Driving...

[Fanch]

Well, I've been out driving for about a month, not tons, but trying to get my geldings VERY energetic brain for driving, focused on driving so we may start to work on improvement.

But Im wondering, how much is too much. Usually I do 2-3 drives in a row(sometimes back to back, or with a day between them) is this good, am I being to soft??

I just don't want to tired him out, and sometimes I enjoy a break from the driving too. But as he is quite well trained for in-hand, and driving is what we need to work on and he enjoys, I feel gulty if I dont drive.

So for drivers, in all different types, how much do you work your horse???

 

[DrivinTime]

I'm not an expert by any means, since I end up being a "weekend warrior" much of the time, but I think that if your horse and you are enjoying the driving, keep doing what you're doing. I've read and heard that folks who are training for an event (like CDE) work their horses 6 out of 7 days, but not always doing the same thing. So, long drive one day, speed training the next, obstacles the next, then hand walking, then dressage, long drive again, then a day off, for example. I wouldn't do really strenous training multiple days in a row, I don't think, but doing some driving several days in a row seems to work okay for us (depends on how far and what kind of shape we're in, of course!).

I do find that my horses get Really Bored doing the same thing over and over. We live in the middle of a longish road, so our driving choices are "up the road" or "down the road" until I get a new van to take them further afield, and they get sooooooo bored, I can almost hear them saying "Mom, do we HAVE to?" and rolling their little eyeballs...

If I had my druthers I'd mix it up like the example above, but maybe only 4 or 5 days a week. Right now, I'm doing a mile or so with my youngster who is just getting started in harness, so we're focusing on Paying Attention And Not Spooking rather than any of the finer details. With my old girl we do 3 or 4 miles easy, in fact she had a blast on a 7+ mile drive out at a friend's place a while back. But I only get to drive them once or twice a week right now, and maybe a walk once or twice a week as well. As the days get longer, I'll have more time to maybe push that up a bit.