[butlerfamilyzoo]

OK, so i have my new Hunts harness and was cleaning it and polishing it up today and had to pause a minute. On all 4 of my other harnesses, the strap that loops through the girth and holds down the tugs has buckled into a strap that hung down from the tugs...

This one has a girth strap that loops back and buckles to itself, but i dont know how it loops through anything. Does it loop through the tug itself and just stay a little twisted? I might have to get you pics if no one understands what i'm saying... lol

It shows absolutely no wear on that strap so i have no idea even trying to compare wear marks as to how the thing went on anywhere.

[PRS]

If it is like my harness and I understood your description correctly it wraps around the shaft and then buckles back on itself.

[Drive NJ]

Is this a strap that comes from the girth?

If so - it is probably a hold down strap
comes from the girth wraps in a figure -8, first infron of the tug , then behind, and then goes back down to the girth and buckles to itself

If this is the strap you have it is usually fairly long and supple leather lik the holdback straps of the breeching.

In this case usually your tug loop on the saddle does not buckle down to anythin on the bottom, the hold down strap dows that job

This is often seen on mini harness, and lighter weight harness.

OTOH
if this is not what your strap does, then I cant visualize it???

[butlerfamilyzoo]

I think you guys got it, seems right that it would figure 8 around the shaft on either side of the tug. Its certainly long enough to. Might buy new tugs and overgirth for it and take that thing off. Just more hassle it seems to me!

It's not really a "light duty" harness. It's nicely padded and nothing is real narrow on it. Maybe a little more narrow on the breastcollar than the Carriage House harness i have, but it's actually too chunky on my cob anyway. This one seems much better proportioned for her.

[Quelah]

My draft show harness has what I call "wrap straps", if had no clue what they were...until I saw a Hunt's harness, lol! Maybe it's a style they like?

Anyway, having gotten used to them, I really like them. My harness came with two different sized girths, so it really helps to custom fit to the horse.

[butlerfamilyzoo]

I'll sure give them a try, cause i'm broke now... lol. But they do seem like more work. The Hunt's website doesnt have many pictures up close and in color to tell with their carriage harness, their fine harness stuff i see "normal" buckle in over girths. I do not know the age on this harness, it looks brand new, I can tell it's been used because it had a little grime on it that didnt get cleaned off, but there are no indents from buckles or anything on it. It might be ancient and only pulled out for shows. Hunt's may have changed their styles since this one. Who knows. But at least now i know how it goes! I was lost staring at it while i was cleaning it. Maybe if i had it on a horse with a cart i might have figured it out, but was sure scratching my head looking at it on the rack!

Thanks guys!

[goodhors]

The wrap straps actually will work better for you with a 4-wheel vehicle, keeping shafts quiet in the tug loops while driving. Originally correct for racing carts and buggy harness, to hold shafts firmly in place while driving.

The tug loops with strap coming off the bottom, were originally for 2-wheel carts, allowing shaft to float if vehicle is balanced well.

However the harness design lines have blurred over time, and the strap with overgirth is easy to use, so this is a common design seen now. Most folks use the same harness for all their vehicles, so the tug loop with strap to overgirth for the cart, stays in use for moving up to 4-wheelers.

Open tug loops are handy, no danger for buggy shaft when using them. Less work for the person harnessing the horse.

You can order a set of open tug loops with the straps and overgirth if you want to, parts are lots less expensive than a whole new harness.

[Renae]

You have English tugs with a wrap strap. The other style is French. To wrap the strap start on the inside of the shaft and trace. Wrap around just the shaft once behind the tug, then twice in front of the tug. You may have to go one more time behind the tug. Then as you buckle down the trace should be in between the wrap strap, but not wrapped to the shaft. It is best to have 2 people wrapping each side at the same time and do it evenly.

[butlerfamilyzoo]

Well it all might be a moot point... I tried the harness on my mare tonight. The saddle tree is xx wide on it. I thought it looked wide but on her it's too wide. I know it was used on a morgan before, it must have been one flat backed morgan!

I sent an email off to Hunts to see if it's possible to change the tree out for something narrower, if not, what it would cost me to get a new saddle... Otherwise, aside from needing to add a couple holes to the bridle and one to the back band, it looked nice on her.

I knew I was taking a chance buying it at the silent auction, was just going off the generic "Cob" size and she typically fits in cob size well. But i will admit, i did not inspect the width of the saddle, it was so nicely put on it's rack to display it, i didnt pull everything off.

HOPEFULLY, i can afford to get it right, or i guess i could buy a different brand saddle to go with it and hope the russet matches. I know I can pick up the cheaper essential harness saddle/girth/tugs from Driving Essentials in Russet for $350, so maybe that will be the route i can go with it. Or just try to sell it and get something else. Bummer.

[buck22]

If you decide to sell your saddle, I might be interested

[Christa P]

Well it all might be a moot point... I tried the harness on my mare tonight. The saddle tree is xx wide on it. I thought it looked wide but on her it's too wide. I know it was used on a morgan before, it must have been one flat backed morgan!

I sent an email off to Hunts to see if it's possible to change the tree out for something narrower, if not, what it would cost me to get a new saddle... Otherwise, aside from needing to add a couple holes to the bridle and one to the back band, it looked nice on her.

I knew I was taking a chance buying it at the silent auction, was just going off the generic "Cob" size and she typically fits in cob size well. But i will admit, i did not inspect the width of the saddle, it was so nicely put on it's rack to display it, i didnt pull everything off.

HOPEFULLY, i can afford to get it right, or i guess i could buy a different brand saddle to go with it and hope the russet matches. I know I can pick up the cheaper essential harness saddle/girth/tugs from Driving Essentials in Russet for $350, so maybe that will be the route i can go with it. Or just try to sell it and get something else. Bummer.

If you have a harness maker near you, or hunts might do this.

You can have the tree removed entirely so the saddle will be flexible. Then it will fit any shaped horse. This is also a cheap option - we had this done with a harness and the Amish harness maker only charged ~$20. You can't even tell anything was done to the harness.

Christa