Amish Harness. Most of these harness makers are traditional artisans who learned their craft from their parents or other Master Harnessmakers in the community. Unfortunately, as in any occupation, there are people that excel at their chosen craft and others that just make stuff. In purchasing harness pay special attention to how the harness is cut and stitched. Straight cuts or smooth pleasing arks are the halmarks a craftsman who takes pride in his work. Always purchase the best quality workmanship you can afford.
LEATHER: The very best harness is made out of leather, Period! The very best leather comes from
either Europe or Domestic Tanneries that speciallizy in producing harness leather.
Most of it is produced by traditional Vegetable Tanning processes that have been used
for centuries to produce the finest leathers. This traditional harness leather is
just like your grandfather used. Stuffed in drums with heavy tallow for exceptional
weather wear, thickness, and durability in the field.
FINDINGS: Harness fittings may be either brass or steel. Steel fittings may be either
Stainless Steel, the best, or nickle Plated, which soon rustsand rots out the leather.
In high stress areas Brass buckles may have steel tongues for additional strength. Brass requires a lot of
"elbow grease" to keep it shiny and bright looking. Stainless Steel requires much less maintenance.
We have had a lot of questions about harness and what constitutes good harness. With harness,
as with most things, you get what you pay for. Unfortunately there is a lot of harness
currently being imported into this country from the middle east that is of inferior quality.
Much of this harness appears at first glance to be well built and has a nice coat of lacquer
and looks "pretty" out of the box. Unfortunately the leather in these harness is
"Urine Tanned" and typically has a rather distinctive odor about it. It tends to
be either stiff, with a cardboard feel, or as limp as a dishrag with no body at all! Nasty
stuff that will break down in short order and can not be repaired. Because of the poor quality
of the leather most harness repair shops will refuse to even try to fix it when it breaks.
Another problem with this inexpensive harness is fit. I have yet to determine what these
harness were made to fit, perhaps Goats or Camels, but it certainly was not horses! The
proportions and sizing is all wrong on most of this harness and it seldom fits properly.
Good harness is like a pair of good shoes. It should fit like a glove and help, not hinder,
the wearer do his job.
The sellers of this inferior harness have gotten very good at hiding what they are actually
selling. They call their harness "Imported" like that was a unconditional good
thing, or "Continental" or "Derby" or "London" harness,
hoping that you will infer that the harness comes from England or some other European
country synonymous with good quality leather gear. Some will, if you are persistent enough,
grudgingly tell you what country the harness is made in but I have found that several of
them will just flat refuse to tell you where it is made!
With that said I always get several comments of "foul" from readers who have purchased very good harness made in other countries. Yes there is foreign harness that is well made out of good leather, but IT AIN'T CHEAP!
Synthetic harness is any harness made out of any material that did not come off of a cows back!
Nylon, Polyester, BIO-whatever, are all variations of synthetic harness. All of it is
basically Nylon webbing. Some of it has very high tech plastic, or urethane, coatings to
hide the webbing and make it "feel like leather" but at heart it is still nylon
webbing. You may notice that we do not handle synthetic harness of any kind. There are
several very good reasons for this.
First is safety. Traditional leather harness has several qualities inherit
in the materials that can not be duplicated by synthetics. Foremost among
these is that it "gives". This means that it has a stretch and give to it that
helps it to conform to the wearer. This give also allows the harness to act like a shock
absorber and cushion the load slightly, again making it more comfortable for the wearer.
Nylon basically has no stretch and is unyielding and unforgiving. It also does not break,
which at first sounds like a good thing, but the first time your horse freaks and gets all
tangled up in the harness you will find that it is not a good thing! Nylon webbing,
especially the unprotected stuff, cuts like a knife! I have seen horses legs laid open like
a filled fish from this nasty stuff! Better synthetic harness is made with leather
"wear" pads. Ask yourself why? If synthetics are so good why do they have to put
real leather on any place that wears or contacts the horse? Why not just buy the real stuff
to begin with!
Second is looks. Synthetic harness does not "age" well. From the day it is made
synthetic harness, however well made and expensive, begins to deteriorate. Sweat, sunlight,
Ozone, use, etc. all act to break down synthetic harness. After a year or two of use any
Synthetic harness will start to look a little frayed around the edges and tattered looking.
Leather harness on the other hand is a lifetime investment! If properly cared for good
leather harness will last a lifetime and get better looking with age!
However, with the above said there is a place for synthetics in harness making. That place is reserved for very specific heavy duty harness that is used in Draft Horse Pulling Competition Harness and in Combined Driving Marathon Harness. In both these instances Nylon is correctly used to reinforce leather in key high stress areas, such as traces, that see a tremendous amount of force applied to them during the maximum exertion required at upper level competition. This harness is typically used by experienced horsemen for specific reasons. Not something that is required on the average horse for everyday pleasure use!