Carriage horse driving at school

[Emura100]

I love seeing horse drawn carts! Always wanted to learn to drive myself. I have a paso fino mare who is 11 years old. Do you think she would be to old to learn if I could find a trainer (I live near a Morgan farm that has driving lessons sometimes)?

[horsepaintings]

@Emura100 I don't think horses are ever too old to learn new things-- but her inborn disposition is quite important. If she is calm and sensible about most things, she should be able to learn to drive. Her past exposure to different things will help her. Be sure you like the trainer's methods though, go observe some lessons first.

[mileycyrusmusic979]

I saw ellen today and she said she bought 2 new little horses

[Sparky333441]

how were you allowed to do this? My school would go crazy. Pretty much everywhere nowadays doesn't allow horses!

[horsepaintings]

@Sparky333441 School was not in session... we didn't leave any manure behind, which is the only objection we have ever gotten to driving in our little town. Here most people love seeing the horses, And Gilford likes to think it's still a "village."

[Saartje05]

@Sparky333441 Why not? I use to ride my horse to school and park him under the window to chat with the teacher, lol. Horses and carts are allowed practically everywhere except the highway, for obvious reasons.

[ebonymare]

I want to thank you for putting up these videos. You obviously love what you're doing and have a wealth of knowledge of skill. It's nice to watch these before I go out to my carriage lessons. So I can ' see' what I want to achieve in my head.

[horsepaintings]

@ebonymare  Thanks so much for your kind words. Sometimes I wonder if folks get tired of so many views of our horses' butts! But I love watching them progress, as you must enjoy your own. Good luck in your own driving!

[horsepaintings]

@ebonymare You must put up some videos of your own!

[Romeoliciousness]

aww he's doing suck a great job & he's so pretty :)

good luck to both of you on his training :)

[MrItaliano1900]

watch the best horse ever in my channel;)

Varenne

[bethlc21]

renesmeedawn51...Check into the many wonderful rescues. They evaluate and do basic ground training before they are placed.

[WetPooooopie]

scary like old time cuz it just is

[renesmeedawn51]

you should probably not whip your horse to much, it could wear them down

[horsepaintings]

@renesmeedawn51 In driving a horse, the whip is one of your aids, in place of your legs and weight on his back. The horse is touched lightly with the lash as a signal-- in this vid he is touched maybe 4-5 times; since he is green and still learning he has to be reminded that the touch of the whip has a meaning. I agree that the horse should NOT have excessive force or punishment, but as used here, this could in no way wear him down. We back off on the frequency of use once he has learned better.

[phillydogger]

@horsepaintings So it doesn't scare them like a riding crop? I had wondered about that.

[horsepaintings]

@phillydogger The only reason ANY whip or crop would scare a horse is if he has been abused by a whip (ie. a rider or driver) where excessive use of force occurred. The horse should respect the whip but never be punished with one. People are supposed to be smarter than horses, therefore we should be able to teach them things without punishing them for not understanding. Once the horse becomes scared, he is no longer learning anything at that moment, because his fear overrides everything else.

[renesmeedawn51]

i love your horse. im also thinking of getting one, where did you get yours?

[horsepaintings]

@renesmeedawn51 We bred and raised this boy and his brother, and both are carriage horses now and ride too. Percheron-Arabian crosses if you want to go that route!

[pecoslover97]

what school?

[horsepaintings]

@pecoslover97 The building in the vid is an elementary school, we're in their parking lot on a weekend! And the one across the main street is a middle/high school.

[pinkfeathers2006]

your Perchie is a cutie! and i quite enjoyed your foot discusssion. My ponies are both barefoot. I love them that way! I work at a large draft barn, we use steel shoes with borium only on the heels to allow for grip on pavement but allows for slide too so they dont screw up their bones and joints. they're spoiled though. Only working 2-3 hrs a day 3 days a week. for our wedding horses we have rubber 'tires' that bolt onto their steel shoes. they only wear them for a short time and only walk.

[horsepaintings]

Thank you. I'm sure constant pavement would wear their feet out without shoes, and I don't know whether hoof boots would hold up to pavement either. The rubber tires seem like a good idea for shock absorption.

[pinkfeathers2006]

quite the contrary. The rubber shoes are only to be worn for a very short time, ie no more than a few hours, because they do the exact opposite than what you think they do. Because a draft horses foot is small in comparision to its size the shock will go down into the ground and then bounce back into their joints with the rubber shoes on. and they dont make the boots in an 8...ive looked.

[38Hundred]

Love this video. I got an X-carriage horse. What I love about this video is that they run a stop sign! It's a vehicle too!

[horsepaintings]

UR right we usually do stop at stop signs, always at intersections. In this case we had a clear view a long distance both directions of a small town neighborhood street, so we got lazy and just slowed a little before pulling out!

[ZestyFlash]

But it all depends how long you want to keep him and if you care. For now your lucky you have a very fine little horse.

[horsepaintings]

Thanks for that, he IS a fine little horse and now, one year later, even finer. Never been lame a day in his life, no torn cartilages, extremely light and willing, well loved. He has never worn shoes. Barefoot is much healthier on pavement than shoes, which transfer all the concussion of steel to the horn, and prevent hooves from flexing naturally. He was quite fit in this video, having been driven all summer, and was only hesitant at times because he lacked confidence at being solo this day.

[ZestyFlash]

If you say so...Did wan't to sound so critic your probably a good owner.

But barefoot might be better for very short exposure to pavement but not for real work it's impossible to do. And trotting on pavement on a long time it get's hard on cartilages if you have accès to trails you should keep the trotting time for there.

[horsepaintings]

We don't do any serious training on pavement. Sadly, there are no dirt roads in our town anymore... we take them on outings around local neighborhoods mostly for the exposure and light exercise. The pavement actually helps keep their hoof walls worn down so we don't have to trim them so often. Many trails in New England so rocky that we put hoof boots on their front feet and that works great for long drives, usually they are barefoot though. Having had shod horses in past, I am now pro-barefoot.

[ZestyFlash]

I know the pavement bring the walls down that's why I'm saying if you work your horse all day it's impossible to do it barefoot.

[horsepaintings]

You're right-- if we ever worked them that long and had to do it on pavement, we would use their rubber hoof boots and would only walk them. We do occasional pleasure driving, never work our horses all day, and mostly are on dirt roads and trails.

[ZestyFlash]

And to ride on pavement they should have shoes on to, they're all kinds of shoes for all kind of traction that you need. Because the hoofs get used to quick on pavement. So your certainly not riding him very often or his hoof would be bleeding already. And if he's not used to regular work he shoulden't be pushed like that. Horses are like athletes they need regular work to perform without injuries

[horsepaintings]

Their traction is much better barefoot than with any kind of shoe short of studs or borium texture on the shoe... and hard rubber-soled hoof boots improve that traction and add cushioning if needed.

[ZestyFlash]

Well traction is good but not to much. I know I'm might have sounded like a bugger sorry about that. But I'm talking from experience I've been driving carriages for tourists since almost 16 years now. And I've learned that to much traction is hard on the shoulders of the horse.

[ZestyFlash]

That's why we never use rubber shoes. In fact when the horses strats to get problems with theyre legs the problem cant often get resolved by using small borium pins that are the same level than the shoe instead of the regular studs.

[horsepaintings]

I'm enjoying this conversation, and respect your experience. I agree too much traction is bad, even on trails or pasture they can stick a foot and twist something or pull a muscle. Rubber shoes might behave differently (?) from full boots like we put on our barefoot horses (front hooves only)-- our boots are not super grabby, in fact on steep downhills they will sometimes slip a little, dry or wet.

[ZestyFlash]

Well I'm afraid he's going to be limping soon the way you drive him. He was asking for a break but you weren't listening. And horses sould'nt be trotting like that on the pavement it breaks they're cartilages it's not like trails.

[marctru66]

hi great work with the driving!! what kind of shoes are you using on the black top?

[horsepaintings]

Good ear-- our horses are all barefoot, this 3-yr. old has never worn shoes. Sometimes on rocky trails or gravel roads we put hoof boots on their fronts, but he's not wearing any here. He gets much better traction without shoes.

Check out "barefoot" on my blog if you like (find link in the video description.)

[titansmommy]

With our driving horses we try to make it a habit to STOP at all stop signs, just a bit of advice.

[horsepaintings]

good practice, yes!

[MultiMuleskinner]

what do u guys use your horses for?

[horsepaintings]

Mostly pleasure carriage driving, they also ride on trail rides. We are driving this horse and his brother as a pair now.

[horsepaintings]

thx 4 watching-- this is at end of his first driving season (May-Nov.), he was age 3 in this vid.