Dusty at one year

[Marsha Cassada]

I noticed on my calendar that I started Dusty in the sulky last November. I think we have come a long way in a year. I've purposely taken it slowly with him, since he is young. It took time to experiment with bits; I think he is happy with the one I am using now.

I notice that he is much more mentally mature now than he was even a few months ago so hopefully we will start progressing better. He is 3 1/2 this fall.

I'd love to hear how others' horses are doing who've started fairly recently. It is easy to get discouraged when one is working alone.

I'm actually toying with the idea of sending him to a trainer for a while. But I'd have to be sure in my mind what I expected from training. Going nicely and safely I can do myself. But if I want to win a ribbon, I may need help.

 

[hobbyhorse23]

At 2.5 Turbo is still a bit immature to be the kind of safe, steady driving horse I like to work with but at the rate he's maturing I expect in another year he'll be going well. He's doing great on the foundation work, understanding "Whoa, Stand" and voice commands and beginning to do lateral and obstacle work in hand. I'm quite proud of him! I just find it easier to train a fully mature horse with a good long attention span.

Leia

 

[Marsha Cassada]

Went out today to practice holding my reins correctly with the rein loop.

After we returned, I decided to introduce Dusty to the sleigh bells. O my!! I left him in the cart but put the halter and lead on him. I walked around him, jingling, then draped the bells over the saddle and shafts. He did not like it. I led him around in the cart with the bells draped and he was not happy.

Unhitched the cart and draped them over his back while we did some ground work. He tried to buck them off. After about 5 mintues of work he settled down with them. But I don't think he will be wearing sleigh bells this Christmas in harness. Maybe next year...

 

[hobbyhorse23]

Yeah, the cart is not a good place to introduce sleigh bells for the first time.

Mom's horse Bo loved bells, he'd match his stride to them and put an extra bounce in his step to hear them ring but my Arab, Spyder, never could stand them. Poor boy, they just made him too anxious and it wasn't any fun for either of us to have him wear them although he didn't mind terribly going along with Bo when he had his on. At least then he could get away from them instead of having them follow him and jangle alarmingly when he spooked!

Kody likes little bells on his saddle but the incredibly loud traditional brass bells I ordered once were way too much for him. (You ended up with that string, didn't you??) Thanks for the reminder that I meant to introduce Turbo to bells this year as I'd almost forgotten.

Given what a glutton that boy is for his grain I think I'm going to tie a small bell to his feed bucket as it should ring the entire time he's eating and I guarantee you he's not going to leave his grain for long to avoid it.

After that I'll take the easy way and pony him along behind Kody while he's got his on. You can also tie a small one to their halters, or even to their tails, and let them get used to it that way. Use one of the very small, quiet bells that they'll barely notice so they don't panic themselves. Then you can work up to larger bells and do just what you did with walking along next to the horse jingling them and eventually laying them across the horse. Then lunge that way, then ground-drive, THEN hitch with bells.

Some horses don't care, most just have to get used to them and some never will be able to stand them.

 

[RhineStone]

I left him in the cart but put the halter and lead on him. I walked around him, jingling, then draped the bells over the saddle and shafts. He did not like it. I led him around in the cart with the bells draped and he was not happy.

I gotta say, with all the love and sincerity Marsha, that you are sure lucky that it didn't go any worse for you. You could have had a severe wreck on your hands!

I realize that you were at home in a "practice" session, but at an ADS event, you would have been escorted off the show grounds for leaving a horse put to the cart and removing the bridle/reins, even with a halter and lead. And we also have "strong suggestions" that when the horse is put to, a knowledgeable horseman needs to be in the cart with reins in hand. Leading them put to the cart is a good way to get the TD over by you in a hurry!

Maybe you knew that, so I type it for anyone else reading.

 

Now, that being said (phew, I feel better…

), we have a string of sleigh bells that we have hung in our Arab/DHH filly's stall for years (she is coming three). While she is in there and we are working with the other horses, she will play with them for quite a while. They are just draped over the wall between the bars, so she will pull them off the wall and fling them around softly. Sometimes, I find them on her stall floor after I let all the horses out (these are not good antique bells). My intention wasn't so much for her to use them for sleighing (we don't even own a sleigh), but moreso to just expose her to more stuff. I don't know if I have taken the time to put them on her back yet, but because their back is actually a place that they would have a harder time seeing them, my guess is that she won't necessarily react the same way to them that she does flipping them around in her mouth. We need to have her see us move them around her body, shaking them softly and then loudly. If that goes well, we might throw them around a little. We wouldn't even attempt to put them on her until those previous processes go well, and only in a halter and lead in an enclosed area.

 

A bit of a history lesson…do you know what the purpose of sleigh bells was? Since the sleigh runners on the snow didn't create as much noise as wheels on a dry road, the bells provided other drivers and pedestrians a way to know that you were coming.

 

Myrna

 

 

[Marsha Cassada]

I gotta say, with all the love and sincerity Marsha, that you are sure lucky that it didn't go any worse for you. You could have had a severe wreck on your hands!

I realize that you were at home in a "practice" session, but at an ADS event, you would have been escorted off the show grounds for leaving a horse put to the cart and removing the bridle/reins, even with a halter and lead. And we also have "strong suggestions" that when the horse is put to, a knowledgeable horseman needs to be in the cart with reins in hand. Leading them put to the cart is a good way to get the TD over by you in a hurry!

Maybe you knew that, so I type it for anyone else reading.

 

Now, that being said (phew, I feel better…

), we have a string of sleigh bells that we have hung in our Arab/DHH filly's stall for years (she is coming three). While she is in there and we are working with the other horses, she will play with them for quite a while. They are just draped over the wall between the bars, so she will pull them off the wall and fling them around softly. Sometimes, I find them on her stall floor after I let all the horses out (these are not good antique bells). My intention wasn't so much for her to use them for sleighing (we don't even own a sleigh), but moreso to just expose her to more stuff. I don't know if I have taken the time to put them on her back yet, but because their back is actually a place that they would have a harder time seeing them, my guess is that she won't necessarily react the same way to them that she does flipping them around in her mouth. We need to have her see us move them around her body, shaking them softly and then loudly. If that goes well, we might throw them around a little. We wouldn't even attempt to put them on her until those previous processes go well, and only in a halter and lead in an enclosed area.

 

A bit of a history lesson…do you know what the purpose of sleigh bells was? Since the sleigh runners on the snow didn't create as much noise as wheels on a dry road, the bells provided other drivers and pedestrians a way to know that you were coming.

 

Myrna

 

I can sure believe that someone would know you were coming with sleigh bells on! They are VERY noisy. After a short drive with them, the silence is very welcome when we stop.

As for not leading him in the cart, I really felt it was much safer to use the halter and lead in that situation. I do not have the luxury of someone to help me. (It would be a case of never doing anything if I had to wait for someone to help me.) I do what I have to do. Dusty was not violent or dangerous. I could just tell he didnt' like the whole thing. Our lesson was short and introductory. He was more ebullient when we did the ground work as we were trotting and moving quicker.

I am very glad to know of the rule about it, however, and that it is strictly inforced, in case I go to an ADS event. All the rules have sound reasoning behind them. Thanks for the heads up.

 

[MiLo Minis]

I can sure believe that someone would know you were coming with sleigh bells on! They are VERY noisy. After a short drive with them, the silence is very welcome when we stop.

As for not leading him in the cart, I really felt it was much safer to use the halter and lead in that situation. I do not have the luxury of someone to help me. (It would be a case of never doing anything if I had to wait for someone to help me.) I do what I have to do. Dusty was not violent or dangerous. I could just tell he didnt' like the whole thing. Our lesson was short and introductory. He was more ebullient when we did the ground work as we were trotting and moving quicker.

I am very glad to know of the rule about it, however, and that it is strictly inforced, in case I go to an ADS event. All the rules have sound reasoning behind them. Thanks for the heads up.

Things can quickly go from "not liking" something to "violent or dangerous" in a real hurry with a horse and it isn't worth the risk especially for something like sleigh bells which just get louder and noisier and chases them when a horse panics and bolts - they can't escape. I start mine loose in the round pen with nothing on and me in the middle with the bells. I just keep working them while jingling the bells until they pay no attention to them. Then I harness them up and again, loose in the round pen until they pay no attention. Hook the bells to the saddle and ground drive in the round pen till they are fine with it, then I move out of the round pen. Once they get to that point I can usually hitch them to the cart without any fuss but if I feel there might be a problem I will hitch my old standby, Willie, with his bells and have a friend drive him beside me until the newbie is fine with it. Why risk injury to you or your horse for something so silly?

 

[studiowvw]

I like the idea of having the bells attached to me while doing usual chores with them.

Just remembered two young horses I had on different occasions (both big draft crosses) that had never seen anyone with a hat on, and when the person reached up and took their hat off, each horse spooked big time. It was funny because they were at liberty in the field. Wouldn't have been funny if either was tied up or on a trail ride, or hitched.

Just thinking of all the things that it would be a good idea to introduce early in training:

hats, umbrellas, balloons, bells, flags, spinners, lawn sprinklers... !

W

 

[RhineStone]

Just thinking of all the things that it would be a good idea to introduce early in training:

hats, umbrellas, balloons, bells, flags, spinners, lawn sprinklers... !

This is what we think is so funny about carriage driving and shows. We have this stuff in the obstacle classes all the time!

Carriage horses have to be MORE steady than I would say a Western Pleasure horse. Or at least they need to know how to deal with their fear besides bolting off. That just isn't acceptable for a carriage horse. In as much as a bolting riding horse is unsafe, a driving horse has a weapon attached to them. And the driver needs to know how to deal with it as well.

I have seen, as part of the obstacle courses, mailboxes, umbrellas, cut out silhouettes of various animals (Alax doesn't like those), cow bells and dinner bells that have to be rung to get the points, flags to drive around and through, those tacky garden flower spinners, geese decoys, deer targets, white plywood with black 2x4 "rail road" crossing, garden hose, water (both running creek and stagnant pond) crossings, covered bridges, etc. Our horses have to tolerate it all!

Myrna

 

[Marsha Cassada]

I will put the bells out and jingle them frequently.

I wear skirts alot. Most horses that I get have never seen one before and it takes them awhile to get used to the flapping material.

When the weather turned off cold here last week I changed to my heavy winter outdoor coat. Dusty sure had to check me over good, smelling all over the coat, I guess making sure it was me inside.

I have a tool box mounted over the axle under the seat of my cart. When I first installed it, I had the tools in it and they clanged around. Dapper Dan bolted with me the first time he heard/felt all that racket. We put a piece of foam rubber in the bottom of the toolbox and that solved the noise and vibration.

The thing that causes me to pay attention the most when we are out driving is the deer jumping out. There is something about that movement that makes both of my horses uneasy. There are lots of deer and we see one most times. I don't know which is more startled--the horses or the deer. But I prefer my horses not go bounding off into a thicket like the deer do...

 

[hobbyhorse23]

Deer.

Lord, Kody can handle llamas, yaks, bison, just about anything but the one time a deer jumped out on the trail he froze up so solidly you would have thought he was made of ice. It took me 15 minutes and eventually getting out of the cart to lead him to get him unstuck! (And no, I didn't want to get out, knew it was unsafe, but I was by myself and he WAS NOT going to move unless I went first to prove I didn't get eaten by that carnivorous ruminant!

)

A bit of a history lesson…do you know what the purpose of sleigh bells was? Since the sleigh runners on the snow didn't create as much noise as wheels on a dry road, the bells provided other drivers and pedestrians a way to know that you were coming.

Another history tidbit- did you know there were protocols for which carriage lamps to use to signal you were driving a tandem? And that coaching horns were for a similar purpose? Of course Myrna knew this, but did anyone else?

As for not leading him in the cart, I really felt it was much safer to use the halter and lead in that situation. I do not have the luxury of someone to help me. (It would be a case of never doing anything if I had to wait for someone to help me.) I do what I have to do.

I sympathize, Marsha. I'm in pretty much the same situation. I think the only thing that really startled me was that you went straight to trying the bells in the cart and not that you did so while leading him.

Leia

 

[RhineStone]

he WAS NOT going to move unless I went first to prove I didn't get eaten by that carnivorous ruminant!

)

:OKinteresting

 

[Reignmaker Miniatures]

I also have trained my horse to accept the sound of bells. I felt I needed to have something attached to the harness (of course I could have attached them to the cart I suppose) that heralded our approach, after my mare and I, in one of our many cross country drives, came over the brow of a hill to find ourselves within about 100 ft/ of a momma bear and her cubs one fall day. With a lesser horse it could have been a disaster but luck was with us, Momma just stood up tall and sniffed and peered at us (I think she had no idea what the heck we were) and my girl never missed a stride

as we swung into a gentle arc and went back the way we'd come. After that we spent some time in the round pen with the bells until I felt the mare was past any chance of concern about them and now we use them on all trail drives so any wild life will be for warned of our approach.