Buy a harness that fits, put the cart behind the pony correctly, hold the lines correctly and learn how to drive correctly then this won't happen. And NEVER pull the pony to one side because the cart will flip over immediately.
@Saartje05 I don't know what happened to your comment that showed up in my inbox, but I will respond to both that and this one. You are quoting what all the books say. When you have driven for more than thirty years, both professionally and for fun, broken dozens of horses, and driven in heavy traffic with many different vehicles, you will find that what the books say isn't always true.
@userunavailable3095 There's no book involved. I drive over at least thirty years already and I'm involved in the organisation of driving competitions. I've driven Dutch Warmblooded but also shetlandponies and all in between. I know what I"m talking about.
@Saartje05 Hmm, wonder if I know you.... I've been driving over thirty years too, and in driving competitions as well. But perhaps the difference is that I've actually worked the horses, both in the fields and on the road in traffic. If I have don't have a wall or fence in front of me, and my choices are pulling a runaway into a spiral, or running into traffic, I'm taking the spiral. You can choose the front of a bus if you want.
@userunavailable3095 Not if you don't live in the Netherlands. I always drive in traffic, that's the way how we train. And yes, if the choice is running into traffic or making a spiral, I would take the spiral too, but the girl on the videoclip shouldn't. She shouldn't even drive that pony the way she's holding the lines.
I have the same cart - and it is nice to drive. BUT it is VERY light ( 30 kilos) and it jumps a bit up with a light driver - and can fright the pony. I do not want to be rude, but i see that the breastplate is a bit to far down - it can actually make the horse quite annoyed because the muscles that need to be free to pull the cart is now strained ( i hope my english is correct ;) and if it gets strezssed it will eel the preassure.. i ahve seen this many times. The equipment MUST be in place.
She should have been wearing a helmet, hope she was alright... good lesson learnt for all of us to always wear a helmet because you never know what might happen even when everything seems to be going well. Thanks for sharing :)
Go look up Barryhook2, horse drawn productions. I don't think I can post links in here. He breaks carriage horses very much like I used to. I never drove one into a trailer hitched up, but he makes his horses bombproof.
From there he starts to wander and root for the bit, still looking for reassurance and still not getting any. Finally he gives up and goes looking for his buddies for reassurance. All a horse in harness has is bit, voice and whip. You don't have weight or legs or a reassuring pat. So you need to keep talking so he knows you are there and he is paying attention to you. Seriously, singing to a carriage horse isn't a bad idea until they are well broken and confident.
I can see where you get into trouble with him, and it doesn't happen at 45 seconds. This is where I wouldn't let a kid drive him, at least for a while. Right at about 10 seconds, you can see that something makes him feel unsure, maybe the cart went over a bump. He reaches for the bit to steady himself and get reassurance and finds slack reins. There is no contact or voice contact to reassure him that someone is there. He needed contact on the bit and verbal reassurance right there.
Remember too, that if you get into trouble, you can always pull him into a circle. If you spiral in, he'll quickly get to where he has to slow down if he doesn't want to fall.
Kid needs to learn contact. Lines are looping and no contact with horse's mouth. Most people need to take some English riding lessons before ever attempting to drive. If a horse gets ONE JUMP on ya when driving you are screwed. Never forget that. Contact contact contact.
@gmbgret1 Ten years ago, I would have agreed with you on that, but I don't anymore. Contact is only as good as the horse's training, and even then it is limited. If you take a totally wild horse who has never been trained to accept contact, then all contact will do is frighten them and make the situation worse. If you take a totally trained horse, you can probably drive them with nothing. So what is the difference? Confidence and training make the difference.
@userunavailable3095 With a horse you ride maybe but when driving you ALWAYS need contact with the horse's mouth. When you ride you can always do something with you weight and legs.
I don't know what just happened to my last comment. I hope it appears. Anyway, the foundation of safety is a confident horse, not contact. A horse that is confident and has been carefully trained not to fear unexpected situations, and to have confidence in his own ability and his human partner's ability to handle the unexpected doesn't need contact. It isn't a bad idea to have contact, but having confidence is the more important safety issue.
@gmbgret1 Well, thats true to a point. It is definitely what we are taught over and over, but it isn't always true. If the horse has a very light mouth, contact can actually worsen a bad situation. And contact won't make up for training and desensitization. If the horse doesn't know what you want by that contact, you can confuse and frighten him. The most important thing is to teach him confidence. A confident horse is going to take things in stride with or without contact.
These short comments are annoying. The purpose of that is to give him time to balance and get his hind feet under himself so that he is ready to stop and ready to take the weight of the cart when it hits the end of the breeching and holdbacks. If you don't give him a chance to prepare, the cart can push him to his knees. If it is followed by running into your hands, he'll quickly learn to stop when you say whoa so that he won't hit the bit.
I've broken driving horses for nearly thirty years and I'm breaking one now. I'd be happy to offer advice any time you want. The main thing is that you MUST teach him that whoa means to stop immediately and freeze. He mustn't move until you tell him he may. So never use whoa to mean anything else. It doesn't mean slow down or settle down. Use steady or easy for that. Give him warning by calling his name and a half-halt if needed, the word and and then whoa.
There aren't that many trainers left in the world that know how to train a horse to drive. You are often left to do it yourself if you want it done, just because there aren't many who can do it. He was doing great, you've clearly done a good job of getting him used to the cart and harness, but I don't think I'd let a kid drive and you need to work on his brakes. Take him out and ground drive him. Say his name and say and...whoa....and stop yourself so he runs into your hands.
Yes. He stopped at the fence. I made the mistake [one of several] of not having other horses penned so when he saw them, he ran toward their position. I'm going to leave the training to a professional.
Buy a harness that fits, put the cart behind the pony correctly, hold the lines correctly and learn how to drive correctly then this won't happen. And NEVER pull the pony to one side because the cart will flip over immediately.
Saartje05 7 months ago
@Saartje05 I don't know what happened to your comment that showed up in my inbox, but I will respond to both that and this one. You are quoting what all the books say. When you have driven for more than thirty years, both professionally and for fun, broken dozens of horses, and driven in heavy traffic with many different vehicles, you will find that what the books say isn't always true.
userunavailable3095 6 months ago
@userunavailable3095 There's no book involved. I drive over at least thirty years already and I'm involved in the organisation of driving competitions. I've driven Dutch Warmblooded but also shetlandponies and all in between. I know what I"m talking about.
Saartje05 6 months ago
@Saartje05 Hmm, wonder if I know you.... I've been driving over thirty years too, and in driving competitions as well. But perhaps the difference is that I've actually worked the horses, both in the fields and on the road in traffic. If I have don't have a wall or fence in front of me, and my choices are pulling a runaway into a spiral, or running into traffic, I'm taking the spiral. You can choose the front of a bus if you want.
userunavailable3095 6 months ago
@userunavailable3095 Not if you don't live in the Netherlands. I always drive in traffic, that's the way how we train. And yes, if the choice is running into traffic or making a spiral, I would take the spiral too, but the girl on the videoclip shouldn't. She shouldn't even drive that pony the way she's holding the lines.
Saartje05 6 months ago
JOSEPH IS A
GIRL!?!?!?!?!?!?!
TheRodeoqueens 9 months ago
did you by any chance buy that cart from frontier trading post?
zh11147 9 months ago
I have the same cart - and it is nice to drive. BUT it is VERY light ( 30 kilos) and it jumps a bit up with a light driver - and can fright the pony. I do not want to be rude, but i see that the breastplate is a bit to far down - it can actually make the horse quite annoyed because the muscles that need to be free to pull the cart is now strained ( i hope my english is correct ;) and if it gets strezssed it will eel the preassure.. i ahve seen this many times. The equipment MUST be in place.
moirhann 10 months ago
Do you have breeching on your harness?
blkequus 1 year ago
never pull a driving horse into a spiral. Better to run them into a wall or fence. If you turn a driving horse you risk tipping the cart.
blkequus 1 year ago
@blkequus Vary true, the one rein stop will not work in harness if You have a true runaway.
chaos0691 7 months ago
She should have been wearing a helmet, hope she was alright... good lesson learnt for all of us to always wear a helmet because you never know what might happen even when everything seems to be going well. Thanks for sharing :)
Jessle1000 1 year ago
Go look up Barryhook2, horse drawn productions. I don't think I can post links in here. He breaks carriage horses very much like I used to. I never drove one into a trailer hitched up, but he makes his horses bombproof.
userunavailable3095 2 years ago
From there he starts to wander and root for the bit, still looking for reassurance and still not getting any. Finally he gives up and goes looking for his buddies for reassurance. All a horse in harness has is bit, voice and whip. You don't have weight or legs or a reassuring pat. So you need to keep talking so he knows you are there and he is paying attention to you. Seriously, singing to a carriage horse isn't a bad idea until they are well broken and confident.
userunavailable3095 2 years ago
I can see where you get into trouble with him, and it doesn't happen at 45 seconds. This is where I wouldn't let a kid drive him, at least for a while. Right at about 10 seconds, you can see that something makes him feel unsure, maybe the cart went over a bump. He reaches for the bit to steady himself and get reassurance and finds slack reins. There is no contact or voice contact to reassure him that someone is there. He needed contact on the bit and verbal reassurance right there.
userunavailable3095 2 years ago
Remember too, that if you get into trouble, you can always pull him into a circle. If you spiral in, he'll quickly get to where he has to slow down if he doesn't want to fall.
userunavailable3095 2 years ago
Kind of like a one-reign stop on horseback. Emergency brake.
dschorlemer 2 years ago 2
You got it. Just be careful not to do it too abruptly in a cart with narrow, rigid shafts. You can throw the horse to his knees.
userunavailable3095 2 years ago
@userunavailable3095
Kid needs to learn contact. Lines are looping and no contact with horse's mouth. Most people need to take some English riding lessons before ever attempting to drive. If a horse gets ONE JUMP on ya when driving you are screwed. Never forget that. Contact contact contact.
gmbgret1 1 year ago
@gmbgret1 Ten years ago, I would have agreed with you on that, but I don't anymore. Contact is only as good as the horse's training, and even then it is limited. If you take a totally wild horse who has never been trained to accept contact, then all contact will do is frighten them and make the situation worse. If you take a totally trained horse, you can probably drive them with nothing. So what is the difference? Confidence and training make the difference.
userunavailable3095 1 year ago
@userunavailable3095 With a horse you ride maybe but when driving you ALWAYS need contact with the horse's mouth. When you ride you can always do something with you weight and legs.
Saartje05 7 months ago
I don't know what just happened to my last comment. I hope it appears. Anyway, the foundation of safety is a confident horse, not contact. A horse that is confident and has been carefully trained not to fear unexpected situations, and to have confidence in his own ability and his human partner's ability to handle the unexpected doesn't need contact. It isn't a bad idea to have contact, but having confidence is the more important safety issue.
userunavailable3095 1 year ago
@gmbgret1 Well, thats true to a point. It is definitely what we are taught over and over, but it isn't always true. If the horse has a very light mouth, contact can actually worsen a bad situation. And contact won't make up for training and desensitization. If the horse doesn't know what you want by that contact, you can confuse and frighten him. The most important thing is to teach him confidence. A confident horse is going to take things in stride with or without contact.
userunavailable3095 1 year ago
These short comments are annoying. The purpose of that is to give him time to balance and get his hind feet under himself so that he is ready to stop and ready to take the weight of the cart when it hits the end of the breeching and holdbacks. If you don't give him a chance to prepare, the cart can push him to his knees. If it is followed by running into your hands, he'll quickly learn to stop when you say whoa so that he won't hit the bit.
userunavailable3095 2 years ago
Very interesting. Makes sense. I'm inspired to try again. I haven't worked him for quite a while.
dschorlemer 2 years ago
I've broken driving horses for nearly thirty years and I'm breaking one now. I'd be happy to offer advice any time you want. The main thing is that you MUST teach him that whoa means to stop immediately and freeze. He mustn't move until you tell him he may. So never use whoa to mean anything else. It doesn't mean slow down or settle down. Use steady or easy for that. Give him warning by calling his name and a half-halt if needed, the word and and then whoa.
userunavailable3095 2 years ago
There aren't that many trainers left in the world that know how to train a horse to drive. You are often left to do it yourself if you want it done, just because there aren't many who can do it. He was doing great, you've clearly done a good job of getting him used to the cart and harness, but I don't think I'd let a kid drive and you need to work on his brakes. Take him out and ground drive him. Say his name and say and...whoa....and stop yourself so he runs into your hands.
userunavailable3095 2 years ago
Much appreciated. Good idea. I will try it.
dschorlemer 2 years ago
Yes. He stopped at the fence. I made the mistake [one of several] of not having other horses penned so when he saw them, he ran toward their position. I'm going to leave the training to a professional.
dschorlemer 2 years ago
Was everything OK? Did he actually take off?
tinytinytiny 2 years ago