnesses. I wrote them and asked. Lately, the barn i’m in uses sawdust for bedding and in their indoor arena… It is SOOOO dusty in there. It doesnt matter if i use the harness every day, the next day it has a layer of dust on it. I tried throwing a sheet over it, but then the mice thought it made a good tent for them and i had mouse turds instead of dust… I think i’ll keep the dust…

At jo ann fabrics the other day they have a big rolling “suitcase” for sewing machines and such. it was soft sided like a suit case, but a BIG square shape. If it wasnt $89, i would have bought two of those for my harness cause that would have been nice to lay it down in, roll it around (it had an extending handle on it just like a suit case), and keep the dust off. I keep looking at real suitcases, but without hooks in them, the harness will just crumple in the bottom. I used a big rubbermade container on wheels with a handle, but it was heavy, bulky, and just a pain (it was the size of the rolling saddle trunks in the catalogs). It’s now my blanket box. I also tried using a big duffel bag, but everything gets tangled on itself.

I’m not sure if i’ll have a tack room area at the property we are renting in Aiken come March. My equipment might have to live in the horse trailer, and then i’ll want a rubbermade container that seals if it’s out there to help keep the moisture out. Both my harnesses now are bio, but i’m looking at replacing one of them with an Ideal leather harness, and i dont want it all moldy. I keep looking at the pretty harness racks, but since i prefer to keep the harness all hooked to itself and just slide it over their heads, i think i would do better with a couple long hose hooks to slide the whole things onto.

Now, if someone can tell me how to cover vehicles without creating perfect tents for critters that like to chew on the seats… I would appreciate it! I think i’m gonna have to make form fitting seat covers so they can chew on those instead of my vinyl.

[buck22]

its so funny you mention the garden hose hanger, I pulled my hose off my hanger the other day (like I’ve done every day for a few years now) and did a double take :lol: hey wait a minute! thats perfect for hanging a harness on! :lol:

I actually really do need something shaped to hang my bridles on, they’re on pegs right now and its just not good long term. Was going to get the bridle rack but at one third the price a garden hose hanger might suffice just as nicely.

I have the same problem as Butler with critters loving covered areas, but not so much turds as nut and seed cashes. A friend suggested rodents are driven off by peppermint, she has luck soaking a cotton ball with peppermint extract and keeps rodents away. I may try this as I too prefer my tack covered. My tack aisle shares a low common wall to the run-in shed, which I sweep and leaf blow every day and fine dust does settle on my stuff on a daily basis.

My very anal pony-club friend uses rubbermaid tubs for her harness. She showed me the proper way to coil everything so it keeps the right bend. Trouble is your tack must be super clean and dry before putting it away as any moisture will just be exasperated.

I also do unbuckle everything before putting it up as I try to make a wipe down with a damp rag a habit before putting it away.

I think I’m going to have to see if I can find a place to rehang the saddle racks, as I love my my breeching hanging straight so the hip straps don’t get a wave to them.

Great hearing what everyone else does!! Thank you!!

[RMJacobs]

We’re supposed to hang our harness on a harness hanger? Who knew?

I’ve used the same method for leather and synthetic, and it has worked just fine. I have pegboards all over the walls in my tackroom with a variety of hooks attached. My bridles (driving and riding) go on a hook over a large section of PVC (very cheap and you can buy whatever size is appropriate for the bridle). The rest of my harness gets hung up across the rest of the hooks, spread over the wall. I don’t unbuckle anything because I’m lazy (but I do take it completely apart every once in a while while cleaning it). So my saddle is on one hook, and the crupper, breeching and all hangs from a hook next to it.

I don’t tie up my traces–I don’t like to put that much of a bend in them. I drape them up and over another hook above the hook the breastcollar sits on.

I switch directions on how things hang every week in order not to cause a permanent bend in any piece. Since I mostly drive on the weekends, Saturday is direction change day. If I can’t drive for weeks on end due to weather, I still switch my harness around every week because I’m obsessive. Lazy and obsessive is a weird combination, I know.

When I used a leather harness, my husband made a very cool harness cleaning hanger for me. It has since been dismantled since I don’t spend nearly the time on my synthetic harness. But it was pretty neat. He hung two hooks from the tackroom ceiling and ran ropes attached to carabiners from the ceiling hooks to a cleat on the wall. The harness clipped into the carabiners for cleaning. I could raise and lower each independently to get it at the right height for cleaning and oiling, and pull the carabiners up to the ceiling when the hanger wasn’t in use.

Rebecca

[Chewbacca]

Umm… so does that make me the slob of the bunch that I keep my smaller harnesses in duffle bags and the horse harness in my car?

At least I clean them after use… lol

[red_mares]

[QUOTE=2tempe;6011951]
No suggestions, but OP made me remember a funny event. It was winter, so I brought my harness home and using a variety of hooks from Home Depot, hung the whole thing on pipes in my basement. Couple weeks later a guy from Electric company showed up to change my meter, which was in the basement…He got down there, looked at all the leather hanging, got HUGE eyes.:eek: That meter was changed out in about a minute and the guy BOLTED out of the house:lol::lol::lol:[/QUOTE]

This just reminded me of one of my many moves. My TV sits on Dad’s old tack trunk, which has his ‘instruments of torture’ - saddlebred show shoes, chains, rattlers, 90+bits, etc. When I moved, I just put a lock on the trunk. Movers pick it up - it weighs a ton - look at the lock sideways - “What’s in here, a body?” I just smiled (w/ hair pulled back & glasses) “Whips & chains” They just:eek::eek:

[goodhors]

[QUOTE=red mares;6029409]
This just reminded me of one of my many moves. My TV sits on Dad’s old tack trunk, which has his ‘instruments of torture’ - saddlebred show shoes, chains, rattlers, 90+bits, etc. When I moved, I just put a lock on the trunk. Movers pick it up - it weighs a ton - look at the lock sideways - “What’s in here, a body?” I just smiled (w/ hair pulled back & glasses) “Whips & chains” They just:eek::eek:[/QUOTE]

Ha Ha, folks are always like that with a heavy, locked trunk! I shipped a footlocker of horseshoes and nails as my luggage after Farrier school. The train porter almost killed himself trying to pick up both ends at once! He also asked about the weight, thought I was kidding about the horseshoes!

I don’t think we could pick up any of our tack trunks without emptying them. I got dollies to put under so I can move them around for cleaning. I have labels on the outside, to save time looking for the seldom used stuff inside.

[bucksrider]

I have no place to “hang” a harness. I am bidding on a storage bag on ebay. If I dont get that, I will either make one or have the Amish make one for me. I did see websites that have them, but didnt like the design. Right now my harness is kept in a tote , kept in the house where it is dry and clean.

[Chewbacca]

Bucks- I got duffle bags from Wal-Mart for my mini & pony sized harnesses. They’re nice and tough and although they say “jeep” on them, they work fine for me. I wish I had somewhere to hang my harnesses properly, but I don’t.

My horse size harness lives in my car, because I don’t have anywhere to keep it. Haven’t gotten a bag big enough for it yet, but just a suggestion for you, might be to look at duffle bags. They even have ones with wheels!

http://www.kshai1715.wordpress.com
Life in 2012

[bucksrider]

:(I did, nothing is big enough.

[RidesAHaflinger]

I have one set of nice Stubbs harness racks like these, the real thing:
http://www.newfarmcarriage.com/Harness.cfm

The harness saddle goes over the v-shaped piece, the breast collar goes over the curved piece and that helps maintain the shape of those two harness pieces. The bridle hanger and rein hanger are also purpose-made and very useful. It’s not very visible in the picture but there is a hook on the V-shaped and curved pieces below the main structures. Those are there to catch the breeching, neck straps, or whatever is still hanging loose when I hang up the saddle and breast collar. Thus everything looks neat when I’m done. :winkgrin: And I do in fact buckle the tail crupper when I take it off the horse to keep its shape. And then I wash it scrupulously clean before putting the harness away. Those two steps with the crupper were drummed in to my head by my driving trainer. That was one of the first things I learned about harnessing.

Ponies, carriages and harness all have a way of multiplying over time.:lol: The Stubbs harness racks are pricey and in spite of that warning in the above ad about cheap imitations that don’t hold up, I eventually bought two knockoff sets on eBay for a song and they’ve held up as well as the Stubbs in my non climate-controlled harness room.

For travel, I pack the harness in Rubbermaid tubs which are very handy for that purpose. But my preference is to be able to take harness down off the wall for use when I’m at my home barn.

[candysgirl]

Little late to the party on this, but here’s how the carriage company I work for hangs up the harnesses:

http://www.homedepot.com/Storage-Organization-Garage-Storage-Wall-Mounted-Storage/h_d1/N-5yc1vZbcff/R-202305566/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053

We have two of these mounted next to each other about 6ft off the ground. They’re kind of angled in a V about a foot apart. There is another one centered about 6" below them. Below that, high enough to keep the collar about a foot off the ground, is a piece of 2x4 nailed to the wall. It is just long enough to hold the collar.

The collar gets hung upside down on the 2x4.

The hames get hung on the single hook in the middle. The tugs sit draped over the hames. If the horse wears a breastcollar instead, the tugs get crossed over the hook and the piece that sits on top of the neck hangs on the hook which lets the part across the chest hang straight down.

The saddle sits on the two at the top and the breeching gets set over it. The bridle is hung on one of the top hooks and the lines get hung on the other.