# What is your method for training a driving horse



## whitney (Jul 2, 2010)

Here's ours.... we trained 3 little personalities this winter. We boarded at an indoor arena (12 x 12 stall divided in half for 100.00 a month you provide and do everything). We worked them twice a day 1 hr am and 1 hr pm. When I say worked, they did not break a sweat. I'm really easy on uneducated horses. I think if you work them hard they don't learn as fast. Started with halter manners and desensitizing (plastic bag on whip is a good one), (tarp is another), lunging (teaches them verbal commands to be used throughout training), long lining, long lining in harness without the cart, long lining attached to cart, handler walking horse hitched with me in the cart, then solo. It took 2 weeks with every horse. Now, we do very little arena work, it's all on trails. I'm knocking on wood here but.....we had no run aways no bucking or rearing. Go SLOW, don't progress to the next step until the horse shows you it's ready. Also pay close attention to the horses personality, i.e. Misty my mare is very sensitive, whereas my gelding is GUN HO, and my stallion is OH...I GUESS SO.


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## Mominis (Jul 2, 2010)

We are kind of doing the same that you are. We have desensitized to the palstic bag and have dragged it and a milk jug full of rocks behind Shake by laying the longe whip over his quarters and just letting it follow behind him. He has his whoa from a walk and whoa from a trot in good form on the longe line. He's been sacked out to ropes and I can put him in a whoa and get behind him then pull one line hooked to one side of the longing cavesson to turn him in the desired direction. I will start lining him on open lines with a header this week and his harness is being delivered next week. We already have the cart. We will long line off of the cavesson while he learns to just carry a bit and then we will move on to lining off of the bit very slowly. After that, he'll start pulling the tire and working in the shaft trainers before I introduce the cart. Once we put him to, we'll line him in straight lines with the empty cart with a header several times and then without a header. After that, we'll do large circles with the cart and a header and then without before actually getting in the cart. It will take longer than your method, but I have nothing but time. He's only two. lol

Once he has worked in the cart for a couple of months, we'll give him the worst part of the winter off to mature and then put him back to work in the early spring to prepare for the spring shows.

Very interesting to hear other people's methods as well. Good thread!


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## Sue_C. (Jul 2, 2010)

I go wayyyyy slow...







I like to have a good month of groundwork on them first. But I also do a lot of trasitional work/training on long lines, rather than trying to do it from the cart...I can see it much better that way. Heck, it takes me a few days just to get a "whoa-stand" to suit me; granted that won't be all I work on, but it is a major "thing" with me, as is a nice straight, calm, and relaxed back-up.

I treat my driving horses the same as my riding horses, and by the time I got into that saddle...my horses were already "broke"; much safer that way.


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## whitney (Jul 2, 2010)

DANG I knew I forgot something WHOA I spend ALOT of time in the center of the arena just standing, (boring but THEE most important gear). I don't ask for a backup until I have everything else really well in cart, and then its just a step or two. We also have an obstacle course in my outdoor arena to practice. So they do bridges and tarps etc. etc. but the trail driving gives them a WHOLE LOT of everything scary. So far nothing has phased them. KNOCKING on wood AGAIN.

Oh and note to anyone that is showing breed shows and does trail driving don't let them canter. Dusty my gelding has figured out that cantering is easier, so at the first breed show I entered him in I got canter instead of extended trot. It didn't help that I was driving Misty with the lightest of touches and Dusty the brace your feet against the floor boards at the same show. But you know what I APPRECIATE their very different ways of going and have a BLAST with both of them.

Remembered another good thing to do..... run at your horse when its in a halter (I know you were told never to do that but the rest of the world never learned) run at their head, their sides, run around in back of them out of kick range.


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## hobbyhorse23 (Jul 2, 2010)

If I have a mature horse I start by evaluating where they're currently at so I know what the holes are in their training. Then I systematically fill in those holes (voice commands, something they regularly spook at, not accepting straps around their body, etc.) until all the basics are in place and proceed from there.

With a youngster like Turbo, I've spent the last year building his confidence and his comfort level with being handled and have been introducing elements of his future training bit by bit. He's learning voice commands, being touched everywhere ticklish, having straps and hoses tangled around his feet, stuff under his tail and over his head, clipping, bathing, all of that. He needs more maturity before I'm willing to start official driving training but by the time he's ready at 3 years old he'll already have done almost all the groundwork over the course of two years and should pick it up pretty fast. I just want to make sure he has no anxiety over the process and is ready for each step, even eager for it.



whitney said:


> Oh and note to anyone that is showing breed shows and does trail driving don't let them canter. Dusty my gelding has figured out that cantering is easier, so at the first breed show I entered him in I got canter instead of extended trot.


This is a matter of training.



Yes, once they learn they can canter in harness they do learn it's easier and want to do it when the going gets tough. You simply have to be prepared, put your foot down and insist on a trot!



I NEVER let my horses break to a canter on their own after the initial learning period, I always ask them with a very specific cue so they know that if they were not given the cue they are not allowed to break. This allows me to get pretty firm with them on the issue without teaching the horse that they can't canter in the cart.



whitney said:


> Remembered another good thing to do..... run at your horse when its in a halter (I know you were told never to do that but the rest of the world never learned) run at their head, their sides, run around in back of them out of kick range.


I was proud of Turbo at the last show because a bunch of little kids kept running up behind my defensive kicker and even though he's only partway through his desensitization work he held his ground and didn't kick. Good boy! I don't consider a horse trained to ground-tie until I can literally skip all the way around him singing show tunes and scattering grain. (Yes, I really do this.) I've also been told you should lunge them with some pots and pans hanging off your belt so they get used to that sort of thing, and I know people who tie pompoms to their crownpieces for lunging work. Just about anything you can think of and introduce safely is good! You really can't desensitize too much.

Leia


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## RhineStone (Jul 2, 2010)

hobbyhorse23 said:


> I don't consider a horse trained to ground-tie until I can literally skip all the way around him singing show tunes and scattering grain. (Yes, I really do this.)


I want to see a video of that!


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## hobbyhorse23 (Jul 3, 2010)

RhineStone said:


> I want to see a video of that!


I'm careful to make sure there are no witnesses!



I figure it acts as an additional psych test for the horse- if they *don't* look at me like I'm crazy, I know there's something wrong with them!

Leia


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## whitney (Jul 6, 2010)

Leia I was behind BOTH judges when he broke and I blew the class by a VERY LOUD UN AHH, got his attention AND the attention of both judges. He's a BLAST to drive feels like he's in 4 wheel drive the whole time.


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## Mini bell (Jun 16, 2013)

I helped train green mini who has been consistently working on ground skills and driving for 3 years now. We started with getting him used to the harness and bridle. Walking around with them on, and then after a few weeks of this ground driving with someone holding his lead rope. After about a five or six months of ground driving (with no one holding the lead line), he responded to vocal commands well enough and we began to introduce him to a cart. We showed it to him, let him sniff it then put on his harness and bridle before moving the shafts and cart around behind him. As soon as the mini was calm, we brought the shafts up and over his back. He was soon okay with the noise and feel of the cart. In small fifteen to half an hour sessions, we got him used to pulling the cart without a person in it. After a few weeks of this he started pulling us around, with an adult holding his lead rope for safety. He has now been driving for almost a year.


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## Field-of-Dreams (Jun 18, 2013)

Round penning in a bitting rig to learn the voice commands and get used to all that stuff banging on him. Then I tethered him to my EE in his bitting rig, and harnessed Sunny (NOT in THAT order, of course!) and we went all over the yard- Sammie was MARVELOUS! He's also been gorund driven and had the shafts banged against his sides. Soon it will be time to walk him in the shafts, then harness and go.

Once he's started I want to start my mare. She's not as smart as Sammie, this could be interesting. But boy, can she MOVE!


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## QHPkaren (Jul 20, 2013)

Whitney - do you train others?


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## romewhip (Jul 22, 2013)

I'm currently training two to drive, one 2 yr old from scratch and one re-train who may not have been trained to drive. So they are both getting the same routine, mostly. Right now we're working on the longe, the older pony goes in a surcingle and Vienna reins to help him build frame and learn his balance. The young one sometimes gets surcingle but usually his work is just a bridle and learning his gaits and commands. Soon I'll introduce more harness parts to the longing, a piece at a time. Then it will be time for ground driving, and adding things like walking over a tarp and walking around the property ground driven. The 2 yr old will get part of the winter off to grow up, and come back in the spring to be hitched. The older one doesn't get a break, he does better in work anyway. It's been a while, I'd forgotten how rewarding it is to start a colt.


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## dangerranger (Jul 23, 2013)

hobbyhorse23 said:


> I'm careful to make sure there are no witnesses!
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Hey I just noticed you have moved to the land of perfect weather! When did that happen? DR


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## paintponylvr (Jul 25, 2013)

I start with the basics.

Halter/ground work to include manners and commands - "Whoa", "Stand", "Walk", "Walk-On", "Ter-rot", "Ter-rot On", "Back". While lounging, they also learn the voice command of "Can-ter".

Then go on to teach yielding of both fore and hind quarters, wearing a bit, lounging, circle driving and then line driving. They work in both open bridles and blind bridles with the harness. Also use a cluck to mean faster at that gait and a kiss to signal "Can-ter" (yes, our harness horses learn to canter while wearing harness and circle/lounge driving and while pulling a single tree & tire before being hooked into a cart. They also learn "WHOA" from a canter!).

We often "log" with our ponies - before hitching. I've got a couple now that have not been hitched to a cart single - but HAVE been hooked and work well as a pair pulling the wagon. These particular ponies are "hotter" and work better with the settling influence of a well grounded partner next to them. Eventually they will be hooked single - this just allows them to "see what it's about" while having that other influence next to them. It works well for me.

If I've done a lot of handling/work with them as weanlings/yearlings - I've been able to get them ground driving reliably w/I 7 days as 2 or 3 yr olds, in harness but not pulling anything. If I haven't, or it's a horse I'm not familiar with - it can take 60 - 120 days to get to that point.

Right now, I've got sucklings that are 3 months old that have only worn halters a couple of times and been led about (usually have them leading reliably and loading in the trailer both besides their dams and by themselves at this age). And 3 yearlings and 2 - 2s that have had no lounging and very little introduction to voice commands. All of these ponies will take longer to get driving when I start working with them as they will need the basic handling and manners lessons first!

It truly makes a HUGE difference when you start working with them consistently when they are babies.

Also, I see a huge difference when I can work with one 4-6 days in a row vs. just 1-3 x week and not in consecutive days... Even if I can only work them 3x week - if I do it 3 days in a row, then by the time I come back to them, they seem to work better - remembering more from the previous lessons. I try to work with them no less then 4 days a week and the goal - especially when conditioning for an event - is 5 days/week.


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