# Blinders ?



## O So (Nov 25, 2010)

As you all know I am just now learning about driving! I have a question on blinders!

I know what they are for. Well I think I do. LOL I just want to know if one really needs to use them? I am not showing so that part doesn't matter. I was just wondering if you taught the horse to get used to something behind them, would they need blinders?


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## ssshowhorses (Nov 25, 2010)

Up until a few months ago I would have said that no you need blinders, because that is just what you use. BUT we recently had a few horses that were very dificult to break to drive. Any little sound behind them or if they thought you had the cart and they freaked. So someone suggested that we work them in an open bridle, once they were able to see everything and knew that the big scary alanging thing behind them wasn't going to kill them they settled right down and became very easy to work with. We recently moved them back blinders (because they are going to have to show with them on) and they had no problems. We can throw anything at them and they just take it in stride. So, blinders are definetly not a must for every horse and some may require an open bridle until they are comfortable and confident!


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## shorthorsemom (Nov 26, 2010)

My boy drives open. I may train him someday using suggestions from another post of half blinkers or a sheepskin roll of some sort, but for now, he has a modified driving bridle with no blinkers. He does great open. His former owner took off the blinders when he was attacked by dogs and lost confidence at noises behind him. Now he has plenty of confidence and since I am currently just driving around our farm I am going to leave him open. You can search for the other post for the comments from experienced drivers about open vs blinkers driving.


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## RhineStone (Nov 26, 2010)

Blinders are not required for ADS rules, and the above is correct that I have found that some minis are better if they can "process" what is behind them, and then move to the blinder bridle. Now that being said, what blinders can do is help you use the whip correctly. When you are riding, the horse can't necessarily anticipate your cues because he can't see your foot cues, especially if they are subtle, but he can see the whip being wielded and react to it before or against how you were going to use it. Say you wanted to move the horse's belly over, but he sees it coming and jumps forward instead. That defeats the purpose of using the whip.

The other thing blinders do is keep the horse focused forward. In driving, forward is good, backwards is bad. You can't control backwards, especially with a vehicle attached. (Backwards with those "lack of shafts" sled set ups on the other thread would be disasterous!




) Scary things can "disappear" for the horse once it passes it with blinders.

Yes, I use open bridles for some horses while training, but try to move them to the blinder bridle asap. Some horses CAN'T be put to a vehicle safely without them. An experienced driver/trainer can help you determine what kind of horse you have.

Myrna


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