Does anyone have recommendations for where to buy a good quality show harness for a small pony, 40 inches, at a good price ? Used or new. Please help.
What kinda of shows- breed, ADA shows, CDE’s?
I use Iowa Valley Carriage for the small amount of driving products I need. I’ve also used Chimacum Tack in the past.
Depends on what type of harness you need. Herrons Pony carries the fancy rated show harness for small ponies. If its for CDE’s or pleasure Iowa Valley is really great to deal with, but my favorite pony harness is the Comfy fit
if you have a truly quality pony and are pleasure showing at top rated shows and some breed shows like hackney, welsh, etc
and beautiful harness is the Bowman’s Harness
I have always liked the Hunts Harness
Freedman Harness is beautiful and top notch but waaaaaaaay expensive so you have to need to deserve the price
There are many carriers now of good quality but not the upper crust of harness. Most are Amish which is not surprising as it is their business
good luck choosing what you want
OH and PS - many years ago when I wanted a good quality harness and could not afford Freedman. I got some advice from Tom Ryder that purchasing from England especially and some European harness - you would have trouble with the fit. Their horses generally have some differences from American horses in full conformation so the tack fit is a bit different (longer back etc)
Ozark Mountain Mini Tack carries both mini and pony harnesses for pleasure and show.
There is a Facebook group called Shetland/Hackney Pony Tack/Equipment Buy, Sell, Trade if you are looking for used - Herron’s tack also has new show harnesses and equipment and he sometimes has used equipment for sale.
I have a Driving Essentials one for my mini. Work for both pleasure and show. Spend a little more and you get a better quality products. I have had mine for over 10 years. It still looks great!
Thank you all ! She’s not a registered pony so we’re doing pleasure driving for now. She did take 3rd place at the State Fair last year and she was the only small pony and it was her first time showing in a driving class. I think CDE would be fun, and she’s smart, show her something once and she’s got it for good. She’s still fairly young, 7 yrs, so we can do this for a while yet. She was, we’ll still is, my granddaughters pony that she started on lead line and walk/trot. Selling her is out the question so she needed a new job once outgrown. Love this little girl.
Again thank you, I’ll check these places out. Had almost decided on one from Ozark Mountain MinI Tack but a friend ordered the same one for her mini mule and wasn’t thrilled with the quality for what it cost so I’m still looking.
We have a few different brands of harness for our medium ponies. We have a couple of sets of Smuckers harness (though I’m not sure if they even make mini harness), one set was bought brand new 8 or so years ago and I just bought a used cob set off of someone off of Facebook and I do like the quality and price of these harnesses. We have one deluxe and one super deluxe and they are both really nice leather/brass harnesses.
We also bought a brand new pair set for our 13h ponies from driving essentials, which we bought about 8 years ago now (several pictures of our pair is in their magazine as we also bought carriages off of them). I’m very happy with their service and the quality is really nice as well- the harness has held up beautifully! I plan on purchasing another set from them for our larger pair of ponies once we get them up and going. I highly recommend this harness and dealing with Jack.
We also have a 30+ year old Freedman harness which has stood the test of time! It has been on many, many different ponies and has held up really well. We only use it for schooling harness now as its not quite in show condition anymore 
We also have Zilco and Comfy harness for everyday use and CDE’s, and we are very happy with both sets of harness.
Starlake Tack might be another option, she just has mini harnesses but may be able to find something that might fit. I have a harness bridle from them and the “mini A” size was very generous. Maybe depending on your pony’s measurements she might fit into a “mini B” size or maybe they could special order for you. They are very nice to deal with and the bridle I bought was inexpensive but nicer than I expected. It’s getting a fair amount of use and taking it well.
