Water Rescue Harness

The Häst Water Rescue Harness is a simple surcingle that is placed on the horse in a manner similar to a driving harness. The main features that make this product unique include the fact that the webbing is made of nylon making it waterproof along with the closed cell foam pads that allow it to float. Like the Becker Sling, the harness has D rings mounted on the saddle as well as the girth for attaching tag lines or other attachments to floating devices. This harness is ideal for those facilities that either swim horses or put horses in water treadmills as a safety measure, or rescue squads that need a means of securing a horse in water or ice.

The new Häst Water Rescue Harness consists of three basic parts:
1) The Saddle
2) The Girth
3) The Chest Float

The harness is designed to accommodate a very large range of animals. There are three "D" rings on the saddle, and three more on the girth. These may be used at the rescuer's discretion to attach either more floatation or tag lines. Of course, the use of ropes should be used with care as to avoid having them tangle with either the front or rear legs.

On the near side in this photograph, one can see the "quick release" catches with the small orange pull tabs. The tabs are made of polypropylene. These are present in the event that the harness needs to be quickly released from the animal. A pull on both of the tabs will, in a second and even under load, will allow the harness to separate. Both orange tabs should be located on the same side, and we recommend that they be on the same side as the Häst label on the saddle for consistency.

This photograph of the off side shows the standard buckle hardware that we use in this location. We chose these snaps for two reasons: First, the quick release catches on the other side are very expensive, and second, by keeping the harness connected together, we avoid loosing the girth into the abyss in the event the quick release catches are pulled. There is closed cell floatation foam in the saddle, but it provides only about 7 pounds of buoyancy to keep the harness from sinking.

The hardware on both the near side and the off side are rated at 2,500 pounds breaking, while the D rings are rated at 6,000 pounds and the golden webbing has a rating of 6,000 pounds as well.

Finally, a quick look inside the chest float. Each block of closed cell foam provides about 6 pounds of floatation, for a total of about 30 pounds. This should be a sufficient amount to help the animal keep its head above water, while not being too much that could cause an instable imbalance. They are segmented in a way as to hug the animal. Of course, they are enclosed in a vinyl sleeve so that they do not catch on other objects and are smooth on the skin.

The current price on the complete Water Rescue Harness (v2.5, April 2018) is $596 plus shipping. ORDER