Driving in different positions in a team.

Horse Drawn Promotions - Breaking horses to harness. http://www.horsedrawnpromotions.com/ These 2 pairs of Gelderlanders belonging to Mr Davies came to us to be put together as a team. This footage shows them being driven first with the black pair as wheelers and the greys as leaders, then as a mixed team (one grey and one black in the lead and the same combination in the wheel).

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[userunavailable3095]

Driving four is not something I've ever learned to do. I've done it in field work with lines on the leaders and the wheelers tied in and bucked back, but never successfully on the road. There isn't much skill to driving a tied in and bucked back team on a plow, especially not as well trained as they were. I notice your off side leader (at the beginning, the grey), kept sucking back and shirking the load and tucking his head behind the nearside leaders girth. How do you deal with that?

[barryhook2]

@userunavailable3095 Thanks for your comment - when this grey was driven as a pair, he normally went on the nearside, hence he tries to get back over that side. Some of this footage was taken during their first outing as a team (we only had four days to put them together as a four-in-hand before they had to go and do a coaching job) so we would expect that he would improve on his next few outings.

[barryhook2]

We could also adjust the coupling reins to keep him up in front more, but initially we would do lots of work on long reins teaching him his name or a certain command, even a whistle, specific to that horse - so that when you called him he would respond straight away, without it affecting the rest of the team. In this way you could single him out and remind him to do his share of the work, without affecting his partner next to him.

[userunavailable3095]

@barryhook2 Got it. Thanks for the tip, by the way. Hopefully in the next couple of weeks, I'm going to be hooking my 29 year old mare with a friend's gelding for the first time. She has always been the offside horse in my old pair, but I'm going to be putting her on the nearside this time. Since she is older and smaller, I want her on the traffic side and him on the ditch side in case a wheel drops off. I'll know to expect that behavior. Thanks.