Chester - desensitizing in traffic

Horse Drawn Promotions - Breaking horses to harness. http://www.horsedrawnpromotions.com/
This cob was frightened of traffic when he came to us to be schooled. We built up his confidence so that he could be driven right beside big lorries. This clip shows us driving him in town and training him to get used to vehicles.

Category:

Pets & Animals

Tags:

• Horse
• Drawn
• Promotions
• breaking
• schooling
• carriage
• harness
• chestnut
• cob
• Chester
• desensitizing
• traffic
• safe
• quiet
• confident
• driving
• tuition

[1Jeanne3]

You've shown the horses getting very close to the back of vehicles but realistically, you wouldn't drive them that close behind a vehicle so that you have braking space to stop the carriage should the car ahead of you stops suddenly.

[barryhook2]

@1Jeanne3 However if you leave too much distance in front of you this can be misinterpreted and people could then take this as an invitation to cut in front of you, taking that space up. Not every driver out on the road passes wide and slow, not every driver allows you to leave a gap between other vehicles - we believe it is better that the horse has experienced this sort of thing in training so when things don’t go perfectly, at least the horse will remain calm.

[barryhook2]

We've been waiting in a queue of traffic (with space in front) and the driver in front has accidentally put their car in reverse, coming back suddenly - other videos show us reversing our own car in front of the horse we are driving so they get used to it. This horse was nervous in traffic; we wanted him to be happy with traffic close to him. We're not advising that people drive like this, but we make these films to show owners that should something unexpected happen, the horse won't panic.

[Tubenuub]

arent you worried about their feet? trotting around on concrete all day.. thought about trying rubber shoes? i have used rubber shoes on my horse, they get worn down pretty quickly, but theyre cheap, and its better for their legs if they walk alot on concrete =)

[barryhook2]

Thanks for your comment; if a horse is shod correctly then this should not be an issue. Many people do not think twice about trotting their ridden horse on the road, where they have maybe 12st of rider on their back instead of light harness. Some are turned out on rock-hard, uneven ground, often with soaking wet turnout rugs on, yet it seems people do not worry about their legs then! We have never had any leg problems, either in our own horses or those we train, related to trotting on the roads.

[barryhook2]

This seems to be a popular myth related to driving, however there does not seem to be the concern for other horses for example in jumping, where the whole horse's weight (and the rider's) is at times carried on only 2 legs, from varying heights depending on how big the jump is. We believe you should only do as much work as the horse can cope with, but this should apply to any discipline, whether ridden or driven, regardless of the surface.

[barryhook2]

If you look at our other video (Rocko - Rene Schoop's horse) it shows us training him under saddle. He was a very sharp nervous horse who had thrown previous riders off, but this video shows him doing the hazards under saddle calmly and sensibly.

[barryhook2]

Barry also says if you call us we will be more than glad to discuss things with you and what you could do to help your horse, alternatively email us your telephone number and we can call you at a convenient time.

[bub549]

where would you start at desensitizing a saddle horse to traffic? any input appreciated,

[LOSSWOOD]

Searching for video's of driving horses and ponies as I am thinking of having my pony put in harness in the future, new venture for me, I came across yours of Chester, well done Chester, well done guys, how safe he is, perfect.