# Question about what age can able to pull the cart (as driving horse)?



## RockinSMiniature (Nov 6, 2008)

Hi,

I would like to know what age they can able to pull the cart?

I am doing some ground basic training as "Whoa" and "Go" and etc..

I always praised them when they are very good manner also taking them for more socialization as traffic noise and I don't live very far from our vet and I took the short cut and I did took Blue with me and took him inside the vet office and let them pet him and he did wonderful and our miniatures does liked to get attentions from people, children and etc.. 

I am curious if anyone train the preg mare or not. (I think it is not good idea to train on preg. mare)

If anyone has a good advice about training for driving horse and that will be good if someone would share their experience about training for driving horse.


----------



## Reignmaker Miniatures (Nov 6, 2008)

Others will have different ways of doing it and hopefully they will respond but I start my horses as 2 year olds but we only do ground work that year and they aren't hitched to a cart until they are 3. As 3yr olds we drive them in the arena or round pen, letting them adjust to the new job and get some fine tuning done. They will stay on the flat ground (arena/pen) all that summer and usually by the following year they are ready to try some trails and back roads. I wouldn't start an expectant mare only because I have plenty of geldings to choose from and if I have bred her then I won't risk stressing her. A word of caution here tho, if you are inexperienced with horses, training and driving it is best to get someone more experienced to guide you. There are a lot of ways for both you and your horse to get hurt even when the horse has been driving for years. A little input from someone knowledgeable who is actually there to watch can save you a lot of grief.


----------



## MiLo Minis (Nov 6, 2008)

If your mare was trained to drive previously to becoming pregnant then there is no reason not to continue driving her while she is pregnant. I have driven my mare up until I couldn't get the girth done up any longer



I would not undertake to train/start a mare that is already bred.

Depending on the mental and physical maturity of the individual horse I have started working with some as yearlings. I don't bit them but teach them their verbal commands in hand and loose in the round pen. As 2 year olds I will bit them and harness them and ground drive them. If they are mentally and relatively physically mature I will put them in the shafts but I don't do a whole lot with them until they are 3. Driving a horse is a lot less hard on them than riding them as they don't have the weight of a rider throwing off their balance. They do still have to contend with the weight of the cart to get rolling and on unlever ground though, so you don't want to do a lot of hilly work with them as youngsters.


----------



## rabbitsfizz (Nov 7, 2008)

If I have a harness horse as a foal, that is when their training starts, with the voice commands.

Once they are firmly in place there is really no need to do any more until the animal is three.

It is so long since I have trained an animal I did not breed I would have to think about the age thing....the last mare I did I think was my Shetland, and she was five or six when I harness trained her.

I would not harness train a pregnant mare, nor would I drive one past maybe the third or fourth month.


----------



## Jill (Nov 7, 2008)

Personally, I probably would not train a pregnant mare (although earlier in life, I did have a pregnant mare trained and all went VERY well). I just wouldn't want to add stress to her when she's already doing something very important to me





However, if a pregnant mare is already trained and used to it / in shape, I'd have no problems driving her well into her pregnancy. I have driven pregnant mares in the past and actually feel it's good to them as long as it's in moderation





Good luck!


----------



## Humhill (Nov 7, 2008)

I start longeing when they're yearlings. Not round-penning, but actual longeing, where they learn voice commands. Then, early spring of their two-year old year, they start ground-driving. Fall of their two-year old year, they get hooked and driven through the winter. Nothing strenous, just getting them used to pulling the cart and working in the shafts. A lot of people think that just because they're "small" they can just ground drive them a little and hook them. I've even seen some hook the same day they start ground-driving. I treat them like "big" horses. They're just as capable of hurting themselves and you as a big horse.

For a pregnant mare, as long as she's having a normal pregnancy, I'd start her. Again, nothing too strenous and if she's having pregnancy complications or other signs of stress, I'd stop. I think it's good for them to get exercise. Just like with women, they recommend you exercise during the pregnancy to keep yourself and the baby healthy.


----------



## MiLo Minis (Nov 7, 2008)

Humhill said:


> I start longeing when they're yearlings. Not round-penning, but actual longeing, where they learn voice commands. Then, early spring of their two-year old year, they start ground-driving. Fall of their two-year old year, they get hooked and driven through the winter. Nothing strenous, just getting them used to pulling the cart and working in the shafts. A lot of people think that just because they're "small" they can just ground drive them a little and hook them. I've even seen some hook the same day they start ground-driving. I treat them like "big" horses. They're just as capable of hurting themselves and you as a big horse.For a pregnant mare, as long as she's having a normal pregnancy, I'd start her. Again, nothing too strenous and if she's having pregnancy complications or other signs of stress, I'd stop. I think it's good for them to get exercise. Just like with women, they recommend you exercise during the pregnancy to keep yourself and the baby healthy.


You need to be very careful longing a baby. When they are free in a round pen they can find their own balance but when you put a longe line on them you throw them off balance putting a lot of stress on their legs. It is really not recommended to longe a yearling although I know a lot of people in various different breeds are doing it now



It will be interesting to see how many of these horses go on to further careers. I don't even put a lot of time on them in a round pen and I am sure to give them equal short time in both directions.

Usually by the time a pregnant mare is showing stress it is too late.


----------



## maestoso (Nov 7, 2008)

My yearling is long-lining already. I have also been walking him around, holding him on one side, and the shaft of the cart in the other hand, so that he gets use to the cart moving beside him. That's where it stops this year. We'll start next Spring doing the same, and then I will hitch him to the cart and long-line him with the cart on. I won't get in the cart until next Fall, when he'll be 2 and a half.


----------

