Carriage horses pair first obstacle course, Arena Driving

Driving the Training level third phase (obstacles) at our first Arena Driving competition, where the idea is to trot as quickly as possible through two different "Obstacles" consisting of A-B--C gates, to be done in order. The driver has walked the course on foot initially to plan his route, which involves some tight turns between gates. Time starts and stops when we pass between the white cones in the center. For our pair and carriage the course is a bit small; other horses competing were singles with 2-wheel carts and also a miniature horse division.

We did our first obstacle fine, and the boys were not even worried about the small cart full of stuffed animals. In fact the swim noodles and giant frisbees didn't worry them either. Sadly, Hubby suffered a senior moment of distraction and entered the second Obstacle through Gate B instead of A. Then he had to circle way around to start over through A, so we lost a lot of time and incurred penalty points. If we were experienced, we would have known we COULD have backed out of Gate B before our rear axle passed through, and turned out for Gate A instead, and it wouldn't have counted against us as an "Off Course." LOL!

The closest we have ever come to practicing for this is weaving through joint compound buckets in a field and taking a few turns in an outdoor arena. We have never schooled these boys in a ring... THIS IS A JUST-FOR-FUN TRY AT LOW=LEVEL ARENA DRIVING-- please do not think we expected to do well! This pair of brothers is Arabian-Percheron, in their second season of driving as a pair-- at the Carriage Barn in Newton, NH. Almost all of their training has been out in the real world. Check out my Channel with 300 plus vids mostly horses! Story of our first Arena Driving Trial on my horse blog about life in New Hampshire, backyard horses, carriage driving, and pets -- at petArtistWIthPeaches http://www.portraitswithhorses.com/blog/ COME VISIT if you LOVE HORSES! Find this story at http://portraitswithhorses.com/blog/2009/07/31/arena-driving-trial-something-...

Category:

Pets & Animals

Tags:

• carriage horses
• pair driving
• training
• arena driving
• trial
• carriage barn
• obstacle course

[horsepaintings]

@iluvmyhorseys thank you!

[iluvmyhorseys]

Looks like you did a nice job! Gorgeous horses by the way!