Breeching (tack)

Breeching (PronEng|ˈbrɪtʃɨŋ, "britching") is a strap around a draft, pack or riding animal's haunches. Both under saddle and in harness, breeching engages when an animal slows down or travels downhill and is either used for braking or to stabilize a load.

Harness breeching

When a horse, mule, or other animal is in harness, harness breeching helps the animal to slow or control the descent of a vehicle. This harness breeching is attached to the shafts or pole of the vehicle, and is used for wheelers in a team. The leaders in a larger team do not need breeching, as they are in front of the shafts or pole and so cannot slow the vehicle (although they may nevertheless wear breeching). Historically, breeching was also used for teams put "behind" a heavy vehicle to control it on a steep downhill.

Breeching may be omitted where the animal does not need to provide substantial braking. For example, in very light harness, such as a sulky used for harness racing, or a light cart used for fine harness, the weight of the vehicle and passenger is light enough that the bellyband and crupper of a harness provide sufficient braking support. Similarly breeching is not needed for a dragged load such as a plow, log or canal boat. Breeching may also be omitted if the vehicle has efficient brakes on the wheels – examples include larger carriages and modern vehicles with disk brakes.

Breeching is not normally used for oxen in yokes, where braking is provided by pulling back on the yoke or girth (depending on the type of yoke).

False breeching

False breeching is a fitting sometimes used on light animal-drawn vehicles with shafts, instead of harness breeching. A horizontal strap is attached between the shafts of the vehicle, just behind the animal. When the animal slows, the vehicle runs forward, pushing the false breeching against the haunches of the animal, thus slowing the vehicle. False breeching is generally limited to use with well-trained, steady animals, as there is a risk that if the animal rears or falls the false breeching may run up over its back.

addle breeching

Pack animals

Breeching may be used to stabilize the pack saddle of a packhorse or other pack animal, by keeping the saddle from sliding forward, especially on downhill tracks. Pack horse breeching may be supplemented with a crupper to provide additional stability.

Riding animals

Breeching is occasionally used in a similar manner as that of a pack saddle when riding mules with a western saddle, as mules often have lower withers and flatter backs than horses, making it likely that the saddle will slide forward when going downhill with a rider. However, a crupper is more commonly used on riding animals in general.

ee also

*Driving (horse)
*Pack horse

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