Homesteading: Harnessing a Buggy Horse and Driving a Buggy 

Just thought I'd share a lesson I learned the hard way last year, after 9 years of driving both work and buggy horses, and thinking I had it all down pretty well. That is to *always* triple (or quadruple?) check the holdback straps and everything associated with them and the britchen. I managed to head out with only one side attached when I got distracted one morning. The wagon slammed into the horse on a downhill, and his perfectly reasonable response was to kick -- with both hooves landing squarely in my chest as the wagon had crept up very close to him. It appears to have stopped my heart, which was bruised. I remained conscious about 30 seconds after the kick, and then woke up in the back of the wagon a couple minutes afterward. I've since heard other stories of similar events, one being a runaway horse that no longer responded to the lines when one of the britchen rings pulled out.

Thanks for the video very helpful

Very informative!

Loved the video, but I would like to know why your harness is in pieces? The horsemen I have known keep the hames attached to the back pad, and place the entire harness on the horse all at once.(p.s., that tail piece is called a crupper)

Great steed

That was enjoyable!