Some Samson Harness info

[near horse]

Samson Harness

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http://www.samsonharness.com/

Just want to add to this post RE: Samson Harness Shop in Gilbert MN. With my new found hi speed internet connection, I was able to peruse their online catalog and noticed they make a D-ring style harness (cat# 193 E) – can get rolled breeching if you want …. Not cheap but well-made by this company that’s been building harness since the 1970’s. Seem like real good people doing good work.

BTW-I talked to Bernie there and he had a lot of interesting info – even mentioned that the D-ring in his old late 19th century catalogs called it a Boston Backer and that it originally came w/o the backpad (that was an option). Why? It as sold as Heavy Dray or Truck Harness. Hmm.
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[Mark Cowdrey]

Geoff,
Although “Boston Backer” is sometimes thought to be an alternative name for a “D-Ring” harness, they are not the same. See the picture of a BB harness on page 110 of the 2nd edition of “Workhorse Handbook”. Although it has jockey yokes so it is a side backer, which is also a feature of a D-ring, there is no D-ring and the pole is hung off the collar, which is why they could conceivably get away w/o a back pad. Recall that the back pad is an integral part of the D-ring suspension system and that it carries the weight of the pole.
Interestingly, on pg. 156 of same text, the diagram mis-represents the suspension system of the D-ring (here called, as it often is, “New England”) seeming to indicate that the britchen is integral to the suspension and saying “(it) take(s) all weight off the horse’s back.” We know this is not true from Les Barden’s video in which he removes the entire britchen assembly to demonstrate that it is not required to hold up the pole. I suspect that this false impression is why I sometimes hear the D-ring objected to because “the britchen has to be too tight.” The britchen is adjusted independently of the “suspension system”.
Carl or others weigh in if I’ve missed something.

Mark

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