Jacky Sinclair is a retired technical consultant from the construction industry who spent much of her adult life riding and driving Welsh Cobs.  The technical side of how the horse, harness and vehicle interact intrigued her and she learned a lot from traditional horsemen and women during the last (20th) century.

Watching more recent developments in driving and the types of equipment being used got Jacky thinking and she questioned why the various principles regarding harness which she had learned seemed to no longer apply.  She witnessed horses being put on their forehands, starting to stumble, having very heavy loads on their neck straps, shafts bouncing up and down, and breast band harness becoming the standard.  She asked herself, ‘If the breast band is so good, why didn’t the Victorians use it?’

Jacky worked out six Principles of Draught, which needed to be aligned in order for a horse to work comfortably and efficiently when in harness.  Some principles rely on physics, others on physiology or biomechanics.  But one of them couldn’t be quantified in that way.  It was the difference from the horse’s perspective between a breast band and a traditional neck collar.

Hartpury University accepted Jacky for a Master in Research degree, so she could find some answers, and no-one expected the results which came from the experiment.  Jacky feels the time has come for the results to be shared, along with the other five principles, with people who want to make their equines potentially more comfortable and efficient in their harness work.

Our thanks to Rosemary Neale, Chris Ainscough, Lucy Scott and Julie Camm for their participation and agreeing to have the film of Jacky’s findings shared.

Please note that Jacky refers to what is commonly known as the ‘breastcollar’ in driving harness as the ‘breastband’ – The CC tends to use the former term, but Jacky explains why she prefers it!