Renolizzie
Well-Known Member
Can't wait to see photos.
Getting Ready to Jump Into Driving... Now, what else can I do with my mini?
- Thread starter minirocky
- Start date
Help Support Miniature Horse Talk Forums:
Here is the first photo - I will post better photos tomorrow.
Please critique - I am still learning about harness placement. Any help would be greatly appreciated! I think I said before, I will be working with a trainer to hitch him the first time once the cart comes in, but I want to kind of figure out the harness myself.
He was not happy about being in blinders first, and tried to turn to me and figure out where I was. But he finally figured it out and started ground driving nicely.
Please critique - I am still learning about harness placement. Any help would be greatly appreciated! I think I said before, I will be working with a trainer to hitch him the first time once the cart comes in, but I want to kind of figure out the harness myself.
He was not happy about being in blinders first, and tried to turn to me and figure out where I was. But he finally figured it out and started ground driving nicely.
Renolizzie
Well-Known Member
He is so cute. I love it, the ComfyFit harness really looks so nice.
Does the breast collar thingey look like it won't need any padding? Does it have the v or u shape to it?
You'll be getting help with the harness from your trainer and I am not an expert.
Does the breast collar thingey look like it won't need any padding? Does it have the v or u shape to it?
You'll be getting help with the harness from your trainer and I am not an expert.
studiowvw
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Sep 27, 2010
- Messages
- 324
- Reaction score
- 69
Way back to earlier posts - sorry, we are snowed under here and trying not to think about driving...
I found that - although my Lacey is an energetic, fit, forward driver - when I hitched her up to the discs for the garden it was very hard work!!! (that was her in the video disking the garden.)
She was very willing to push into the collar, but after about 10 mins she was puffing so hard I decided to quit. I didn't want to A) kill her or B) kill her willingness!
Also I had the hitch setup too long, so the rein length meant I was just in front of the disk blades. Had to watch out esp. on corners.
Hoping to have Lacey and Diesel working as a team by spring, so work like that could be done by the two of them.
Just remember that when pulling a cart, the wheels are rolling along (unless the sand is deep and dragging at the wheels = more work). When pulling something that is dragging, they will have to work harder for the relative weights.
I found that - although my Lacey is an energetic, fit, forward driver - when I hitched her up to the discs for the garden it was very hard work!!! (that was her in the video disking the garden.)
She was very willing to push into the collar, but after about 10 mins she was puffing so hard I decided to quit. I didn't want to A) kill her or B) kill her willingness!
Also I had the hitch setup too long, so the rein length meant I was just in front of the disk blades. Had to watch out esp. on corners.
Hoping to have Lacey and Diesel working as a team by spring, so work like that could be done by the two of them.
Just remember that when pulling a cart, the wheels are rolling along (unless the sand is deep and dragging at the wheels = more work). When pulling something that is dragging, they will have to work harder for the relative weights.
paintponylvr
Well-Known Member
Most of ours are also larger (in the 40-42" range and not "true" minis...), though I have quite a number which are shorter than 38" as well and now three that are larger again (43/44 - our original Shetland stallion was 45 1/4" tall)...
I agree. Farm work - no matter what you are doing - is harder. The disk picture is neat, but it too was very hard work for our girls. I did that partially on a dare, partially because I honestly felt that our girls would/could do it AND I wanted to see how it would go... They had a hard time breaking it free from the weeds/mud it was "stuck" in (cemented to the ground more like!!) and it took several tries of moving them back and forth side ways to find an angle that they could break it loose (without me in the seat). Then they pulled it quite a ways - down a graveled farm road (the disk didn't have any wheels on it - I felt terrible having them pull it not in a field, all my hair on my arms/neck stood up as if electrified and will need to ask/study how to do that differently at another time) that was roughly 1/2 mile long before moving along the edge of the road and back almost as far along the outside of the field being done before stepping into the field to disk... Then they disked down one way, turned back towards the back of the field and started back before I decided that they'd had enough. I guided them crossways thru the field to the outside edge and had them step out of it back onto firm ground... I wasn't shown how to do any of the adjustments that the disk had available - but since then I've learned SOME of the adjustments that could have been made (everything from raising most of the blades while going down the gravel drive to dropping them deeper and switching the angle directions to be more effective in the field). The girls were tired after that "little bit" of work, even though they were in good shape at the time. Between that work out, and the later travel time where we got caught out on the highway that was shut down due to the tornadoes that day, they remained very "sedate" (for them) for over a week... They got worked some each day for the next week - but not much - they simply didn't have their "normal umpf"...
How they looked after they were done with that 1 row of disking (from the back of the field to the road, back to the back of the field then start again but then angle out)...
In a way, it was a bad idea to do what I did. It showed just "how little" the little guys could do (depending on how you looked at it). BUT I've also been to several events since 2010 where the "big guys" weren't in condition for the work they were doing and were "well used up" by the time the plow day or even a trail drive were over. It's a matter of conditioning and learning to read your single, team or hitch, so that they can do the work expected of them. It's not any different than riding and knowing when to increase both distance and difficulty when working your mount... AND we've been approached about putting our ponies together (Vicki's 2 and however many of mine as would work when they are trained) to do some of what the bigger hitches do with the gang plows. It could be interesting to see what happens when we actually use 3 or 4 ponies to make a 3 or 4 abreast hitch (I'm training ours this way now) OR 3 abreast, 3 abreast & 3 abreast (9 ponies) with a pulley system evener... Who knows - maybe someday we'll give something like that a try - but honestly - I don't see that happening since I certainly couldn't do it alone at home by myself... I can work with a 3 abreast by myself and really like working a pair. The general rule is as you increase the number of horses in your hitch, you need helpers to give you a hand, help with harness adjustments, head the horses or hook equipment while the driver holds/directs the horses. I've always been impressed with the teams that stand quietly while many people are "pouring over" all the adjustments needed to get them all hitched and working together!!
Yes, I have had to get longer lines to do groundwork from further away and I've also gotten extenders made for my 3 & 4 abreast lines. I don't yet have a 4 up hitch set of lines ... This set of pair lines (mini sized) are too short for ground driving properly with this set up. Had they gotten scared/spooked or even just "frisky", I would have had problems holding those lines. Most of my "home made" equipment - whether from rope or braided - is much longer (25' - 30' lines vs 18 - 20' lines).
Here is a pic of Vicki ground driving Eclipse with home made driving lines and a chain link drag - single. She's driving from behind the whole set up here, but could move to either side if needed or desired. Since this day - Vicki DOES not do nearly as much while ground driving and tells me I'm CRAZY for doing so. She will hook her pair up to the forecart and use the forecart to pull every thing from the disk shown above to the wagon to even trees/logs that need moving.
It's not a .jpg image, so I just posted the link...
https://picasaweb.google.com/103622225470430126127/EclipseAndKreature?noredirect=1#5753963756208984610
I agree. Farm work - no matter what you are doing - is harder. The disk picture is neat, but it too was very hard work for our girls. I did that partially on a dare, partially because I honestly felt that our girls would/could do it AND I wanted to see how it would go... They had a hard time breaking it free from the weeds/mud it was "stuck" in (cemented to the ground more like!!) and it took several tries of moving them back and forth side ways to find an angle that they could break it loose (without me in the seat). Then they pulled it quite a ways - down a graveled farm road (the disk didn't have any wheels on it - I felt terrible having them pull it not in a field, all my hair on my arms/neck stood up as if electrified and will need to ask/study how to do that differently at another time) that was roughly 1/2 mile long before moving along the edge of the road and back almost as far along the outside of the field being done before stepping into the field to disk... Then they disked down one way, turned back towards the back of the field and started back before I decided that they'd had enough. I guided them crossways thru the field to the outside edge and had them step out of it back onto firm ground... I wasn't shown how to do any of the adjustments that the disk had available - but since then I've learned SOME of the adjustments that could have been made (everything from raising most of the blades while going down the gravel drive to dropping them deeper and switching the angle directions to be more effective in the field). The girls were tired after that "little bit" of work, even though they were in good shape at the time. Between that work out, and the later travel time where we got caught out on the highway that was shut down due to the tornadoes that day, they remained very "sedate" (for them) for over a week... They got worked some each day for the next week - but not much - they simply didn't have their "normal umpf"...
How they looked after they were done with that 1 row of disking (from the back of the field to the road, back to the back of the field then start again but then angle out)...
In a way, it was a bad idea to do what I did. It showed just "how little" the little guys could do (depending on how you looked at it). BUT I've also been to several events since 2010 where the "big guys" weren't in condition for the work they were doing and were "well used up" by the time the plow day or even a trail drive were over. It's a matter of conditioning and learning to read your single, team or hitch, so that they can do the work expected of them. It's not any different than riding and knowing when to increase both distance and difficulty when working your mount... AND we've been approached about putting our ponies together (Vicki's 2 and however many of mine as would work when they are trained) to do some of what the bigger hitches do with the gang plows. It could be interesting to see what happens when we actually use 3 or 4 ponies to make a 3 or 4 abreast hitch (I'm training ours this way now) OR 3 abreast, 3 abreast & 3 abreast (9 ponies) with a pulley system evener... Who knows - maybe someday we'll give something like that a try - but honestly - I don't see that happening since I certainly couldn't do it alone at home by myself... I can work with a 3 abreast by myself and really like working a pair. The general rule is as you increase the number of horses in your hitch, you need helpers to give you a hand, help with harness adjustments, head the horses or hook equipment while the driver holds/directs the horses. I've always been impressed with the teams that stand quietly while many people are "pouring over" all the adjustments needed to get them all hitched and working together!!
Yes, I have had to get longer lines to do groundwork from further away and I've also gotten extenders made for my 3 & 4 abreast lines. I don't yet have a 4 up hitch set of lines ... This set of pair lines (mini sized) are too short for ground driving properly with this set up. Had they gotten scared/spooked or even just "frisky", I would have had problems holding those lines. Most of my "home made" equipment - whether from rope or braided - is much longer (25' - 30' lines vs 18 - 20' lines).
Here is a pic of Vicki ground driving Eclipse with home made driving lines and a chain link drag - single. She's driving from behind the whole set up here, but could move to either side if needed or desired. Since this day - Vicki DOES not do nearly as much while ground driving and tells me I'm CRAZY for doing so. She will hook her pair up to the forecart and use the forecart to pull every thing from the disk shown above to the wagon to even trees/logs that need moving.
It's not a .jpg image, so I just posted the link...
https://picasaweb.google.com/103622225470430126127/EclipseAndKreature?noredirect=1#5753963756208984610
studiowvw
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Sep 27, 2010
- Messages
- 324
- Reaction score
- 69
Hey Paula, we learn as we go! Way better than sitting around with the minis in the field getting fat and lazy
I think longer reins are something that doesn't occur to us till we're scampering around trying not to get run over.
I like your double disk setup. Great pics all around.
I think a forecart for working garden, etc. may be the better way to go, except for the extra weight. Also, there's the need to be putting them to work every couple of days to keep them muscled up. This may not be doable in our modern lives, unless we're doing a market garden or something like that.
I think longer reins are something that doesn't occur to us till we're scampering around trying not to get run over.
I like your double disk setup. Great pics all around.
I think a forecart for working garden, etc. may be the better way to go, except for the extra weight. Also, there's the need to be putting them to work every couple of days to keep them muscled up. This may not be doable in our modern lives, unless we're doing a market garden or something like that.
Foxhaven
Well-Known Member
I heard yesterday that my cart is in Denver, but was not delivered to the vendor due to weather... MAN this is exciting. Turns out due to a miscommunication they have pinstriped not only the wheels (as requested) but the entire cart (no extra charge). Should be gorgeous. Ordered it in my dad's racing colors...
Last edited by a moderator:
Renolizzie
Well-Known Member
Of course, we will want photos.
Foxhaven
Well-Known Member
And of course I am beside myself anxious to take them! Legend will be in his winter PJs so the pix will be ... meh ... but I don't care.
The vendor will fit the cart to him, advise on harness adjustment, the whole nine yards. I've already learned a lot from him, he raised and drove Morgans for decades.
After introducing Legend to PVC pipes and seeing his reaction, I doubt he will have much of one! Once he gets used to the shafts, I will lead him around a bit and maybe see some neighborhood sights for his interest, and call it a good first day.
The vendor will fit the cart to him, advise on harness adjustment, the whole nine yards. I've already learned a lot from him, he raised and drove Morgans for decades.
After introducing Legend to PVC pipes and seeing his reaction, I doubt he will have much of one! Once he gets used to the shafts, I will lead him around a bit and maybe see some neighborhood sights for his interest, and call it a good first day.
paintponylvr
Well-Known Member
Can't wait to see your guy with your new cart - winter PJs and all!!And of course I am beside myself anxious to take them! Legend will be in his winter PJs so the pix will be ... meh ... but I don't care.:rofl
paintponylvr
Well-Known Member
minirocky -
I think your new harness looks great on your little guy. I'm thinking you need to do some adjustment on both the breeching (low??) and the breast collar (also a little low?)... but I'm not sure.
There are others on this forum that know lots more about the fit of the Comfyfit Harness, but I think you might want to start a different thread to get some pointers on the fit.
Can't wait to see you and him driving!
**********
I'm starting a new post on our event last nite...
**********
I think your new harness looks great on your little guy. I'm thinking you need to do some adjustment on both the breeching (low??) and the breast collar (also a little low?)... but I'm not sure.
There are others on this forum that know lots more about the fit of the Comfyfit Harness, but I think you might want to start a different thread to get some pointers on the fit.
Can't wait to see you and him driving!
**********
I'm starting a new post on our event last nite...
**********
Foxhaven
Well-Known Member
As promised... of course I didn't shoot all the pictures I hoped to, was a little busy fitting the cart to Legend!
The cart is DELIVERED!
I ordered the wheels pinstriped, and the cart in my dad's racing colors. Due to a miscommunication, they pinstriped the entire cart but at no extra charge. BONUS! I chose an oak dashboard.
Jack Bloss of Rocky Mountain Carriages spent HOURS fitting the cart to Legend, and even walking with me while I walked Legend pulling the cart. He did great. Unfortunately I DON'T have pictures of that.
I cannot WAIT to drive Legend in this. It will take real discipline to go slow. Especially since Legend had NO anxiety about the cart and handled both slowing down a grade, and leaning into the breastcollar perfectly to pull it up a hill. Really impressed Jack. Legend is a very unique horse.
The cart is DELIVERED!
I ordered the wheels pinstriped, and the cart in my dad's racing colors. Due to a miscommunication, they pinstriped the entire cart but at no extra charge. BONUS! I chose an oak dashboard.
Jack Bloss of Rocky Mountain Carriages spent HOURS fitting the cart to Legend, and even walking with me while I walked Legend pulling the cart. He did great. Unfortunately I DON'T have pictures of that.
I cannot WAIT to drive Legend in this. It will take real discipline to go slow. Especially since Legend had NO anxiety about the cart and handled both slowing down a grade, and leaning into the breastcollar perfectly to pull it up a hill. Really impressed Jack. Legend is a very unique horse.
Last edited by a moderator:
Foxhaven
Well-Known Member
Finally got a pic of Legend put to. First day ground driving with the cart. He did GREAT... he was so relaxed I even did some trotting on the flat and he was PERFECT. Still, I had Lise holding the lead rope (using a gullet strap on the bridle). Came in handy when he needed to turn and got a bit confused... so he stopped rather than panic. VERY good trait.
Sure looks different in his winter PJs. Lise looks great as usual...
Sure looks different in his winter PJs. Lise looks great as usual...
Renolizzie
Well-Known Member
Looking good!!!!!
Shari
Well-Known Member
Very sweet looking cart!!
paintponylvr
Well-Known Member
That is a beautiful cart.
Looks good with your Legend, too!
Looks good with your Legend, too!
Similar threads
