Does the Breeching Fit?

Does my breeching fit my horse?

This is a question that I answer AT LEAST once a week so I figured it was time for a blog post. I find that photos are far more helpful than me tripping over my words and trying to explain how this part of the harness should fit. So, here we go!

How do you know if your breeching body is fitting your equine’s rear end correctly?

The biggest thing I always tell people is – a harness is meant to be hitched to a vehicle pulling weight. Seeing it laid on an equine that is tied up, and not hitched to a set of shafts, pulling weight, will make things look different than when it’s actually working. Keep that in mind as we go through these photos!

Personally, I like it when the breeching body reaches from the center of the flank swirl, around the widest part of the rump, to the middle of the flank swirl on the other side. **Donkeys are a little different since they don’t have a flank swirl. This measurement will require “eyeing” that spot between their belly and their hind leg…

What does a breeching look like when it’s too small?

The next photo shows a too small breeching. The rings can’t reach the flank swirl but the most important thing to note is the buckle placement for the hip straps. When the breeching body is too short those buckles are too far back – close to the top of the tail. This means you can not get those hip straps to lay nicely at the top of the hip but they sit too far back, close to the tail.

Why is my breeching droopy/floppy?

People will often contact me saying their breeching is too big because it’s droopy or floppy. This is because the hold back straps are not attached to the shafts, helping to hold the back of the breeching in place. A breeching that is fitting correctly will look droopy or floppy when it’s just laying on the horse. 

When there are hold back straps attached to the breeching rings, then wrapped around the shafts in the correct fashion, the breeching body will sit in the correct spot and not droop.

Below is a photo of a correctly placed breeching body when hitched to a vehicle.

The photo below is the same exact sized breeching body when not hitched to a cart, drooping or flopping.

So, if your breeching body is a bit droopy when you are fitting your new harness, but the breeching rings reach the flank swirl and your hip straps are hanging over the top of the hip, then your breeching probably fits just fine.If you can’t raise your breeching body so it is sitting in the roundest, widest part of the equine’s rump, then you may need shorter hip straps.

If you are driving a donkey you do NOT raise the breeching body to the widest part of the rump as they tend to have pointy rear ends and the breeching will not sit there well. In that case, you need to have the breeching body right below that spot on their hip.

As always, if you have questions about your harness fit please reach out! You can email me directly at mindy@chimacumtack.com