Had our first accident during my driving lesson today

[shorthorsemom]

Thought I would share my driving accident I had today with my boy today with all you driving folks. I still consider myself a newbie and still have a trainer working with me when I drive. Today, I tacked my boy up, everything was checked by my trainer and we were warming up in the ring. Helmet on, gloves on, whip in hand, my boy was feeling great and driving nicely with excellent attitude.

He got a little frisky for just a second and threw in a minor buck. It didn't seem like much of a buck, but he got his leg over the shaft in that one second and things got a bit nerve wracking from there. Leg over the shaft and he really got in a few more bucks and all you-know-what started to unfold right before my eyes. He was coming unglued very quickly.

I am sooooo glad my trainer was there with a level head and she directed me as to what I was to do. Hard to explain the moment by moment replay, it still seems like a blur now writing about it later...

My boy was very upset, he broke the tug and the shaft shifted and he was trying to turn out of the cart trying to kick it and trying to run away all at the same time...he began to whip us into a circle. I got his head up with the reins while my trainer ran and controlled his head , she had me exit quickly and get on his other side and she says "hold him and talk to him. He was still scared, but he was listening to us too once I got to his head.

It was in this moment as we quickly got him unhitched... I saw why she has me hook the britching up a specific way.. The buckle was on the outside, one quick pull and the britching was unhooked. The buckle in traces were easier to unhook from the breast collar than to try to get to the back of the cart to unhook from there. We got his leg back, the shaft had swung out of position. We calmed him down and my trainer immediately started ground driving him. It took some time to get him calm, working and listening. He was still scared of the cart, so we went back to cart training basics. We ended on a good note, and we plan to go back tomorrow and do some more work, we ran out of daylight today and wanted to end on a successful note.

My lesson learned today... So glad my first "incident" was with my level headed experienced trainer there to help me through the fix. Second lesson, I was in no way prepared to handle this by myself, so I am so glad I am still getting instruction and driving with supervision.

After it was all over my trainer told me a story and said that last week when she was driving her experienced biggie horse on the road, down the road comes three kids on skateboards. They met up with my trainer and her navigator on a narrow bridge. One kid jumped off his skateboard and it continued on the road and ran right under her carriage horse, the other kid fell off his skateboard and the kid went under the horses feet and caused him to rear straight up and the third kid veered off the road.

Blink of an eye, her horse took off down the road running. She kept a level head, and she was able to calm him down and get his brain back in sane mode very quickly, but you can imagine how fast it could have gone all wrong.

Anyway,.. I am no writer, but I wanted to share my experience with all of you tonight. Best wishes and happy driving.

Adair

PS, you wouldn't believe how fast we got him calmed, unhitched and things back in control. I tip my hat to my most excellent trainer and her huge amount of experience and how much she taught me today on how to stay calm... move fast and regain control. cool beans. thanks Lori

 

[shelterwood]

Adair,

What a test for you all! Seems like you passed with flying colors. I have yet to have a horse buck in harness, but my older mare bucked once while long lining and got tangled up in the lines. It's amazing how quickly things can go wrong. I really appreciate the morals of your story: 1.) have experienced help nearby, 2.) stay calm and move quickly, and 3.) put them right back to work in a positive way. Thanks for pointing out those tips for those of us who lack the benefit of a good trainer nearby. I hope your attempts at hitching him again go smoothly!! Keep us posted...

Katie

 

[susanne]

.

I give BOTH you and your trainer kudos for coolheadedness.

This brings up a very important point: When things go wrong, they go wrong FAST and they can go wrong BIG. Even an experienced, quiet horse can get stung by a bee or have something else happen that freaks them out -- after all, they ARE horses.

Everyone needs to think about what they would do inan emergency and have a plan. Just like having a fire escape plan for your home and practicing, your chances of a positive outcome are much better if you have a plan.

If ther is someone around, do they know what to do? Or, if they are not able to help (i.e., a child), do they know to stay away?

Do you have a knife on your person to free your horse if necessary? Having one in a spares kit wouldn't help much in an emergency.

How would you get out of your cart on the fly? Have you practiced (safely, of course)?

Have you accustomed your horse to things going under his tail, like lines (you can practice use your whip)?

Wherever you are driving, have you checked out your escape routes or where you could go if your horse bolts?

Have you worked with your horse outside of his comfort zone so that he trusts you in a scary situation? He may still not listen when upset, but the odds are better if he looks to you for reassurance.

Don't be paranoid, but be prepared.

 

[Miss Gracie]

Glad you're okay...I know first hand how scary it can be. A couple of years ago my girl bucked and got her leg over the shaft and I was thown from the cart. Since my yard is completely fenced in she wasn't able to get out into the road. Miss Gracie stopped and waited for me to lift her leg back where it belonged. Since she wasn't too upset I ground drove her for a short period afterwards. Since then I have used a bucking strap on her.

 

[shorthorsemom]

Glad you're okay...I know first hand how scary it can be. A couple of years ago my girl bucked and got her leg over the shaft and I was thown from the cart. Since my yard is completely fenced in she wasn't able to get out into the road. Miss Gracie stopped and waited for me to lift her leg back where it belonged. Since she wasn't too upset I ground drove her for a short period afterwards. Since then I have used a bucking strap on her.

What is ironic is that I had a bucking strap for my boy for his old harness and old cart. It was too short for my aerocrown. I had the harness maker make me a longer bucking strap but didn't get it picked up right away. My trainer and I decided not to use it right away after I picked it up last fall, because he had not bucked in harness for me yet, but in the back of my mind I kept thinking it might be something to consider using again because my boys former owner mentioned that he would throw in a buck every now and again when he was feeling fresh. New bucking strap is now installed for when we get going again. Anybody with an aerocrown and using a bucking strap out there that can explain how you do your wraps??

Anyway, it was nice that I had two sets of harness so I can get my one set repaired while I work with my boy to move past this incident. My tug tore off at the strap where it attaches to the saddle. Should be easy to get fixed, but the harness is not useable at all.

I was grateful for the design of my aerocrown for a quick exit and for the supportive seat that allowed me to stay in place initially. I don't think I could have gotten out of the meadowbrook that easily, but then again, he wouldn't have gotten a leg over the shaft that easily either. Interesting what all goes through your mind following what I would call a "close call". We practice lines around the legs, and do alot of spook training. My boy and I have a good relationship and he was glad when I got to his head, but he was very grouchy about the cart and let me know it too.

Best wishes everybody and thanks for posting

Adair

 

[drivin*me*buggy]

Gosh Adair, I am so glad you all are ok. Scary stuff and it sure can happen fast. Please use the kicking strap from now on

Mine is a pony sized one from Iowa Valley that I use with the Aerocrown. It is a little long but my mini one was too short for that cart, so I take an extra wrap. I wrap behind, in front and behind again and feed it thru the loop at the last wrap to kind of 'lock' it. The beta is kinda boingy so I fiddle with it a bit to keep it how I want it. Ideally I'd prefer leather but this will work- esp once it ages a bit. I haven't had a prob with it sliding. Hope this helps and good luck.

Pix on this post.

wish pix

Angie

 

[Marsha Cassada]

Sounds like your boy has a very good mind.

I've been driving for 8+ years, and I am wondering how I would have dealt with the situation if, like you, I was in the driver's seat.

Glad it all turned out safely for people and horse!

 

[shorthorsemom]

Sounds like your boy has a very good mind.

I've been driving for 8+ years, and I am wondering how I would have dealt with the situation if, like you, I was in the driver's seat.

Glad it all turned out safely for people and horse!

He has a smart mind but he can sure whip up some tude on occasion. We dodged teeth a time or two during the episode, but once we got him unhooked and line driving he lost the tude and he started making happy noises ... I am positive that my fast thinking instructor was the only thing that stopped the acceleration of the event too. I admit to having a "what the heck??" moment before she started barking out orders telling me exactly what to do and in what order. I guess I just figured he would pull his leg back over. duh, riding horse mentality there... I also am grateful that my trainer was on the other side of his head, because even though he was glad mom was there, he still wanted to "kill the cart" and I would have had trouble holding on by myself. She works with biggies and she is very strong. She said something like "imagine the same thing with a 16 hand warm blood freaking out on you... LOL, she is soooo cool under fire. She has so many more years of experience and I am so glad to have her helping me. I am very grateful it turned out ok. Gate was open on the training pen and we were making one last pass before we went out on the trail. He wanted to go out the gate and when I turned him, that is when he tossed in the buck. I still have lots to learn, this really drove that point home. Thinking back I am pretty sure I didn't have enough contact on my outside rein either as I went past the gate. I have been getting better at that, but thinking back, it could have been the key to the start of everything.

Angie, thanks for the photos of your rig with strap in place. I won't be driving without that kicking strap any more. Another tip would be that the breast collar with the buckle in traces came in very handy. We were able to reach back and undo the britching while holding the reins, but I don't think we could have un-done the traces easily while he was jumping around if we did not have the buckle in option in the front that was so easy to reach while controlling his head.,.

Adair

 

[MiLo Minis]

I am so glad this all worked out well in the end and no human or equine got injured. It just goes to prove that the single most important thing to do in this type of emergency is to remain calm. Your attitude will reflect in your horse so if you remain calm he will settle much more quickly. I would suggest that you get this horse back in the shafts and driving again ASAP even though you did some work with him afterwards - keep it going! If you can't borrow a harness until yours is repaired then longline him while someone handwalks the cart behind him. That was actually a really great lesson for you - you learned a ton about how to react to an incident and no one got hurt during it - how could it get any better?

 

[shorthorsemom]

yep.. we did some hand walking of the cart behind him that same day and she is supposed to come back late this afternoon and do some more work. I didn't have help yesterday, but if she can't come today, I will be doing some hand walking in harness and focusing only on things I know that I can handle by myself. I do have a second set of harness... good thing. I thought about selling it, glad I didn't. Will keep you all posted on our recovery and how things are going.

thanks for all the nice comments and support guys...

very glad here nobody got hurt.

 

[shorthorsemom]

Got my boy out today...hitched and had him driving in the ring today (gate shut this time). I was well supervised by my trainer and she brought in an extra strong friend "just in case" we had a problem, lucky for us, the friend just got to watch..... we hitched up just like nothing had ever happened, same order, same everything like we do every time I have a lesson. I got in and drove, my trainer walked along side, we kept his halter on over his bridle and she had a lead rope attached, but let me do all the guiding.., we kept at a walk but did changes of direction and some big circles, ended on a good note with my boy making happy sounds. We quit while we were ahead and plan to repeat very soon. My new bucking strap was used and luckily we didn't need it. I was proud of my boy, he was sane, listening and working well. We will start back slow and keep it positive. We had a moment when the outside cat rushed out of the bushes and went right under my boys feet, he startled slightly, recovered and was fine. AWESOME test. Stupid cat... LOL. This has been an excellent training experience for me, so glad to be well supervised and supported during the recovery. Thanks Lori

 

[hobbyhorse23]

I'm very glad no one was hurt and want to apologize for not responding sooner, Adair. As you've probably noticed I'm not frequenting the forum much anymore.

Two quick comments below, and please forgive the brevity. I've been up all night and need to go to sleep!

It was in this moment as we quickly got him unhitched... I saw why she has me hook the britching up a specific way.. The buckle was on the outside, one quick pull and the britching was unhooked. The buckle in traces were easier to unhook from the breast collar than to try to get to the back of the cart to unhook from there.

The even faster way to get the breeching off is simply to undo the backstrap. If you've taught your horse to accept the crupper being pulled down his dock without fuss you can undo that one buckle and the entire rear assembly falls away easily. This is particularly important if the horse has gone down and may be laying on one buckle! You are also very lucky that you had no trouble with the buckle-in traces as I had a heck of a time trying to get mine undone when I had that accident with the mini mare at the Kentucky Horse Park in 2009. Like you, the horse was lunging forward with all her strength in a total panic and I couldn't get to the singletree as the entire cart was stuck between two trees she'd tried to run through and buried in brush to boot. One wrist and the opposite shoulder were non-functional due to injuries I'd sustained so there was no way I could pull on the traces hard enough to release the buckles with her lunging like that. Thankfully a rider who was with us left her horse in the care of another driver and was able to force the mare to back up and give me some slack and adrenaline got me through the very painful task of releasing one trace but I had to unbuckle the neckstrap and martingale on the same side and let the whole assembly drop around her feet as there was no way I could get the other one undone. Quick release snap shackles in the rear do you no good in a situation where you can't reach them and I vowed I'd get quick release traces (same style as quick release tugs) up front in my next harness but unfortunately they aren't being offered in mini size at this time.

I'm glad you were luckier than I was!

What is ironic is that I had a bucking strap for my boy for his old harness and old cart. It was too short for my aerocrown. I had the harness maker make me a longer bucking strap but didn't get it picked up right away. My trainer and I decided not to use it right away after I picked it up last fall, because he had not bucked in harness for me yet....

According to the books and articles I've read, that's the most important time to use it! Once they've hit it and know it's there they often won't try again, but it does you no good if the horse has never gotten the lesson by hitting the strap at least once.

Again, glad all ended well and he is back in the cart.

Leia

 

[shorthorsemom]

I'm very glad no one was hurt and want to apologize for not responding sooner, Adair. As you've probably noticed I'm not frequenting the forum much anymore.

Two quick comments below, and please forgive the brevity. I've been up all night and need to go to sleep!

The even faster way to get the breeching off is simply to undo the backstrap. If you've taught your horse to accept the crupper being pulled down his dock without fuss you can undo that one buckle and the entire rear assembly falls away easily. This is particularly important if the horse has gone down and may be laying on one buckle! You are also very lucky that you had no trouble with the buckle-in traces as I had a heck of a time trying to get mine undone when I had that accident with the mini mare at the Kentucky Horse Park in 2009. Like you, the horse was lunging forward with all her strength in a total panic and I couldn't get to the singletree as the entire cart was stuck between two trees she'd tried to run through and buried in brush to boot. One wrist and the opposite shoulder were non-functional due to injuries I'd sustained so there was no way I could pull on the traces hard enough to release the buckles with her lunging like that. Thankfully a rider who was with us left her horse in the care of another driver and was able to force the mare to back up and give me some slack and adrenaline got me through the very painful task of releasing one trace but I had to unbuckle the neckstrap and martingale on the same side and let the whole assembly drop around her feet as there was no way I could get the other one undone. Quick release snap shackles in the rear do you no good in a situation where you can't reach them and I vowed I'd get quick release traces (same style as quick release tugs) up front in my next harness but unfortunately they aren't being offered in mini size at this time.

I'm glad you were luckier than I was!

According to the books and articles I've read, that's the most important time to use it! Once they've hit it and know it's there they often won't try again, but it does you no good if the horse has never gotten the lesson by hitting the strap at least once.

Again, glad all ended well and he is back in the cart.

Leia

Thanks Leia, missed your postings! So glad you wrote, I have learned much from you and was missing hearing from you. I haven't been posting much lately either. I lost my job on my birthday (December 30th) after 32 years of service. (I actually lost my job a year ago, but they found me a temporary position so that I could qualify for retirement.) Anyway, I find myself much busier since I lost my job helping my husband on the farm. I have been working a very long day and I am using muscles I haven't used for years and admit to keeling over in exhaustion every night but with a smile on my face. Farming doesn't pay much but it sure has its benefits. I have only driven a couple of times since I wrecked that day, because my trainer hasn't been able to come out to work with us for a couple of weeks and she and I both agree that I need supervision to avoid a repeat.

I haven't taken my harness for repair yet and I haven't even cleaned the leather on anything..

Oh well, my life sure has changed these last few weeks.

Thanks to all of you for posting

I will let you know when I get back to a regular schedule in my driving again.

 

[hobbyhorse23]

I lost my job on my birthday (December 30th) after 32 years of service. (I actually lost my job a year ago, but they found me a temporary position so that I could qualify for retirement.) Anyway, I find myself much busier since I lost my job helping my husband on the farm. I have been working a very long day and I am using muscles I haven't used for years and admit to keeling over in exhaustion every night but with a smile on my face. Farming doesn't pay much but it sure has its benefits. ... Oh well, my life sure has changed these last few weeks.

Boy can I sympathize with that!!

I lost my position of over six years on December 31st due to layoffs and since then have been busy catching up on things I'd been putting off, traveling unexpectedly, then spent the last two or three weeks cleaning up debris from the major snowstorm that hit here while I was in Hawaii (I know, poor me, right?

) It feels good after that long at a desk job to get back to doing hard physical work, but it's also a bummer to be clearing tree limbs and fixing fence day after day instead of working the kids in this rare sunshine we've been having. I found a horse to ride a couple times a week and have been so excited over getting back to my first love that I admit I've lost most of the little motivation I had for ground-driving my own kids.

It doesn't seem like fun anymore! Riding is so much more immediate and sensual, and so much less work to get tacked up for....

I was good today though and started serious harness lessons with Turbo again. Glad I did as it was a much-needed reminder of how far he still has to go. Time to get crackin' if I want him ready to show in a few months! I love my boys and would never part with them (well, not with Kody anyway and Turbo stays to keep him company!

) so no fear that I'll completely stop driving. I just need to move somewhere where driving is actually, you know, fun. Instead of being stuck on the same dangerous and boring city block for every single drive.

Leia