Driving single with a draft harness

[TinaY]

I read that to drive single with a draft harness, you can run the shafts through the market tugs rather than buying the separate attachment that has the shaft loops. Has anyone done that, or have an opinion?

I’m also assuming that quarter straps could be used as holdbacks.

Thanks!
Tina

[Rod]

I had some additional strap made for my draft harness. The shaft loop straps clip onto the saddle pad and the hold down straps pass through a loop which I added to the girth. For brichen straps I used a loop strap through the lower britchen ring. Works great and easy to put on or take off.

[LaNette]

Steve Bowers used to show this technique in his clinics and it may even be in one of his videos. When I visited him one time, I used his harness and his Kentucky braking cart to do this. It worked quite well in this case.

For the harness that I own I can not do this and that is because the market tugs or “spaces” where the traces run through sit too low for the cart shafts need to be placed. And I don’t have enough room left in which to take them up. Also, I would have to remove the clip ends from the quarter straps in order to use them as hold back straps. This means I would eventually forget where the clips were placed during those times when I needed to use them again! Another issue is, if you were to use a heavy front-ended cart like a Pioneer, it would eventually distort or break the market tugs. Since, in general, they are not made to be used in that fashion. I use a shaft adapter and they are very well made to withstand heavy and repeated use.

[LaNette]

BachelorFarmer,

I understood what TinaY was getting at in reference to hooking up a cart with a draft harness. The reasons I prefaced the term market tugs with: “the loop space where the trace goes through” was to reference that area.

I have a western box britchen harness. It was made with loops or actually trace keepers that are part of the billet strap (the connection between the back pad [or what carriage people call the saddle] and the belly band). I’ll dig up a photo and place it in this thread when I can find it. In the meantime, if you have the book: Work Horse Handbook by Lynn R. Miller, go to page 110 and you will see an actual market tug harness. It does not have a back pad and since its defining feature is the market tug that is where it gets its name.

Give me a day or two and I’ll be back with a photo.

[TinaY]

Sorry about the confusion…I pulled the term right out of Steve Bower’s book. What do other people call them?

When we spent our week with Steve in May 2007, we didn’t do a lot of single driving, and when we did, we used a pleasure breastcollar style harness.

I will be using a Pioneer cart, LaNette, so I’m glad you mentioned the breaking/distortion option. I’ll get to work on ordering the shaft loop adapter.:)

We sold our sleigh and bought a Pioneer cart, and I’m loving it. The axles have been extended about 10″ so I can see over the team real nice. The implement seat is much more comfy than I anticipated, but we’ll probably make a bench seat, too. Gotta have somewhere to put the carseat! My 11 month old son rides along. When we take him on the wagon, we just throw the playpen on.

We have also purchased a 4 yr. Percheron mare who will be my riding and single driving horse (and eventual replacement), and since the Pioneer came with shafts, I’m excited to use it single. It was easier to buy another horse than separate the elderly mares we’ve got. They don’t appreciate it, and it’s not worth it to us to force them apart…they’re 21 and 28 and have to be getting close to retirement pretty soon. 😀

I appreciate the input!!

[Author]

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