What Are the Differences Between Single & Team Harnesses?

The safety and comfort of your horses depend upon the quality of harnesses that they pull your carriage in. The primary difference between single and team harnesses is that single harnesses are built for just one horse while team harnesses are built for more than one. You need to choose your harness based upon how many horses are in your team.

  1. Single Harness

    • A single harness is comprised of a driving bridle, a collar, a crupper and breeching. The driving bridle is similar to a riding bridle in some aspects. It has a crown piece to go behind the horse's ears, a brow band to go across the horse's forehead, a cheek piece and a throat lash, all to keep the bridle on the horse's head. The driving bridle also has buckles for a bit and winkers to cover the horse's eyes. The collar for a single harness is a padded device that goes around the horse's neck so that the horse can pull your wagon comfortably. Collars for single harnesses differ from collars for team harnesses in that they have no D-rings to attach to hames.

    Team Harness

    • Team harnesses also have driving bridles, collars, breeching and cruppers. Team harness collars differ from single harness collars in that they have D-rings and attach to hames. Hames are two wooden strips at the front of the harness that take the full force of the pull for the horses and ensure that the pressure is divided evenly between the team. Just like single harnesses, team harnesses attach to traces that connect to the load. They are held in place by back bands and girths with terrets for the reins to go through. The cruppers are padded loops that go around the horses tails to keep the harness from slipping forward, and they are attached by back straps. Team harnesses can often be converted into single harnesses, but single harnesses cannot always be converted into team harnesses.

    Lead or Swing Team Harness

    • The lead team is the pair of horses in the front of your team and the swing team is in the middle if you have more than two horses, four or six, for example. A lead or swing team harness differs from a regular team harness in that it has no breeching. The breeching is a strap that goes behind the horses' haunches to allow them to slow the vehicle or stop. Breeching only goes on the wheelers, that is the pair of horses closest to the carriage. The lead and swing teams don't have breeching because it is impossible for them to slow the carriage.