How to Make Your Own Driving Harness

To ride horses, they must be properly harnessed. If a horse is not properly harnessed, you will hurt them. To create your own driving harness at home, use nylon rope. Nylon rope is tough enough to withstand a lot of pressure, but it has a soft outside which prevents the horse from chafing. Besides nylon rope, you will need some common household items to get the job done, so it will barely cost any money to make a sturdy, yet safe, harness at home.

Things You'll Need

  • Non-metallic measuring stick
  • Scissors
  • 1/4-inch double-braided, nylon rope
  • Lighter
Show More

Instructions

    • 1

      Measure the distance around the horse's nose. The average distance is 24 inches, but the distance could be bigger or smaller depending on the horse's size.

    • 2

      Determine what size horse you have. A small horse is a pony or yearling and requires a 20-inch piece of rope. A medium-sized horse has a cob or Arab-sized head, requiring a 22-inch piece of rope. Large, which is considered the average size of a horse, needs a 24-inch piece of rope. Extra large, which is a warmblood, needs 26-inches of rope. Any horse bigger than extra large is an XXL and needs a 28-inch piece of rope.

    • 3

      Cut a piece of the 1/4-inch double-braided nylon rope according to the measurement made in Step 1.

    • 4

      Review a size chart, such as the one on the Natural Horse Supply website. Since horses vary drastically in size, knots on different size horses are placed in different areas. For instance, the distance between the knots of the left nose and throat latch vary 8 inches from an XXL horse to a small horse.

    • 5

      Fold the rope in half and tie the fold with a tie loop.

    • 6

      Wrap the half of the rope with no knots through the knots on the other half of the rope. Ensure that the loop left on the closed end of the rope is the measurement from Step 1.

    • 7

      Tie some of the 1/4-inch double-braided nylon rope that goes from the throat latch to the right nose knot, then knot it into the right ear knot.

    • 8

      Place the harness on your horse. Loop the rope pieces between the ear knots and throat latch.

    • 9

      Burn the ends of the rope with a lighter to seal them. This prevents the rope from fraying.

    • 10

      Place the two tie strings through the backside of the loop created in Step 8.