Harnessing for Short People

[drafthossluvr]

i am 5′ 4″ and only 15, i can harness our 18 hand belgians with a bioplastic harness just fine. no way can i do our leather harnesses though!

[grey]

Even a seven-footer with ape arms has a comedy of a tough time throwing leather harness if they don’t set themselves up properly. Successful harnessing has a lot to do with:

1.) how you hang your harness when the horse isn’t wearing it

2.) how you “load” the harness on your arms/body in order to move it from the wall to the horse

3.) the precise sequence of motions that you use to leverage the harness onto the horse

“Harness judo” is an art! To assist your learning curve, get soeone to give you in-person pointers on how to skillfully get harness on a horse. Otherwise it can be like pushing a chain…. and good luck with THAT!

[Anonymous]

@Robernson 13713 wrote:

My question is how would one who is vertically challanged,such as myself, harness horses? In all honesty would you stand on a five gallon bucket?

I’m 5ft 2inches at 24 years of age. I’m assuming I’m done growing. 😉 I always wanted a Clydesdale, but settled for my “mini clyde” (clyde/haflinger cross). I agree- just get smaller horses. I do have neighbors with full sized drafts, and I use a stool or step ladder to harness them. 🙂

[CharlyBonifaz]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5oJ69pwbOXY
another way that might just work 😉

[Julie Clemons]

JenJudkins, don’t you also use BIOTHANE!!?? Cheater! 😉

I am 5’6″ with a 16’2 horse and a leather harness, here’s how I do it!

Hang the harness on two pegs: the top hame strap (and hames) on the top peg which is about my shoulder height. The back band, spider, and britchen hang on the lower peg which is about a foot lower. Collar goes on top.

Put collar on horse.

Stack back band, spider, and britchen on my right shoulder – as high up as I can get them, against my neck actually, so I am not holding the weight with my arm but it is resting on my shoulder.

Grab one hame in each hand, just above the tugs. Important to grab them low.

Approach the horse! Put left hame in collar groove, push right hame up and over (this is why it’s important to grab it low, so you have leverage) and get it somewhere close to the collar groove on the other side. It doesn’t have to land there or stay in, just so it stays on that side of the horse.

Now the whole rest of the harness should still be well up on your shoulder so your whole right arm is free to move, and not straining. Find the belly band with your right hand and pass that up and over, Now take the whole stack on your right shoulder and push it up onto the horse’s back. I use both hands. Somewhere in the middle is fine. Now it should all be up there and you can get those hames buckled, etc. The back band/spider/britchen should sort out easily if you have kept them neat.

It helps a lot if everyone who handles the harness does it the exact same way. It has taken me about a year to train my husband but he does it “CORRECTLY” (i.e. just like me!) now.

I am fairly strong, but not super-strong, and I also have learned (throwing pulp for Paul Birdsall in fact!) that grunting your way through a task ends up in pain that haunts you years later, long after the macho rush is gone. Learn to do it in a way that works for you! Jay Bailey and Bekah Murchison of Fair Winds Farm are no taller than me and they harness at least five horses every day. Find a way that works for your body and that you’ll be able to do, painlessly, for years. That’s sustainability!

[Scott G]

One word…Halflingers! 😉

[grey]

That’s a good description, Julie. That’s essentially how I do it as well, except that I place the hames ahead of the collar, with the top hame strap resting on the horse’s neck. I find that, for me, the hames stay put a little better while I toss the rest of the mess up and over. Also, if the horse should dip his head, the collar is less likely to slide down, trapped as it is by the hames.

[Anonymous]

@CharlyBonifaz 14880 wrote:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5oJ69pwbOXY
another way that might just work 😉

laying them down at our house five at a time even the kids can harness them
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTdMvHaqDpM
im sure this is cheating but it does make saddling and harnessing easyer there 8 foot tall or 32 hands at the top of the hump

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cadk0706dtg

[Author]

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