# A team



## RebelsHope (Apr 28, 2010)

How do you go about choosing a team mate for your horse?

I know that temperament, stride, and size are most important, but how do you go about finding a horse with a similar stride as your horse without actually getting them together? Just eye ball it? Any tips?


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## Katiean (May 1, 2010)

Another question for putting together a team. What if the horses are competitive? My 2 best driving mares seem to try to be in front of the other. It kind of turns into a horse race. How do you stop that?


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## maggiemae (May 3, 2010)

These are good questions. I don't know the answers being a newbie but will be tracking this topic to see the answers. Thanks for asking.


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## RhineStone (May 3, 2010)

RebelsHope said:


> How do you go about choosing a team mate for your horse?
> 
> I know that temperament, stride, and size are most important, *but how do you go about finding a horse with a similar stride as your horse without actually getting them together?* Just eye ball it? Any tips?


Take someone experienced with you to look at potentials. Way of going is the most important factor in a pair, even more so than height. An experienced horse person can tell if the way of going is similar. Otherwise, video your horse and take that along, too.

Also, look for more pair info at drivingpairs.com Make sure you are well-versed in single horse driving first, though, before attempting a pair.

Myrna


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## RebelsHope (May 7, 2010)

Thanks. I am still working on driving single. I got to drive a team awhile back and it was just fun. I am not in the market right now unless a mini that was a really good match of one of mine were available. Even then I have a lot of equipment to get first. I was just wondering if I did find a perfect match for one of my minis how to really look at way of going. I know what I am looking for in a single horse but just never thought about matching that up with another horse.


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## RhineStone (May 7, 2010)

RebelsHope said:


> how to really look at way of going.


Well, they should have a similar stride, not one short and one long-strided. Their vertical movement should be similar, not one low and long and the other high and round. They should both cover the same amount of ground with the same amount of steps.

Myrna


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## RebelsHope (May 7, 2010)

RhineStone said:


> RebelsHope said:
> 
> 
> > how to really look at way of going.
> ...


I guess this is the part that I have a little difficulty with. I suck a judging distances. I guess I just have to figure out how many trotting steps my horse takes in certain number of feet, such as 16, since my fence posts are 8 feet apart. Then hope they have fence post about the same distance.


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