Rough Starts - suggestions?

[goodhors]

I like the Yaks, they just don’t last long with all the walking I do. Even cobbling them back together with binder twine does not get me much extra use.

I think this winter seems harder with the news constantly harping on the weather ups and downs. Husband calls it Scandals and Storms when the news comes on! Ha ha We got gifted with such an “easy” winter last year, warmer here, not tremendous amounts of constant snow storms lIke this season. Cold has been pretty cold for longer times too.

Facing winter weather daily can wear on you, grey days are not cheering. My farm news report says winter will not be ending early, still a bit short on water that has fallen by a few inches.

Rain is freezing now, should be ugly on the roads tomorrow!

[RMJacobs]

Thanks, @goodhors.

Rebecca

[red_mares]

The little wench was better last week. She got hooked outside because someone was riding inside. She stepped right off…then did a half dozen little crow hops. The drama.

We definitely offended the COTH fashion police. The mare had on a conglomeration of at least 3 different sets of harness. She has a lovely russet work bridle, the saddle from her Amish biothane harness (the crupper on that is from quick hitch leather work harness; we couldn’t get the breeching off the crupper), an older collar that has seen better days and the brass hames from the show harness. I rigged up adapters with an old stirrup leather and some brass rings to use the snap in traces on the jog cart with the buckles on the hames. The traces were wrapped around the shafts a couple times; they were a little long. Somewhat surprisingly, there was no baling twine involved.

It was not pretty, but it worked. I’m sure there would have been pearl-clutching if it were seen outside the barn. Good news is Miss Thang didn’t mind a collar & hames instead of a breast collar and the collar fit! I forgot the straps on her ankles, so she was a bit pacey. She got new shoes Monday with a wider web (and a little more weight!) that will hopefully help with that.

[goodhors]

Mixing and matching various harness parts to get a drive done is acceptable. We do not always look like we are show-ring ready at this barn! The trick is making sure all parts are safe, solid to use. Easy to work buckles for opening and removal. Maybe you can get the breeching off the back strap with a few minutes fussing. The issue is actually your ability to get things off fast in a crisis, feeling the parts to KNOW they have no damage or wear that could fail under stress, like hopping in the shafts.

Have you checked out getting a kicking strap for her? It is a safety aid for horses bouncing, maybe kicking, while hitched. It will help hold her rump down, perhaps prevent her kicking over a shaft or kicking the dashboard, tangling her feet up. This is a safety issue, not acceptable. We don’t want horse or humans hurt.

[DMK]

You wouldn’t believe the things I’m mixing and matching, but the kicking strap suggestion is spot on if it isn’t already part of your equipment

[red_mares]

She doesn’t kick, It’s a stiff legged hop, almost a canter, maybe 8" off the ground and pretty slow. There is no risk of her expending enough energy to get a leg over a shaft.

The backstrap and breeching from the Amish harness are sewn together; there’s no separating them without destroying something. There’s need for it. The crupper & backstrap we’re using are fugly, but functional.

[DMK]

You know your pony but in my experience a kicking strap isn’t necessarily limited to getting a leg over the shaft but rather to make crow hops and unintended hind end activity less rewarding to the equine than they would like it to be. While that is a behavior my pony is just not interested in, I’ve noticed it to be a pretty common piece of equipment at even upper levels, so knowing what I know now, it’s probably a piece of equipment that I would consider standard on any unknown entity or young horse. ymmv.