Chat
12-29-2018, 10:41 AM
That looks like a decent harness for basic pulling work. I would like to see a wider padded strap over the withers because it supports the front part of your traces. See how the strap from the breastcollar goes through (or is sewn into) the surcingle? With a low attachment point such as you have with a sled, the traces will put downward pressure on the spine. What you could do is take two heavy pieces of felt (1/2" thick and probably 2" wide) and sew them to the underside of the saddle on either side of the spine. You don't need to leave much gap for the spine. The saddle should "hinge" in the middle just enough to create a little "tent" for the vertebrae when the pieces of felt touch. If the felt is gapped too widely the nylon harness strap will still compress the spine. Does that make sense? I find it funny that the harness has a nice thick pad for the girth but not for the saddle. With harnesses you don't usually tighten the girth all that much, so padding under the belly is largely unnecessary, but it is very necessary over the spine.
The traces on that harness are also too short for dragging anything low, but it's easy to make extensions. I don't know if you're even planning to use traces. You may be able to hook straight into the shafts and get away with it. Shafts are generally for turning and stopping but not for pulling. If I'm hooking a goat to heavy loads for any sort of distance, I like to make a whiffletree and hook the traces into it so the goat can walk without rubbing his shoulders. Whiffletrees are very easy to make for a sled. If you decide to make one you'll also want to make sure your traces are not sewn into the surcingle on your harness. In fact, I'd unstitch those traces anyway to avoid putting pressure on the spine when the goat is in draft. It's better to have a straight line from the breastcollar down to the load than to have it broken by having traces that are sewn to the saddle.
Finally, you need some way to stop the sled so it doesn't run into the back of your goat. Your shafts can only do this if you have some kind of britchen on the harness or a false britchen in your shafts. You are probably using straight shafts, which means they will angle downward too much to use a false britchen. A false britchen is a strap that runs between your shafts behind the goat's butt and stops the vehicle before it can hit the goat. But if your shafts are angled a false britchen would be too low and would hit the back of the goat's legs instead, so you need a britchen on your harness. This is a strap that runs around your goat's butt and hooks into your shafts further forward so when the goat stops, the butt strap engages to stop the sled. Without a britchen, your sled is going to push your harness forward into your goat's elbows and withers and make him very uncomfortable, especially if he ever has to drag it down a hill. The other option is to have a person stationed behind the sled with a rope attached to the back so the person can act as brakes any time you stop or go downhill.
I love this kind of stuff, so if any of my explanation is not clear please ask questions! Here's a "technical" article I wrote for Goat Tracks Magazine a few years ago that is about harness function and fit:
https://www.goatorama.com/wp-content/upl...etrees.pdf
The traces on that harness are also too short for dragging anything low, but it's easy to make extensions. I don't know if you're even planning to use traces. You may be able to hook straight into the shafts and get away with it. Shafts are generally for turning and stopping but not for pulling. If I'm hooking a goat to heavy loads for any sort of distance, I like to make a whiffletree and hook the traces into it so the goat can walk without rubbing his shoulders. Whiffletrees are very easy to make for a sled. If you decide to make one you'll also want to make sure your traces are not sewn into the surcingle on your harness. In fact, I'd unstitch those traces anyway to avoid putting pressure on the spine when the goat is in draft. It's better to have a straight line from the breastcollar down to the load than to have it broken by having traces that are sewn to the saddle.
Finally, you need some way to stop the sled so it doesn't run into the back of your goat. Your shafts can only do this if you have some kind of britchen on the harness or a false britchen in your shafts. You are probably using straight shafts, which means they will angle downward too much to use a false britchen. A false britchen is a strap that runs between your shafts behind the goat's butt and stops the vehicle before it can hit the goat. But if your shafts are angled a false britchen would be too low and would hit the back of the goat's legs instead, so you need a britchen on your harness. This is a strap that runs around your goat's butt and hooks into your shafts further forward so when the goat stops, the butt strap engages to stop the sled. Without a britchen, your sled is going to push your harness forward into your goat's elbows and withers and make him very uncomfortable, especially if he ever has to drag it down a hill. The other option is to have a person stationed behind the sled with a rope attached to the back so the person can act as brakes any time you stop or go downhill.
I love this kind of stuff, so if any of my explanation is not clear please ask questions! Here's a "technical" article I wrote for Goat Tracks Magazine a few years ago that is about harness function and fit:
https://www.goatorama.com/wp-content/upl...etrees.pdf