Saddle fit and some other questions :)

Hey! I'm not terribly new to driving, I drove in the city an awful lot. But to be honest I never learned anything about proper tack fit, how it all worked, and I'm sure I learned how to drive the laziest, most simple way - not necessarily the right way.

But I love to drive I also happen to have a little pony who seriously needs a job! When I got him I was told he had an injured rib and couldn't carry any sort of weight. But I just had the vet out to do their teeth and talked to her about it. After some thorough checks all over his body she determined there is no pain or any other reason he couldn't learn to drive. Needless to say - I'm thrilled!

At a rescue I work at we have a few different pony size harnesses that people donated to us, not all of them complete and not all in great shape. I found one that I liked the most, it had a tree and a more structured saddle, the other was rolled and more flexible with no spine clearance. But This harness has a crupper - not breeching which I'm used to. So I'm not sure where the brakes are? I don't have a cart or anything, once he learns all the ground driving skills and starts pulling things I'll start looking into getting a cart for him. This harness also has a breast collar, but it's rather... flimsy looking?

I took some pictures of him in just the saddle part to see if anyone could let me know what they think of the fit? There is about a 2 finger clearance in the gullet but my phone couldn't get a good pic of that.
Now that I look at the photo it looks like I had it up too far.. Also, under the shaft tugs, where the girth is, there are 2 extra loops that hang from where the girth cinches, I'm not sure what those are?

I'll look at the photos when I get up my computer . Yes the saddle needs moved back and I'm sure the clearance is fine I wouldn't want a lot of weight on it as it is not a very small saddle. It would be nice if it was padded somewhat further down your sides .all harnesses should have a crupper. The lightweight harnesses do not have breaching . You should have tug stops to keep the cart from going too far forward or you can add breaching . I'm sure those 2 loops are for an over girth and that goes up to the tug loops and it probably fell off and got lost
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Thanks! Would a regular saddle pad work underneath?
Is the saddle too big? The 'tug stops' Is that those little cups that are attached to the saddle? Our other pony harness has those.
I think if I get into this a lot I'll be investing in a new and complete harness, probably when I get a cart. But I don't want to invest right away if I don't stick with his training in this direction. He just learned about the bit today ^^ it was terribly cute.

The loops, the over girth, how should they be put on correctly? Or is it beyond fixing at this point?

tug stops can be those cops they also are metal things on the shaft that keep it from going forward . ,you could buy an overgirth
But when I get my computer all look at your tub loop closer because the over girls buckles into a strap off of those . A padded might help it's just puts the
pressure in with a small area the way that saddle is . I would just make sure my car is light weight also
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Thanks :) This harness set up will only be for him learning the ground work, when we're ready to move up to a cart I'll invest in something new and better fitting.

Thank you for teaching me about all this :) the tug loops don't have any other strap or buckle for those little loops to connect to?

It is hard to tell from the photos but you probably have wrap straps that go up and around the shafts then buckle back down to the girth. These are to keep the shafts from going up while mounting the vehicle or when driving. With out something to stabalize the shafts they can bounce up and down at will.

Yes your saddle needs to be moved back a few inches, it should sit at the base of the withers. Where your saddle ends now is where it should begin.

I like a harness with breeching, when you get to that point in his training there are ways to add it to your harness.

Your harness was meant for the flat or in the ring, and the wrap straps along with the tug stops will technically stop the vehicle, but I like a little more stop. If you have the cart run up on the horse it can be disaterous.

Your pony is darling, he looks like a rock star. Can't wait to see his progress.

Ok those loops are the straps that go around the tugs and hold them in place so you are not missing anything. You wrap them in a figure 8 around the tug and the shaft and back through the buckle

Thanks so much both of you!

I'm starting to get the hang of the different types of harnesses and their purposes - so many options!!

I started him in a flexible rubber mullen mouth bit, he's never had a bit before, he's been fussing with it quite a bit - I haven't added any pressure, just letting him figure out how to hold it. I think the rubber one is just too thick, it's a whole lot of bit for his little mouth. But I discovered in my bit collection a Full cheek french link that's his size. I love full cheek french links for riding, is there any reason I couldn't use that for driving?

You are right, some mouth pieces on bits can be to big around for the little guys.
A full cheek snaffle would be great to drive in, just look to make sure the cheek pieces don't get hung up in the bridle anywhere, just like any bridle, but the driving bridle has a lot more to it, more to get hung up on expecially a pony.

Taffy - thanks I'll probably get keepers for it to help prevent that. I'm opting not to use blinders unless we actually go out anywhere outside of my driveway :P Is there anything else a driving bridle needs that a regular one doesn't have? He won't have an over check either -I just don't see the need.
When I drove the drafts they had blinders and an overcheck, but they were also working in a busy city.