Hi LuLu!
I, too, am confused. What is a "vesatility rider"?
What type of driving do you want to do? Are the mini and the pony already trained to drive? OR are you starting completely from scratch? There are MANY helpful posts in the Mini Driving area on this forum - I've learned myself from them.
There's different ways of driving depending on what you want to do - harness and schooling/conditioning is different based on that. I currently have two different types of harness. One - my work harness as in FARM type that consists of different harness parts w/ a collar and hames. It does have a check rein but isn't meant to check the horse back but to keep him from reaching to far down (such as grazing). My other harness(s) is the pleasure type, breast collar. I could have check reins, but don't use them since once my ponies are started, we head out cross country. I don't want them checked when we are going up and down hill, through trees & rocks (huge boulder areas) and crossing water. With our current drought, we haven't had much water to cross in last two years, LOL. I haven't done any show driving and will be learning how to condition and train for that next as I'd like to bring out a couple in ASPC country pleasure driving. Will need to update harness and carts, for that as well.
I drive my ponies both with and without blinders (w/o is very controversial and isn't allowed in public/show venues). I've found that my ponies that I start w/o blinders are more solid and less fearful of the equipment overall. I've also had issues with fitting the blinders properly to my critters - even good quality mini or pony sized bridles don't always fit properly (eerrrg - I just have odd head shapes to my ponys' heads doncha kno??). Because I was having issues with finances when I wanted to get started, I made much of my harness for training and initial ground driving. It's worked great - and has held up well. The first harness I did is 1 1/2 years old now and is just starting to show serious wear (meaning it's time for me to replace several parts!).
I've found that just the schooling for driving will go a long ways to condition and slim a fat pony. It can also do a lot for your shape - both conditioning and weight wise, LOL (I'm currently trying to lose quite a bit of weight - a lb at a time). Unlike some folks in my area (who are supposed to be driving trainers), I spend time lounging and then grounddriving my ponies. That introduces them to the equipment and what is expected of them BEFORE hitching AND also gets you able to handle the lines. It takes a while to get the cooordination down, trust me! Until you and the pony know the basics and can get it smooth and together in a contained area - ground driving is ideal to prevent accidents and problems. Less confusion, no wrecks and able to prevent problems later due to fear. (ACTUALLY - my first harness was made in 1997 and I still use it for getting the youngsters started/familiar with pulling. The breast collar was made from a 22" string pony girth with the crown from an old halter riveted onto it to for the neck strap. The traces were made from military nylon, I live right outside Ft Bragg, Fayetteville, NC. Had no breeching/crupper then). My initial lines (worn out now) were a combo of cord (clothesline?) and
There are many books and videos out there. Some are very basic - starting with just harness types and parts along with how to harness the beastie. I also recommend getting together with someone that does the type of driving you are interested in. It helps a lot if they are the type of person who is able to teach you, the human. I actually used ground driving more than 20 years ago when we started our riding QH & Paints under saddle. They learned to stop, turn, whoa, sidepass and back up at 18 months of age - before a rider ever swung a leg over their backs. So I knew how to get started (though 15 years away from horses and getting older/out of shape affected my own handling of the ponies, LOL!!). If finances are an issue - with you or the owner - check out ebay for used driving books. Another source of info - ponydriving @ yahoo. (it's a group). There may be more than that one - that is the one that I'm a member of and it's been helpful as I've learned how to do some different things, learned more about harness parts and ways to hook differnt harness to the same cart (draft is differnt in a cart for pleasure harness vs draft harness). I also got to see pics/video of some of the wrecks that can occur when driving. It is very sobering and REALLY enforces that you learn the basics before hooking.
Have to run - problem w/ hubby's vehicle and hes' stranded. Check out some photos of us learning -
https://picasaweb.google.com/purplepaintpony - Stuffy, Bell, Bit, Bell Bit mare pair, Moss Foundation... Also to view the harness that I've made - go to braiding... That is "recycled" haystring from our round bales - done over the winter when I don't do as much outside since it's pitch black dark here once sun goes down at between 4/5.
Can't remember if I have a sig block w/ this forum yet... Paula Hoffman, LP Painted Ponys,
www.lppaintedponys.com Lillington, NC.
I'll be back. Keep in touch!
Also if anyone knows anything about driving attire that would also help.
