Harness Shopping - Bio with BRASS?!

[Ceylon_Star]

Starting to shop for the cob’s new harness. The one we have has served us well, but he has finally lost the last of his excess weight and I am now on the very top hole on everything but my hamestraps. The collar and hames are the only part that still fit well, actually…

Hardware on my cart and hames is brass, so will need harness to match, but I am finding it difficult to find a biothane harness with brass hardware! I am leaning towards biothane for its ease of cleaning, the fact that it slides through keepers reliably (nothing worse than sticky/too-tight keepers), and that I don’t need to worry about mold prevention (something we struggle with around here in the winter). Am I going to just have to suck it up and replace my hames and hardware with stainless?

Harness will be for day to day pleasure driving and low level CDE. I really like Comfy Fit/Chimacum Tack for their customer service and quality of product (they made my collar/hames/short tugs/hamestraps, and you can barely tell the straps/tugs aren’t leather!), but am open to other brands. Contemplating a euro collar as well, for use on marathon, as we use a full collar most of the time due to some physical issues that make fitting a breastcollar tricky. Would be open to a super-V as well as long as the trace ends swivel.

Cart is burgundy and black, with brass hardware currently. I think black harness would look best, but I do have a soft spot for brown padded black as well…

Thanks for any suggestions you can offer!

[goodhors]

You could probably order a bio with brass hardware. This will allow you to do custom fitting, with using measurements off the horse. Call your favorite makers, sellers, see what they can do for you.

[Field_of_Dreams_Mini]

https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn2/v/t1.0-9/1010231_544211245614251_1768974022_n.jpg?oh=141fcf0f02094b1d37fe1b34d99598c4&oe=55CA4883

I have a Country Carriages USA harness and it’s great! Ten years old and hardly any wear. It even took a beating when a friend’s pony went crazy- bucking and kicking all across the field. Pony was hurt worse than this was.

[Ceylon_Star]

FoDMH - thanks! I hadn’t seen Country Carriages’ harness before. It looks nice!

Goodhors - I don’t know that many makers, honestly. Comfy Fit/Chimacum, Smuckers, and Zilco are about it.

Oh! I forgot about Ideal! Hmm…

If I post a couple pictures of cob and cart, would someone be willing o tell me if they think that brown padding on a black harness would flatter the turnout?

[Ceylon_Star]

The cart (burgundy body, wheels will be redone in black. Pink is the primer used to cover the awful original green): https://scontent-sea.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfp1/v/t1.0-9/10264968_716803808371594_7771263803180543188_n.jpg?oh=4160949bab654d70252e40ea9c98b50a&oe=55C77E19
https://scontent-sea.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xaf1/v/t1.0-9/10269521_716803768371598_6989124737296218705_n.jpg?oh=3716a6b2f440020387e1e755f527be7b&oe=55C90D81

Cob: https://scontent-sea.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfp1/t31.0-8/10914831_1027727793909200_9146270330657900768_o.jpg
https://scontent-sea.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xap1/v/t1.0-9/11009956_890381307680509_5890798683400529732_n.jpg?oh=c4df3d415373ccf555f0a8a78e3c51ed&oe=56099D09
http://i917.photobucket.com/albums/ad15/ShayneBear/Just%20Java/First%20Dressage%20Show/DSCN3523.jpg

[DiamondJubilee]

I love a biothane harness in black with brown padding. We just purchased a single cob sized harness for our 14.1h pony and we love it! We also have bay ponies and I think it looks nice on them.

https://scontent-lga.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfa1/v/t1.0-9/11033614_10155622858380046_3663371359752684464_n.jpg?oh=85444bda66568d9f64891641b5f10181&oe=55C74FC2
https://scontent-lga.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpa1/v/t1.0-9/10628444_10154599574070046_1633363422882904926_n.jpg?oh=1b57f3b7f7eb1db6c08e2ad75c5aa7dc&oe=55CED428

Would you be using this harness every day? If so, brass would be a pain to get clean for shows IMHO. We also use brass for our turnout and we have brass on our everyday carriage (our pair CDE carriage has brass hubs and rein rail). It takes my husband hours to get the lovely green stuff and tarnesh off from every day use. Our leather harness isnt so bad since we only use it for shows, but it still takes me hours to clean. We have chrome on our harness for everyday use, but I know thats not always possible. Is there anyway you could change your cart to chrome? Or would it be too much trouble to do so?

I’m sure you could always order a harness with brass fittings since they can make any harness from scratch. I just know what a pain brass can be since we deal with it often. But brass does look amazing once shined up which is why we still use it…

[DiamondJubilee]

By the way, your boy is adorable! I have a soft spot for cobs

[Ceylon_Star]

I love the look of brass, and honestly don’t mind polishing the metal itself. It’s the fact that when I polish my current harness, i inevitably have to clean the leather AGAIN because any polish that gets on it leaves a chalky mark that is a bear to get off again. Having an easier to clean material like the biothane would make polishing significantly less of a chore! Heck, I usually end up buckling down and cleaning the whole bloody harness after each use because Mr Diabetes Pony sweats like a pig, leaving everything nasty anyways. So even simply polishing up the hardware after each use isn’t unreasonable for me either.

Your pony is lovely! I love the red bays <3

And thanks, he’s a pretty special little guy. I’ve known him most of his life, and even after owning him for the last 3 of his 12 years, I STILL have days where it’s hard to believe he’s mine! (And the fact that he is touchable, let alone ride-and-driveable, is pretty miraculous given that I couldn’t touch him for the first several months I owned him, due to abuse that happened over the 4ish years prior)

[DiamondJubilee]

Well, if you don’t mind the polishing, I say go for it! I ordered my harness from pleasurethyme harness, we saw them at Glen Willow CDE and liked the harness. We currently have Zilco pair harness, a few sets of Smuckers harness, and old Freedman harness and a pair Driving Essentials harness, but there were some nice features to the Pleasurethyme harness so we thought we would give it a try (it was a little less $ than the Zilco one we were looking at and we really liked the 2 tone colour). I’m sure they would make it using brass fittings as well. So far so good and they have been good to deal with (we had to return the bridle as it was too large and they made us a custom one no charge).

We also like bays, we have 4 in the field right now lol! All are home bred and trained ponies. They are a blast and so much fun! Your boy sounds lucky to have found you You look like a great team.

[goodhors]

I would second the choice of Country Carriages USA for a harness maker. They turn out a really nice synthetic harness product that I have heard lots of folks brag on owning. They love to use and abuse them, still looks great for showing in good company with! Claudette and her folks have been easy to deal with, know the “current” choices in harness styling, and certainly could have brass put on a synthetic harness.

http://www.countrycarriagesusa.com/

I only own some shaped breast collars from her, but like them and their good fit on our horses. I only do silver hardware, no time for polishing brass with Multiples!

I sure like LOOKING at a well polished brass harness and carriage parts. The soft gleam is so pretty on a horse. Sounds like you have your polish routine down already, done daily or after each use, so the tarnish and green won’t be any effort to keep gone.

[Drive_NJ]

one trick for brass polishing is to wrap the leather/ beta beneath with saran type wrap to keep the polish off it

q-tips are your friends for inside the leather foldover on buckles

best of luck finding what you want

get them to send a pic of the bridle BEFORE buying

we just helped a friend sell a synthetic harness that had the NICEST bridle - as nice as leather (mostly IMO they are not)

she did not remember the maker so Id want to see what they produce as many are either bulky or too loose looking and gape all over with less that perfect winker stays

best of luck finding the harness you want

[goodhors]

Why didn’t I ever think of that? What a great tip Drive NJ, using the plastic wrap on the leather to keep metal polish off!! You made my day with that, and I will share the tip (giving you credit!) with anyone who polishes brass. It is good to learn something new every day, often is a BETTER or easier way than you used to do it!

[Ceylon_Star]

Thank you for the saran wrap tip Drive NJ!!! I feel pretty dumb for not having thought of it myself!

What should I be looking at, specifically, when looking at pictures of the bridle? My current bridle, while nothing special, seems to fit well, apart from having needed sevral holes pubched into everything BUT the noseband (well, everything needed holes punched to make it small enough for the little tank).

[mtpony]

I don’t know if it is still possible, but many years ago when I got the first Zilco harnesses, I got the metal coated in something, that looked brass, but didn’t need to be polished… gold maybe? Sounds like it should be expensive, but it wasn’t. It did wear off a bit after 12 years, however.
Also, instead of wrapping the brass, I have gotten desiccants for gun safes, they are about 3 inches by 5 or so, I throw them in the harness bag, or box, after polishing, and they seem to really work. When we are at a show with a lot of harnesses to do, this is a life saver. They are also reusable, when the crystals change color, they go in the oven, dry out, and are good to go again…

[Drive_NJ]

CS

For me, I look for a heavier quality biothane bridle that feels a bit more like leather. I look for smooth edges (look at the where the padding ends on the crown on the first harness below vs the second and how the blinker stays attach to the blinkers.

On both of these, my preference would be a heavier strap for the cheek strap. I know these are strong straps, but for my big draft crosses, the single strap feels too flimsy for me. May not be an issue with other horses/owners.

http://www.drivingessentials.com/pop%20up%20pages/harness_synth_zilco_bridle.php
less happy with way crown and browband is padded

http://www.shadygrovetrainingcenter.com/harness/Images/Yonnies%20Delux%20Harness%20014.jpg
like more

[China_Doll]

If you are not concerned with having leather for a proper pleasure turnout why match the metals? Saving cleaning with bio but getting high maintenance brass seems counterproductive.

[China_Doll]

I didn’t even see any brass on your cart so it is minimal. Change out the brass to stainless and get the stainless harness.

[Ceylon_Star]

[QUOTE=Drive NJ;8165745]
CS

For me, I look for a heavier quality biothane bridle that feels a bit more like leather. I look for smooth edges (look at the where the padding ends on the crown on the first harness below vs the second and how the blinker stays attach to the blinkers.

On both of these, my preference would be a heavier strap for the cheek strap. I know these are strong straps, but for my big draft crosses, the single strap feels too flimsy for me. May not be an issue with other horses/owners.

http://www.drivingessentials.com/pop%20up%20pages/harness_synth_zilco_bridle.php

http://www.shadygrovetrainingcenter.com/harness/Images/Yonnies%20Delux%20Harness%20014.jpg[/QUOTE]

Thanks Drive NJ my guy is a chunky morgan/haflinger, so heavier straps would axtually flatter him. His riding bridle is a wide flat hunt bridle which looks awesome, and going back to anything more popular looking just seems awkwardly narrow.

China Doll, hardware had been removed for painting in those pictures, but the hardware includes footman loops, tug stops, hubcaps, rein rail, whip holder, and trim around the entry area of the cart body between dashboard and seat. I don’t do pleasure shows, there are none around me. Closest thing we have are arena driving trials on the island, and CDEs on the mainland. It is not so much a matter of wanting to do less cleaning in general as it is a matter of living in a very wet climate and getting frustrated with leather moulding every winter even when I stay on top of cleaning it, and store it in a dry tack room WITH a dehumidifier. While Bio CAN mould, it is far less likely to do so than leather, and there is no worry about keepers warping and becoming too snug or too loose when used in the rain (a problem I have on my current harness AND my riding tack)

[Stonewall]

One option you might want to explore: Gerard Paagman has Ideal Harness at Inverness, British Columbia. You could take your cob there and get completely fitted out.

He is also having weeklong driving school and I think there are a couple of openings available during the second week. You might be interested in that: http://www.candrive.me/

[China_Doll]

[QUOTE=Ceylon Star;8171766]
Thanks Drive NJ my guy is a chunky morgan/haflinger, so heavier straps would axtually flatter him. His riding bridle is a wide flat hunt bridle which looks awesome, and going back to anything more popular looking just seems awkwardly narrow.

China Doll, hardware had been removed for painting in those pictures, but the hardware includes footman loops, tug stops, hubcaps, rein rail, whip holder, and trim around the entry area of the cart body between dashboard and seat. I don’t do pleasure shows, there are none around me. Closest thing we have are arena driving trials on the island, and CDEs on the mainland. It is not so much a matter of wanting to do less cleaning in general as it is a matter of living in a very wet climate and getting frustrated with leather moulding every winter even when I stay on top of cleaning it, and store it in a dry tack room WITH a dehumidifier. While Bio CAN mould, it is far less likely to do so than leather, and there is no worry about keepers warping and becoming too snug or too loose when used in the rain (a problem I have on my current harness AND my riding tack)[/QUOTE]

For what you are doing no way would i want brass. If leather is moldy brass will look bad in a day after polishing. You could easily change out some pieces on your cart and paint the hubs black.