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In what way do they fail?

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That is a great resource, boulami! Thanks!

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Knock on wood, but I’ve never had a problem with my bridles coming off; not even partway. I don’t tie them to anything they could rub on, though. When they are hitched, I hobble my horses rather than tie them to something. I have an allergic horse that will rub the barn down if left to do so. I am obsessive about not letting my horses rub their heads while tacked up – whether in harness or under saddle – and I try to make them as comfortable as possible. This includes brushing their poll to make sure there’s no debris up there, parting their forelock from the mane behind the bridle and running the forelock forward in as neat a bundle as possible, sometimes even braiding the forelock if it will be a long hot slog of a day, sidechecks, comfortable tack, and vigilance. The only thing my horses can reach to rub a bridle off is each other or the neck yoke.

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Here’s a nice set of photos of the tie stalls at the Kentucky Horse Park.

http://pets.webshots.com/album/560674652erkWFv

Three different kinds depicted in this set. Some interesting design features of the first type of tie stalls in the set include:
– the angled manger
– the cement curb that the manger sits on top of
– the chewed edges on much of the timber
– the location of the tie chains
– the location of the grain bins in the manger
– the damage to the lowest board of the solid partitions
– the alley behind the mangers to deliver the feed

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The side of the manger that presents to the horse should be at an angle rather than plumb to the floor. This helps keeps the horse from bonking his knees on the manger or kicking the bottom of the manger, if that front panel goes all the way to the floor. My mangers don’t rest on the floor, so there is a void under mine. But the fronts are still angled. Makes it easier for the horse to reach the bottom of the manger as well.

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You should give some thought to whether you’re going to want to pull a manure spreader or a dump cart or such in to clean the stalls into it. That might narrow down where you’re going to put the tie stalls and how you want them oriented. Make sure there’s plenty of circulation available. Having it be too closed-in is going to make it more likely for a horse to develop breathing problems.

There needs to be somewhere for the urine to go. Some people make a solid floor and channel all of it to the back of the stall (you really only need like a 1″ gradient). Other people put down a good deep gravel base and then put 2″ thick rough-cut lumber (2x6s usually) on top to allow the urine to drain between the planks into the gravel. I currently have thick stall mats on top of a graded and compacted gravel base but one day I’m hoping to get some concrete poured. I’ve been saying that for the last six years, though, and it still hasn’t happened.

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Some people like tie stalls they can drive a team straight into, with nothing between the two horses. Others like tie stalls that prevent one horse from being able to see the horse next to him and squabble. Myself, I don’t have any rank horses or horses that fight, and I’ve got a separate place to tie up a team that doesn’t require taking them into their stalls. So I do have a hanging hip beam between horses, but no solid partitions. Each horse does his get own manger, however. I find that a communal trough can make it difficult to ensure that everyone is getting their fair share and can encourage nipping. My tie stall width and the horses’ tie rope length are such that no one is getting their nose into anyone else’s manger. I do have a 5 gallon water bucket within each horse’s reach.

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I like the tie stalls that have a hanging beam separating one horse’s body from the one next to him. I like this for a lot of reasons.

– Easier to clean the stalls if you don’t have partitions that go clear to the floor.
– When you’re in there cleaning the stalls, the hip beam is permitted to be pushed aside by yourself or the horse if necessary.
– A horse won’t get cast by a hanging hip beam.
– If a horse gets his hip or shoulder a bit under the beam while laying down, it will articulate somewhat to roll it off the horse when he rises

My hanging beams are fixed at the manger end (in my case, I have an eyebolt in the end of the beam and one in the wall, with a bolt and nut pinning the two eyes together) but suspended from a ceiling joist by a chain at the butt end. Then I enclose each tie stall with a chain across the back – a butt chain. The butt chain goes to the butt end of the beam so that when everyone’s butt chains are shut, the hanging beams are fixed in position.

If you have a manger that you can put hay into without entering the tie stalls, so much the better – especially if you anticipate ever needing to have someone feed who isn’t entirely comfortable around the horses. However, young horses or horses new to tie stalls can sometimes get their front feet into their mangers, especially if they are eager for breakfast. If the manger backs up against a wall, or has an access door that you can shut behind it, you’ll likely avoid that problem.

Mangers should be shallow enough that the horse won’t hurt his windpipe trying to reach everything at the bottom.

A piece of heavy pipe that runs along the edge of the manger is useful:
– to keep the horse from chewing on the lip of the manger
– to absorb some of the abrasion/wear on the wood
– to fix the horse’s rope/chain to

The tie stall needs to be gently sloped to the rear to encourage drainage so they aren’t forced to lie in a puddle.

What are your absolutes? What’s the spacing of support poles for the barn?

I used to have a good-sized collection of pictures of tie stalls but I’ve misplaced them. I do have a few, though.

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It is very important for anything but the lightest of wheeled vehicles. The traces should pull from the hames at a 90 degree angle. To do otherwise will – at the very least – make the horse work less efficiently. At the worst, you will injure the horse.

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Greetings fellow Wet-Sider. Your Hazel have webbed feet yet? Congratulations on becoming a dirt farmer! May you make a very fine dirt indeed!

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Oh, and just in case you don’t have enough bits yet and you think you would like more of them, here’s one or two different Liverpools. http://www.drivingessentials.com/liverpool_list.php

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I remembered to measure my millitarty elbow bit today and the perch (where the bridle buckles onto the bit) will just barely accommodate a 1″ strap. So if your cheekpiece billet or bit strap is 1″ wide or less, it would work with this particular bit. Don’t know if there are different dies for this bit. I imagine so. Other brands could theoretically vary in proportions. This one is branded “Coronet”.

Also, in case it matters, the slots in the shanks of this bit are just a hair too narrow for 1″ lines. Widest line you can fit in the slots would be 7/8ths.

Maybe someone has a liverpool they could measure for you.

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Off the top of my head, the only online harness type references I can think of are on harness makers’ web sites. Samson Harness has some nice illustrations of harnesses and harness parts. Although some of the line drawings are small enough that it can be tough to pick out the nuances unless you already know roughly what it is you’re looking at. I’d recommend downloading his catalog and saving it on your computer. It is a nice handy reference.

http://www.samsonharness.com/publications/catalog-hi.pdf

Looking forward to hearing what other people have to recommend as well…

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The cheek pieces on some bridles are too wide to fit into the top slot on a shanked bit like a millitary elbow, Buxton or Liverpool. “Noseband bridles” that have a separate “bit loop” strap that attaches the bit to the bridle should work with the millitary elbow, Buxton or Liverpool bits. However, if the cheek piece of the bridle goes all the way down and terminates in a buckle and billet, that billet is sometimes too wide to fit into anything but the ring on a snaffle.

Noseband bridle that utilizes a bit loop/bit strap:

Bridle where the cheek piece terminates in a buckle and billet:

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Yes, it was a bad idea to drive the cart on foot. As you found, one quick hop forward and your lines are gone. If someone had been aboard, most likely they could have regained control.

She now has a runaway under her belt. You will have to be extra-careful next time you go to put her to the cart. Maybe you had better spend some time desensitizing her to the rattle of the cart before you hitch to it again.

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