Measuring

Ideal Size Chart | Ideal Harness Selection | Zilco Size Guidelines

Height: Measure from a hard flat surface to the highest point of the wither. Report in hands, inches or centimeters.  Weight: Don’t break your bathroom scale trying to get your horse to stand on it. A guess of the ballpark weight of the horse will do. Some wormers come with weight tapes to help you make an estimate.  Build: Is your horse a piece of delicate fine china, or a chunky monkey? Select the build that you feel best describes your horse. Most draft horses are considered heavy while many Arabians are light build. Color: This is just to know who we are talking about. General descriptors are fine such as: “bay, grey, chestnut” and so on. Blanket size: What size blanket does your horse wear? Measure from the middle of the chest to the tail. (click for enlarged version) Crown: From the corner of the horse’s mouth, up along the line that the cheek piece would follow, over the ears, and to the other corner of the mouth. Noseband: Circumference of the nose approximately two fingers in front of the prominent cheek bone. Eye Sockets: The width at the widest point from the bone of one eye socket to the other. Browband: The distance from one temple (where a rosette would lie) across the front of the horse’s head, to the other temple.  Throat latch: From the temple, under the cheek to the other temple. Bit: The size bit the horse wears, or from corner of mouth, through the mouth to the other corner. (click for enlarged version) Straight Line/Full Collar: From the top of the neck, near the withers where a full collar would lie, to the attachment of the neck into the chest. (Give this measurement even if you are going to get a breast collar). Breast: The distance from the girth, around the front of the chest, above the point of the shoulder, to the girth on the other side. Neck Strap: The distance from the desired breast collar height, over the neck, to the same height on the other side. Barrel: The circumference of the barrel of the horse, just behind the withers, where the saddle and girth will sit. Turnback: The distance from the withers to the dock (base of the tail). Breech: The distance from the swirl on the flank just in front and above the hind leg, horizontal around the hind quarters, to the next swirl. Hip Strap: The distance from the desired breeching height, over the top of the hip, to the other side, desired breeching height. Ideal Harness Selection Choose the type of harness that you would like. We do not stock French collars so there may be a wait for French collar harnesses. Pair short tug French Collar harnesses are a special order item only.  Style Luxury Marathon comes standard with anti-slip reins, a wide saddle with a non-sliding back band, safety tugs, and ‘D’-Ring traces. This is the most popular selection for four wheel vehicles with curved or marathon shafts.  Luxury English comes standard with leather reins, a gig type saddle with a sliding back band, traditional English tugs, and slotted traces. This is the most popular selection for two wheeled vehicles, or four wheel vehicles with strait shafts. LeatherTech comes standard with anti-slip reins, a narrow saddle with a non-sliding back band, safety tugs, with sewn in traces and buckle-on ‘D’-rings. This harness is good for marathon type driving with four-wheeled vehicles only.  EuroTech is a synthetic harness that comes standard with anti-slip reins, a narrow saddle with a non-sliding back band, safety tugs, with sewn in traces and buckle-on ‘D’-rings. This harness is good for marathon type driving with four-wheeled vehicles only. Color Harness with stainless furniture is almost always in stock with black or russet leather. There may be a wait for harness with brass furniture. Russet with brass furniture is a special order item.  Size Guidelines Shetland typically fits very small equines up to 12.2 hands high.  Pony generally fits ponies from 12.3 hands to 14.1 hands high.  Cob generally fits ponies from 14.1 hands to 15.3 hands.  Horse generally fits horses from 15.3 hands to 17 hands.  Draft generally fits heavy horses from 15.3 hands to 17 hands.  In my experience, the harness sizes run toward the larger side of these guidelines. We’ll use your measurements to select the size that is most likely to fit your equine.  Selections Reins Anti-slip reins are a light weight rubberized rein, with leather from the turrets to the bit. These are the most popular reins for marathon driving or driving in wet weather. Standard on Luxury Marathon, LeatherTech, and EuroTech.  Leather reins are made from leather approximately 5/8” width, with three seams. These are the most popular for driving in pleasure shows. Standard on Luxury English harness.  Traces ‘D’-ring traces terminate with a sewn-in stainless ‘D’-ring at the carriage attachment end. These are suited for carriages that have single trees with snapshackle, carabineer, or swivel hook attachments. Standard on Luxury Marathon. LeatherTech, and EuroTech come with adjustable buckle-on ‘D’-rings standard. Slotted traces terminate with no hardware sewn in. They are punched with two slots for sword, spade or hook end single trees. Standard on Luxury English harness. Not available on LeatherTech or EuroTech harness. Rollerbolt traces terminate with a stainless steel square, through which the trace is looped. This is used to attach to carriages with rollerbolts, or round single trees. Available with all harnesses, although there is an extra charge for these on LeatherTech or EuroTech.  Tugs Safety tugs are designed to open quickly regardless of how much weight they are bearing. These are used primarily with closed end shafts found on marathon vehicles. Standard on Luxury Marathon, LeatherTech, and EuroTech. Not available with Luxury English English tugs are round open tugs designed for use with two wheel vehicle or four wheel vehicle with fixed strait shafts. English tugs are only available with Luxury English harnesses which have a sliding back band. Zilco Size Guidelines Note: Girth circumference is a more accurate gauge than height, as body size is more in proportion to this measurement. Sizes by Girth Circumference ZGB & Elite Classic SL Shetland & Sportz Shetland 45-64" / 114-162cm Pony Not available 59-68" / 150-172cm Cob 68-72" / 172cm-183cm 68-72" / 172cm-183cm Full 72-78" / 183-198cm 72-78" / 183-198cm Extra Full 78-94" / 198-238cm Not available   Sizes by Height ZGB & Elite Classic SL Shetland & Sportz Shetland Up to 11.2hh / 117cm Pony Not available Up to 13.2hh / 137cm Cob Up to 15hh / 152cm Up to 15hh / 152cm Full Up to 16.2hh / 167cm Up to 16.2hh / 167cm Extra Full 16.2hh + / 167cm + Not available