neck yokes

hey. if you have four ring or d-ring (new england) harness(they used to call it prison harness here in maine). tune it to f-sharp. nice and snug. if you get it right, the pole weight is carried evenly by the jack saddle as well as the collar. and the pull un the britchin doesn’t bother the horses. on belly backers, the strain on the britchin goes down the quarter strap and under their bellies squeezing in on their flanks. they don’t like that as well. let you tugs go slack a little. when you back the evener should still be off the ground and not dragging. you gotta feel your way through that one. they have a yoke that bolts through the tounge and can’t get away from you, but i’ve never had one. looks great tho. good luck.

You want the tugs tight enough that the ring can’t come off. I put a safety strap around the ring of the neck yoke and pole just to make sure it won’t come off. On my forecart it is bolted to the pole. You want it fairly tight to the neck yoke and britching so the weight isn’t slamming back and forth into them.

Hi Mink, Start by making sure the harness is adjusted to fit the horse. After snapping the snaps and buckling the buckles, take the breast strap snap (the one that hooks to the neck yoke), and pull it forward. It should a create a straight line down from the hames. Back behind this line, and they will be hitting the neck yoke, so make the pole strap or the quarter straps longer. If the snap ends up in front of the hames they will be lifting the collar off their shoulders when they stop or back. That is a quick way to sore a horse, so shorten your breast strap or your quarter straps. Check this adjustment regularly as you harness your animals.

Obviously, you always hook the neck yoke first for safety reasons. When hooking to an unfamiliar vehicle expect to take a minute to find the right length. With all the tugs hooked, have them take a step forward, you should be able to slip your fingers into the britchen easily. The breast strap may hang away from the body, but that should only be an inch or two. This won’t work if the vehicle is rolling down any grade as the weight will continue to be on the britchen. If you have them take a step back you should see the tugs slacken, but just enough so you could unhook one easily if you wanted to. This way they are suspended between these two points of contact (forward and back), with just a little room in between.

A neck yoke that is fixed on the tongue(bolt on or snap on, or strapped on), is a good insure policy. Don’t use the fixed neck yoke as an excuse for not checking the harness fit or proper hooking length however. A slip on neck yoke will work great if care is taken to make sure the animals are hooked properly. Proper length is important for the animals comfort and success, regardless of how the neck yoke is attached. Donn