I have a 14 year old 13hh pony mare named Dolly that is fully trained for driving and I would love to start driving her. I only really want something that’s cheaper but safe for me and my horse to use since I’m just starting out any suggestions would be very helpful.
Do you have a vehicle for her yet? 2-wheeled carts should have a wider saddle to spread the load more on animal back, at least 4inches for anything not mini sized. Pony or horse can be carrying a lot of weight in the shafts as a person enters, exits or even just leans forward. Animal is the third “leg” along with wheels, in triangle of support holding the cart leveled up.There is only shaft weight on horse with 4-wheelers because of hinge point between shafts and vehicle. People moving to enter or while seated add no weight to the animal, so saddle can be slightly narrower on the harness.
Your harness saddle should have a rigid tree in it, just like a riding saddle. The tree keeps weight off the equine spine. A spine is not made to bear weight, heavy loads. Just ask seller if harness saddle has a tree in it before purchase. You want good size terret rings which are the rings on saddle the reins go thru. Your reins are less likely to snag or get hung up in larger terrets if reins get a twist in them.
You might want to consider if you want leather or synthetic harness. There are good points to both. I only use stainless steel for hardware on buckles because it does not need much in polishing to stay nice. Brass hardware can be lovely, you just have to keep after it to prevent tarnishing.
I suggest you measure your horse, make a list of measurements needed to have while shopping. The best fit is having every buckle in the center hole, leaving you room to take up or let out straps when horse gains weight or gets more fit and slender. If harness is starting at the tightest or biggest hole, you can’t go any place different in fitting him later. Breastcollar should be wider, horse is leaning into it for load moving. A curved style allows more room for the windpipe on animals with low set necks, horses lowering head for pulling uphill or with heavier loads. Wider spreads the load, not cutting into him. Same thing with breeching around hindquarters, needing some width to spread the load in stopping, holding back on downhills.
Bridles need to have blinkers centered behind the eyeball to prevent peeking over or under the blinkers. You need a full noseband going all the way around the nose. This helps hold bridle cheeks to sides of the skull, also preventing cheeks from gapping away when reins are used. Rein should fit your hands, not too wide for your fingers or too narrow which cuts into your hand. Too thick gets heavy in your hands, between your fingers, uncomfortable to carry for long times. Thick, wide and heavy is NOT a sign of quality, just are coarse reins, no fun to use.
You probably don’t need a checkrein of any kind, few carriage folks using them now because they restrict proper body carriage in work. No they are not a “safety device” in preventing kicking while harnessed. Horse can still kick wearing a checkrein in either style.
They have Quickhitch style harnesses which make hitching faster and safer IMHO and also the tie in style. If your cart is only tie in style they also sell the quickhitch piece that goes onto the cart.
Check BigDweb.com they have good beta harnesses for ponies for a good price
Parry Tack recently started making a harness with a treed saddle. I have several harness bits made by them in the past and all have been of excellent quality and they are quite awesome to work with and very reasonably priced. They only do biothane and beta tack.
Yonies has some inexpensive options, but you can also go hog wild and very fancy (speaking from experience…).
I like having a harness that has both a ring and slot end option.
I have several points to hit on here based on Synette99’s post. What wasn’t mentioned is your driving experience. If it’s limited, I hope your pony drives really well, is experienced and quiet to hook if you’re new to this fun sport. That will make it so much easier for you to get the hang of it from hooking to the vehicle, to what to do with the reins and whip when you suddenly hit one of the “ah oh” moments. I hope you can find a local driver who will help you get yourself ready to drive…buy harness, find a cart, learn how put on the harness and get it off (something you want to learn how to do safely and quickly if an occasion arises where you must unhook the pony asap) Then maybe they will come help you start driving instead of going solo the first times you drive. (We drivers love expound our knowledge… look at me here!)
So on your question about where to get harness. Your 13H pony is in between “stock” harness sizes. She’s at the top of pony and bottom of cob. Because of this I’d be very careful about buying “off the rack” harness. You will need the measurements of the major harness parts, then measure her to see if she will fit. This is a daunting task if ordering by mail. Make sure you can return for your money back if the harness doesn’t fit perfectly (not on the last hole on every strap…no where to go if you have to adjust after using it for a while) or if seeing it in person makes you rethink the quality. Better to buy lovingly cared for used high quality from a known harness maker than unknown quality from a catalog. Again, get advise from someone who has experience. (I still have my first set of used harness that came with my first driving pony 35 years ago and it was about 15yrs old then. I most recently used that bridle and saddle to start my newest pony. I have three other harnesses bought since then…all from same maker since I had learned from experience the size adjustments I needed for the my 12.2 ponies.)
A cart! Oh yes, get a cart, not a carriage. You can get in less trouble in a cart. But how to know if it fits? First look at lots of pictures of horses and ponies and cobs in vehicles. Examine the photos, look for where the shafts lie along the body in relation to the traces and breeching strap. Look at the height where the breeching rests against the rump of the horse,etc. Now go cart hunting. I’d really want to see the cart in person vs online. But I have bought a cart from an online ad and it did work out. I had the seller put her pony to the cart and photograph it from side, front and from the seat looking up the pony’s back. Since the pony was the same size as mine it and it fit hers, I bought it. Get someone knowledgable to go cart shopping and take your measurements with you.
Wake up everyone! I’m done.
Good luck shopping and I hope you fall in love with driving as I did so long ago.
I have a pony that I swear is made up of other horses’ discarded parts. He has a barrel the size of a quarter horse, short pony legs, short pony back, long horse-size face but delicate little muzzle. I gave measurements to Troyer’s and Harley Troyer put together a harness that fit my oddball pony perfectly.
When I first gave the measurements, I was told “you must have made a mistake; these measurements can’t all belong to the same animal.” I whipped out a picture of my pony and showed that yes, I did have a pony made of spare parts.
Rebecca
Because your mare is already trained to pull do get a good quality harness. When I was starting my donkey I purchased an entry level harness just in case she would not drive. She took to it and I sold the entry level harness ASAP and bought a nice one that has the firm tree. It is stunning the difference it makes to spend $300/$400 more for a good harness. I use Iowa Valley Carriage for my driving supplies. They are knowledgable and helpful.
Great advice here already from folks with tons more experience than Newb Me 
That said: #1 Priority s/b an experienced driver - friend or trainer - to help you get started.
Your pony may be trained to drive, but every time you drive you are teaching & a bad experience can stay with a pony & make future driving unsafe.
I logged not a lot of hours in lessons & then driving a friend’s Saint of a pony before buying my mini.
He then went to a trainer recommended by my 3rd generation driving neighbor who has driven everything from Drafts to Hackneys.
I got back as close-to-bombproof a baby (turned 3 in May) as I could have hoped for.
I am able to harness & drive him myself & have done so on my acreage, on the road, at the County Fair, local shows, a drive with the Carriage Club & recently our first ADS show.
Being able to relax and drive this baby was worth the wait for him to get trained to the cart & roadsafe.
And driving friend’s BTDT pony in between helped me gain skills I needed to drive my own.
I even handled a minor runaway on the Club drive & have driven since w/o a problem.
You asked about harness.
I got a Tough-1 leather harness - new, still in the bag - at auction for $90.
This one:
https://www.statelinetack.com/item/tough-1-tracker-leather-mini-driving-harness/E012995/
I have put another $50 into modifying it so it fit him & will be doing yet more refitting as parts (girth attachment for shaft wrap) are wearing that could compromise safety. But for the price it is not a bad starter harness.
I am looking to get a biothane for everyday & save the leather for show.
Another vote for Iowa Valley!
Chad & Myrna are knowledgeable people who sell great products!
…even if Myrna did win every class I was in at Villa Louis…
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