Chat
02-01-2019, 07:45 AM
Beautiful, Kate! I'm glad you're loving your new harness! It looks like you need to lower your shaft loops so your shafts are sitting a little more level. They're floating too much, which ends up putting pressure on the belly band and makes your ride unstable since you'll rock back and forth too much. This is not fun for you or the goat. Don't be afraid to put some weight on his back. That's where it's designed to go. Getting some weight on those shafts will stabilize them quite a bit.
I don't think your breastcollar is too high. It looks like you have a wider pad than what we've got on our harnesses, so it may look like the strap is sitting higher when in fact only the pad is higher (which should be fine).
Shortening your holdbacks will keep the cart from rolling so far forward when you stop. That's why your breastcollar is billowing out--the holdbacks are too long and letting the cart keep rolling a couple of inches after Koby stops. Don't shorten the traces. That will put Koby too close to your cart. In fact, you may even want to lengthen your traces a couple of holes so he can have a little more space.
It's hard to tell from the photos, but shortening the back strap a may give everything a tighter, neater look. You want the hip straps to hang perpendicular to the ground. If the back strap is too long or short, your hip straps won't hang straight. This isn't so much a mechanical problem as an aesthetic one.
Before your next drive, let your traces out two holes. Then spend a few minutes playing with the length of your holdbacks. Roll the empty cart back and forth and see what it does to your harness when the holdbacks are very loose compared to when they are very tight. Usually it's better to get them snug and then back them off a couple of holes. You want only a little bit of play in your front-to-back suspension. There should be enough room for Koby to move comfortably without getting chafed by the britchen, but not more than that.
I don't think your breastcollar is too high. It looks like you have a wider pad than what we've got on our harnesses, so it may look like the strap is sitting higher when in fact only the pad is higher (which should be fine).
Shortening your holdbacks will keep the cart from rolling so far forward when you stop. That's why your breastcollar is billowing out--the holdbacks are too long and letting the cart keep rolling a couple of inches after Koby stops. Don't shorten the traces. That will put Koby too close to your cart. In fact, you may even want to lengthen your traces a couple of holes so he can have a little more space.
It's hard to tell from the photos, but shortening the back strap a may give everything a tighter, neater look. You want the hip straps to hang perpendicular to the ground. If the back strap is too long or short, your hip straps won't hang straight. This isn't so much a mechanical problem as an aesthetic one.
Before your next drive, let your traces out two holes. Then spend a few minutes playing with the length of your holdbacks. Roll the empty cart back and forth and see what it does to your harness when the holdbacks are very loose compared to when they are very tight. Usually it's better to get them snug and then back them off a couple of holes. You want only a little bit of play in your front-to-back suspension. There should be enough room for Koby to move comfortably without getting chafed by the britchen, but not more than that.