Tall Horses

You could try adding drop rings to your harness. By adding rings lower on the side of the hames you will find less of an upward pull on the horses mouths and more of a lateral pull. The lateral pull is the signal we want to send to steer horses. Use a large ring (like from an old bit) and a small lock link to add the ring were the harness back straps are coming off. You may need to decrease the off set between your lines to keep the horses spaced right. While the drop ring is a subtle change for most teams, it would work really well for tall horses. All my horses and mules work with these rings. You can look at my web album to find a picture. The pictures call face net show it well. Donn

Wow Jen – reconnoiter?! I’m impressed :o. I too have horses tall enough to generate a solar eclipse and do as Jen mentions but also drop back further behind the team to see ahead once in awhile. Too close will block your view in front pretty easily.

Hi Ethan:

I, like Donn, am a big fan of drop rings. I use what I call “double snaps” – preferably stainless steel – that I have clips on both ends. These are common hardware items but they tend to be nickle-plated. One of the double snap snaps on your hame ring the other snap has a 2.5″ ring in it. My lines pass through this ring, dropping the lines 6″ or so (see the horse on left).

Others may have more mathematical approaches on adjusting lines. Here’s mine whenever I mess with the lines as with the case in the picture above where I am driving 2 horses of vastly different sizes. I have the horses under load with moderate line pressure. Their heads should be straight ahead as they pull. If one or both have their heads out (as in away from the other horse), I adjust my cross-checks back. The opposite if they are driving with their heads in. Theoretically both cross checks should be adjusted the same.

George