# How long should horses drive as singles before becomiing a pair?



## wendyluvsminis (Jun 18, 2011)

I have a driving mare, that was trained last spring and is really doing very well. We've been taking lessons from a woman who used to show Standard-bred in CDE's, and she really loves the mare. Our first show (AMHR) is next week-end, and I'm really excited! We also have her dam, who was trained to drive last fall, and was very quiet and a good girl. She has a foal this year, that we will wean in early Aguest. We have a neat run-about buggy for these two, and one friend is saying that we could put them together as a team by the end of August. I have started longueing the mare, with her baby loose--to try to get some muscle back on her--and she is fine with that. Should I a)try driving her with her baby at side? b)have her trained as a pair with the daughter this year? I think it might be pushing it, but would like experienced opinions. We will not be breeding either mare for years, and there is plenty of driving time ahead. As always, thank you!


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## chandab (Jun 18, 2011)

I know it might not be the norm, but my FIL trains his drafts to harness by pairing a newbie with an experienced driving horse.


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## Farina (Jun 19, 2011)

In Europe very few people would at first train a single. They train the younger horse with an expirienced older one as a pair.

We train the younger horses as single too, but if they pull the cart nicely and know how to turn left and right we put them together with an older one as a pair. So if your two singles are doing great I would suggest to giv it a try. Perhaps you could use the help of your trainer.

We have driven our Haflinger mare with her foal by side too, there wasn't a problem at all. Actually we have had a lot of fun the foal kicking and rearing on the trails and we tied it to the mare on the streets (on the side where the cars don't drive).


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## wendyluvsminis (Jun 19, 2011)

Neither mare has alot of experience. The mare without the baby has quite a bit more though. I drive her in a mini driving drill team everyweek. I have a friend/trainer who has put many teams together. Perhaps will give it a try! Thank you! I'd love to hear more opinions too!


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## Molly's Run Minis (Jun 19, 2011)

i have two right now that are being ground driven to go as a team next year. the gelding has been driven once under cart and took to it like it was nothing, but he hated being alone. neither of them ground drive at all if they are alone, but if they are in a team they act like angels. not all may agree with this, but its JMO. if yours are good single and get along well in the pasture then i dont see why it shouldnt work! just be sure to have a header with you if/when you hitch them!


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## wendyluvsminis (Jun 19, 2011)

Thanks, Molly. So far all the opinions I have received have said to go ahead and put them together! I will most certainly have help. Have no idea how to hook up or drive a team!


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## Performancemini (Jun 20, 2011)

Personally; I would drive each of your mare's for another season singly before hitching them as a team so you get to know them and how they handle better. It would be best to have a veteran team driver teach you to hitch and drive a well established team before starting and driving yours. It will make for a safer and happier experience for you and the horses.




:ThumbUp


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## wendyluvsminis (Jun 20, 2011)

Performancemini said:


> Personally; I would drive each of your mare's for another season singly before hitching them as a team so you get to know them and how they handle better. It would be best to have a veteran team driver teach you to hitch and drive a well established team before starting and driving yours. It will make for a safer and happier experience for you and the horses.
> 
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> :ThumbUp



There really is no hurry. Hubby Mike and I both have so much to learn single driving! And it would be nice to drive something experienced for a change! Thanks!


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## hobbyhorse23 (Jun 21, 2011)

That "green + green = black and blue" thing applies to two horses in a pair as well.



With draft horses a youngster is almost always started in a pair because the older, wiser horse will not only settle down the youngster, he or she is quite capable of essentially holding the green horse back if he tries to do something stupid like bolt!



They have the temperaments to stay calm when another horse is acting up and listen to the driver.

With light horse breeds of good temperament, a young horse might be put to a pair after they've learned their basic job as a single to gain more miles with an experienced horse who can show them there's nothing to fear in the big world. There's video on YouTube of Diane Kastama taking her younger Welsh Cob to the beach as a pair with her older competition horse and wisely positioning the two horses so the older horse held the younger one steady when it wanted to spook at the waves rolling in. This is a fine idea and a good way for an experienced whip to season a horse.

But putting two green horses together in a pair with a green driver handling them is, in my opinion, asking for trouble even with professional guidance. Now an experienced pair driver might be able to put each mare one-at-a-time in a pair with an experienced animal and THEN put the two together, but I would not have their first experience in pair driving be with each other as if one horse spooks, the other one has no experience to understand what's going on and is likely to become infected with the other horse's fear and escalate the situation. That's a recipe for runaway!



I've been present when two experienced single driving horses were put together for the first time and that was nerve-wracking enough when they both got upset for a minute.



Having an experienced driver was critical in that situation as we were able to give the horses confidence and knew how to handle the situation so it never got out of hand. If the driver had hesitated or done the wrong thing it could have gone south very quickly.

Get some lessons driving a pair so you know how to start them together, how to stop them smoothly, how to handle turns and circles and backing. Learn to adjust the equipment correctly so both horses are comfortable and can do their jobs safely. Make sure each individual horse is solid as a single and can be trusted in any situation. Then find an experienced pair horse to partner them each with for at least one quick drive under your trainer's supervision and then you can consider hitching them as a pair together.



Pair driving is a LOT of fun and in some ways easier than driving a single, but you need to know that each horse will respond without fail to individual voice commands and will WHOA when told, no matter what the other horse is doing.

Leia


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## Performancemini (Jun 21, 2011)

Well said Leia!



and probably what I meant in the first place (got to stop posting late at night when the brain's gone half to bed



!).


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## hobbyhorse23 (Jun 22, 2011)

Performancemini said:


> (got to stop posting late at night when the brain's gone half to bed!
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Funny, I was thinking the same thing about my own posts!



I very much agreed with your original comment.





I will be putting my two together when neither has any pair experience, but only after I've spent more than two years getting them used to working around each other and establishing discipline.



Kody is a very experienced driving horse by himself and Turbo has a steady disposition and both will be absolutely solid on those mandatory basic skills before I allow them anywhere near each other in harness. I'm counting on my own experience, my close working relationship with each horse and several years of careful preparation in small steps to make up for the lack of a "mentor horse" to use.

Leia


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## Performancemini (Jun 22, 2011)

Leia: Yes, that's what we did too. Our two drove singly for years before we started them as a team. Did a lot of ground driving as a team before hitching. They had been out singly on many equestrian trail drives and parades and county fairs and more before we started team driving. So they had really seen the World! I think that helped SO SO much in the long run!



:ThumbUp We had many people who drove hitches who helped us too. Mainly through the Welsh world. I know a lot of people use the older experienced horse with a "greenie" method and if we could have; we would have done it that way. But as I said; I think the extensive life experience they and we had already had really helped enormously!


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## wendyluvsminis (Jun 22, 2011)

Thanks for more great advice!!!!! Well, sounds like my girls need lots more experience, need a a mentor horse with experience, Ineed for me to get more experience, etc.!Just because we have 2 harnesses, a cool black buggy, and two black mares doesn't mean we are ready! Hahaha! I am still quite green, and do some dumb things. We are driving the one mare and our stallion in a show for the first time this week-end. An R rated breed show. They are both used to wearing breeching. In fact, neither have been driven without it. The little stud used to pull a wagonful (5) of Amish kids to school for two years, so you know he wore breeching. So I get this brillant idea, that it looks snazzier without breeching and proceed, just a few days before the show, to drive driving them without. The mare freaks in general, and he suddenly rears when asked to back. Back on with the breeching! It looks fine!!!


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## hobbyhorse23 (Jun 23, 2011)

wendyluvsminis said:


> So I get this brillant idea, that it looks snazzier without breeching and proceed, just a few days before the show, to drive driving them without. The mare freaks in general, and he suddenly rears when asked to back. Back on with the breeching! It looks fine!!!


Yes, yes it does.



You actually did a smart thing trying it a few days before the show instead of AT the show, so good job on that. Most horses make that switch far better than trying the reverse but lots of factors like a narrow saddle, the wrap straps not being adjusted just right, the cart sitting too high, the load being too heavy, etc. can make the horse object. Better to be safe with the breeching than sorry without!

Leia


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## wendyluvsminis (Jun 23, 2011)

Thanks, Leia! Today, I need to try the mare in her show cart. Hope she doesn't mind the difference! Speaking of the cart sitting too high, our stallion is only 29 inches. I posted video of him last December when we got him, but he looks soo different now--hopefully will get some pictures at the show! When we got him, we just hooked him up to the easy entry cart that fits the B sized mares. The first time, my hubby drove him, Fancy Pants made a sharp turn and the cart fell over! No-one was hurt and he really wasn't shook up much. It was totally not balanced for a little guy. Now Fancy Pants has his own cart, which is lower to the ground and has short shafts. And we had to get an extra-small harness for him too. Our regular A size didn't fit him. No everything is very balance, and he really doesn't look like a little guy driving...


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## hobbyhorse23 (Jun 24, 2011)

Can't wait to see pictures.





Leia


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## wendyluvsminis (Jun 24, 2011)

Thanks!


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