How to Attach Harness Bells

Sleigh bells are just so much fun to add to your harness – especially during the holidays! Here we go over how to attach different bells to your harness or vehicle.

Rump Bells

The rump bells are very easy to attach. They have a buckle between the 3 sets of bells on each side. That buckle attaches to the back band of the harness.

You can buckle them between the hip straps as I did in the above photo or further forward. There isn’t room further back towards the crupper however. In this position (as shown above) the bells really jingle.

Arctic Bell String

The Arctic Bell String is a long string of bells that can be buckled around the horse or pony’s girth. Because of the position of the bells it’s best to buckle this behind the saddle, so the bells don’t end up in the pony’s arm pit, and cause galling. Also You don’t want the strap of the string to get in front of the girth and cause pinching.

One thing that can happen, when the bell string is behind the saddle, is the string can slip back and get caught in the horse or pony’s flank area. This is NOT ideal. As you can imagine!

So how can we work around this? When I use my bell string I actually use pieces of paracord and tie the string to the saddle. I like my string to be a little snug, but not tight. The Paracord just keeps it right behind the saddle and won’t allow it to slide back. You could also use a couple of beta straps with a buckle as well. This would probably be a bit neater and more professional than the paracord.

For photo ops I will also loop the bell string around my pony’s neck. In this way the bells show up and look nice!

Hiker Bells

Hiker bells are the easiest bells to attach. They are a single bell on a bolt snap and can literally attach to any part of the harness that has a ring! I often snap the on the breeching ring so they will jingle prettily. I have also snapped them to the turrets on the saddle.

Other Bells

Below are a few bells that Chimacum does not currently sell at this time – but keep an eye out!

Saddle Bells

There are also saddle bells that attach to the top of the saddle:

and other bells that can be put on the dash of your vehicle or attached to the shafts:

 

Sleigh Bell Fob

A sleigh bell fob usually has a bolt snap making it easy to snap them any place on the harness, or even on your vehicle!

 

 

Hip Drop Arctic Bells

As the name suggests you can snap these to the hip straps or the breeching ring. Another place I have seen them is hanging down from the front of the breast collar or collar and hames. This works better on the big horses than the minis but it’s possible on both sizes!

 

 

 

If you have any questions about your specific bell style feel free to leave a comment or email me at marketing@chimacumtack.com and I’ll do my best to help!