Loose Breeching Straps
A major beginner driver mistake is not having breeching straps (also known as holdbacks) adjusted correctly. Many times, new drivers leave them WAY too loose. They seem to be afraid that the having the breeching snug will irritate or freak out the horse, or they don’t realize that straps can be wrapped and adjusted to take out the slack. While it is true that horses need to be trained to accept the breeching, leaving the straps loose makes driving your horse much less enjoyable, and actually downright dangerous.
The sag in this breeching strap is a dead giveaway that it is way too loose.
Loose breeching straps allow too much back and forth play in the carriage, especially a down transition or when driving downhill. If you start to slow down, and you feel the carriage lurch forward with enough sway that it feels like a boat in rough water, you have too much play. Then usually, the traces are so slack once the breeching is engaged on the horse’s rear, that when the horse is asked to walk off again, the vehicle lurches forward once the slack is taken out of the traces! It is actually more uncomfortable for the horse to have loose breeching straps because the weight of the vehicle slamming into his rear instead of his rear guiding and slowing the vehicle gradually, leaving the traces with just a little slack instead of a great amount.
The loose breeching straps create too much space between the breeching and the horse's rear.
When your horse is in draft, and the traces are taut, you should have one perpendicular hand between the horse’s rear and the breeching. If the equine is a small pony or mini, we use one flat hand, because one perpendicular hand will be too much length, and will cause too much play for the smaller equines. Depending on the location of the footman loops on the shafts and the length of the breeching straps, the driver may have to take up length in the breeching straps by taking one to three wraps of the breeching straps in front of the footman loops before buckling them back into themselves.
When the breeching straps are adjusted correctly, you should be able to get just one perpendicular hand between the horse and the breeching. The horse above is actually a 13 hand pony, so we use a little smaller measurement, hence why my fingers are a little "mushed".
Many times, loose breeching straps are the result of the footman loops on the vehicle being too far back on the shafts, such as in the photo below. We have an entire article about the placement of the footman loops, and I encourage you to check that out here so I don’t have to rewrite it in its entirety.
This footman loop is mounted too far back on the shaft, and is too close to the breeching ring. It isn't possible to get the breeching tight enough to take the slack out of the breeching. You can see the excess room that the horse has between itself and the breeching. The footman loop needs to be moved forward on this shaft. Being a metal cart, it will probably have to be welded on.
Breeching straps can also be purchased in different lengths to suit the horse’s harness and carriage. If the footman loops are too far forward for the length of your breeching straps, or the breeching straps are way too long or short, just get different ones! We have another article that talks about wrapping breeching straps, so if you need to know how to do that, check that out here.
When the breeching straps are adjusted correctly, there is no sag in the strap when the traces are in draft and taut. This strap has one wrap around the shaft, and is tucked under itself before being buckled back into itself. If the straps are longer, they can be wrapped up to three times around the shaft. If they need more wraps than that to take out the slack, you probably need shorter breeching straps.
Breeching straps that are too tight can cause the breeching to rub and irritate the horse, and in the case of a very green horse, tight breeching straps can cause him to feel goosed and possibly buck. However, I would rather see breeching straps a little too tight than much too loose. Adjusting breeching straps just one hole looser can be enough to be sufficient. Breeching straps should definitely NOT sag between the footman loop and the breeching ring when the horse is in draft! If they do, they are WAY too loose. Again, check the tightness once the horse is in draft in the traces.
Eliminate the back and forth play of your vehicle, and you and your horse will have a much better drive!
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