I just bought a mini that is well broke to drive- and came with his custom harness and cart… I had him shipped to me though,so was not walked through his gear before hand… I have only ever hitched and driven a horse using a breaching set up- this mini harness is a fine harness with no breaching straps- I am not sure how to hitch to the cart with out using the breaching- can some one explain it to me or point me to a website that would tell me how to hitch this particular way- thank you!
Answer: get breeching! LOL
No, seriously. If you’re planning on using that turnout in the showring then sure I can tell you how to hitch it up. If you’re going to use it anywhere else then you need to order some breeching and probably tweak the harness a bit to make it comfortable for use in the real world. What are your goals? AMHA/R shows? Pinto shows? Carriage driving/ADS shows? Trail driving and just enjoying your new friend? We can direct you better if we know the intended usage.
Leia
Well heck, Leia beat me to the good remarks!
If this was a horse, I would say to just get a vehicle with brakes! We drive our horses with no breeching but the vehicles all have brakes to help them stop it.
My goal at this point is to drive him around my pasture on the flat and give my kids rides around our 3 acres…I would like to show him eventually.
drive with kids
Get breeching and a kicker strap. Make things as safe as possible for you and the kids.
The shafts of the cart should have shaft stops. This is what will keep the cart from sliding up on the pony on slight inclines. If you are going down big hills you need a different cart/harness set up. The tug loops just slide on to the shafts up to the shaft stops. The tug tie downs wrap once behind and twice in front of the tug loop, with the second wrap crossing under the first to be more secure. The point of the shaft should not be past the point of the shoulder of the animal, if it is you may have to move your shaft stops.
If you are just driving on 95% level even ground I see no reason for breeching or a kicking strap. I have never used a kicking strap in my life. A kicking strap with a light two wheeled cart can make for quite a scene if you are not ready for it, if a horse/pony were to buck or kick with both legs with a kicking strap and light two wheeled cart they can lift the whole cart off the ground and usually scare themselves enough to make them bolt, and possibly throw the driver from the cart. IMO- a more prudent measure for driving a mini around the pasture would be a correctly adjusted (slightly loose when the animal’s head is in a normal position) side check. This will keep the mini from putting its head low enough to be able to kick over the shaft or buck hard plus will keep it from putting its head down to graze and stepping on the rein.
You really should only use a harness with no britching if the vehicle you’re driving has brakes and you’re on the flat.
(I’ve never used a kicking strap in my life though and trust me I err on the side of doing everything right to reduce risk!)
Thank you Renae, you have helped tremendously. I will be buying a seperate harness that has a breaching on it- but for now I have to use what came with this mini- and that is the very nice show quality breachless harness. The cart is an easy entry style show cart, and this is a well broke driving mini- I did hitch him, and I lead him around our property so my kids could rie in the cart, and we had a great time.
Its not that hard to make a breeching for a mini.
A friend of ours bought a 15yo stallion mini - supposed to be VERY experienced for pony rides
came with cart and harness - no breeching
My friends are basically clueless but well intentioned and owners of a farmette that houses many exotic critters
It is half hills and half flat and when I saw their mini pullng the cart from the barn (uphill) down to the flat field to “play” and having the cart run up on his hocks the whole way down
I created a breeching out of pieces of leather straps left over from lots of other things (PS I save everything useful for “some time it will be needed”)
So it is various colors of brown with a faded black harness - it does the job of keeping the cart back. The only thing they had to do was but a loop onto the shaft to attach the breeching to.
On a side note…I saw a strap that went behind the pony, from shaft to shaft, and acted as pseudo “hold backs”… Would that work until you can get breeching?
Cinder
This cart does have the tug stops renae was talking about , and there are tug tie downs that wrap around and buckle to themselves. so it does hold the cart in the right place for the very light carting we are doing currently bu…I am going to shop this weekend and see if I can find a harness wiht breaching to use, and just keep this one in the bag, and use it for showing when the time comes…
[QUOTE=cinder88;3423813]
On a side note…I saw a strap that went behind the pony, from shaft to shaft, and acted as pseudo “hold backs”… Would that work until you can get breeching?
Cinder[/QUOTE]
That’s called false britching here. 
[QUOTE=Renae;3423390]
The shafts of the cart should have shaft stops. This is what will keep the cart from sliding up on the pony on slight inclines. If you are going down big hills you need a different cart/harness set up. The tug loops just slide on to the shafts up to the shaft stops. The tug tie downs wrap once behind and twice in front of the tug loop, with the second wrap crossing under the first to be more secure. The point of the shaft should not be past the point of the shoulder of the animal, if it is you may have to move your shaft stops.[/QUOTE]
Tug stops are a safety feature and are very important when driving without breeching. They do keep the shafts from sliding forward through the tug loops but that still puts the braking action on the saddle which may be uncomfortable for the horse depending on the load, the saddle and the horse’s conformation. With a larger horse and a small jog cart it’s barely an issue but for a mini where even a show cart and one passenger can weigh as much as the horse it’s a different equation IMO. You can certainly drive safely without breeching on the flat but it’s important to have everything else adjusted right so that the cart follows the horse’s movements easily and doesn’t become a hinderance.
The “tug tie downs” are called wrap straps and should be snug enough to come into play before the tugs swing too far forward past the vertical but not so tight that the shafts are glued to the horse’s sides and bouncing with each stride. Once you add breeching you can loosen the wrap straps a little more since it will then be the breeching’s job to hold back the cart before the tugs swing forward and the wraps will only be preventing the cart from flipping upwards if overbalanced and generally steadying it. There should be at least one wrap in front of the tug and one behind to hold it in place and then you can wrap any excess as necessary and tuck the end back under the crossing point as Renae said.
A kicking strap with a light two wheeled cart can make for quite a scene if you are not ready for it, if a horse/pony were to buck or kick with both legs with a kicking strap and light two wheeled cart they can lift the whole cart off the ground and usually scare themselves enough to make them bolt, and possibly throw the driver from the cart.
Kicking straps with minis are quite effective as the load usually weighs as much as they do. Even with my 30lb sulky and a 100lb driver my 220lb mini is solidly stopped by a kicking strap and believe me, he was a determined high spirits bucker before I started using one. That said, a finished horse like the one described in this thread probably does not need a kicking strap at this point although they’re always a good idea as insurance.
IMO- a more prudent measure for driving a mini around the pasture would be a correctly adjusted (slightly loose when the animal’s head is in a normal position) side check. This will keep the mini from putting its head low enough to be able to kick over the shaft or buck hard plus will keep it from putting its head down to graze and stepping on the rein.
The idea of checks as an anti-bucking aid is widespread in the miniature horse world and I personally don’t feel it’s effective. To truly prevent the horse from getting their hindquarters in the air you’d have to have the check so tight the horse would be completely hollow-backed and by that point they’re usually rearing and flipping over which isn’t much better. If the horse really wants to buck, believe me, they will find a way! (I wish I could find the photo series I’m thinking of that proves my point. LOL) I do however agree that a loose sidecheck is a good idea for a mini being handled by children as it prevents them from getting into naughty habits, especially while being driven on grass. 
Sometimes the temptation is just too strong when you’re that short! :lol:
The only thing I’d caution you about at this point LuckyDonkey is that many minis are not only routinely driven without breeching but may never have been trained to it at all. Be sure you put it on him in the roundpen and on the long lines before you attach it to the cart so you’re sure he’s used to the pressure and knows how to hold the cart back with it. I’ve heard horror stories of what can happen when you don’t and when it involves your kids it’s much better to be safe than sorry. :yes:
Leia
