How to Harness a Horse
Harnessing a horse properly is important when you want your horse to draw a carriage or a horse cart. Read on to learn more about how to harness a horse.
Tools
Lead rope
Harnessing materials
Procedure
Tie the horse in an open area where you can swing around the harnessing materials easily. When attaching the harness, do everything slowly but deliberately to avoid spooking or scaring the horse.
Get the saddle and put it on the horse’s back. Putting a saddle on the horse’s back for harnessing is only slightly different when putting a saddle on for riding. Put it up a little farther up, near the head. (Tips on how to fit a saddle)
horse harness
There should be at least four inches’ worth of belt girth from the saddle reaching up to the back of the horse’s front legs. Don’t attach it too tightly, attaching it a bit looser than you would a riding girth. Attach the belly band. It should be snug but loose enough to fit your palm through it, without your hand touching the horse.
Put on the horse’s breeching. The breeching is used to prevent the cart or carriage from running into the horse’s back in situations when the cart is tilting downwards towards the horse. Put the breeching over the horse’s rump. Locate the backstrap and attach it to through the back portion of the saddle. Again, don’t attach it too tightly.
Attach the crupper. When attaching a crupper, don’t stand directly at the horse’s back. The horse might become nervous and end up kicking you. Simply stand off on one side and attach the crupper and secure the horse’s tail over it, attaching the fasteners and ensuring that the horse’s tail hairs are all lying flat.
Attach the breast collar. A padded breast collar is best to add more comfort to the horse, who will be feeling the majority of the cart’s weight on its breast. Have the breast collar lie at the base of the horse’s neck, and not higher than that. Make sure that the mane is still lying straight. Pull out the lead rope from the collar and hook it to the halter.
Attach the reins through the rein guides on either side of the horse’s breeching and up to the rein guide’s on the horse’s collar. Pull the reins until they fall around the horse’s breast area. Any remaining rein slack should be attached through the rein guides in the horse’s saddle.
Unhook and attach the halter around the neck. Put the driving bridle over the horse’s ears and put the bit in its mouth. Attach the latch around its throat. Finally, put the over-check strap over the ears, looping over the hame.
Fasten the reins on either side of the bridle. The horse is now ready to move a cart or a carriage.
If you enjoy reading this article, you’ll surely be delighted to learn how to train a head-shy horse.