How to Harness your horse alone

[Jill]

I'm sure you're getting the advice you wanted.

One thing that initially made me want to get a mini of my own, way back when, was when I saw how much easier / faster it was to tack up a mini to drive than it was to tack up my big horse to drive... better view while driving, too

 

[susanne]

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Aw, Jill...you mean you don't enjoy looking at the north end of a south-bound horse?

 

[shorthorsemom]

As far as I know, the magic comes from the bell being gifted to you, the person. (I would consider them having left it on the cart to be a "gift.") Which of your carts you put it on should be up to you!

Leia

Cool, I agree. And it was gifted to me. She pointed it out told me it was a gift and that it had magic and I should leave it on. I think my new cart needs some magic too. wink...

Adair

 

[shorthorsemom]

I used to pray every time I rode my arab (don't think bells would have helped much there)

Regarding taking the horse(s) to the cart - that is the way I learned how to do it decades ago, and when on a wagon train ride a few years ago, the teamsters mostly drove their teams to the poles, stepped over and backed up as necessary - of course for the most part they were not hitching alone.

I've hitched Lacey twice now here alone, and although I am still fumbling around a bit, she has been really great to stand as Lori taught her.

After I get in the cart I sit there for a few minutes and talk to her before we get going (no dashing off around here!)

My trainer's name is Lori too! Good stands and no dashing off for us either

 

[rabbitsfizz]

I'll add my two penn'orth as I was born in the days when horses were still worked, as opposed to being driven for fun!

The cart comes to the horse, that was the rule. BUT you have to understand that some things just are not possible all the time, or practical, so I always teach my horses to stand and to back into shafts- so they will if they have to. Practically it is quite possible to bring a Mini cart to the horse, and I prefer to do this, but it was not always practical to do so with the larger animals I have harness trained.

The bridle, if you use blinkers, ALWAYS goes on first and comes off last- this is an important safety issue, and cannot be ignored. A friend of mine, who has always known better, just had a mind freeze one day when he was untacking and talking to another, very illustrious, driving friend. He pulled up next to Georges lorry and just took the bridle off as he had a halter on underneath and, as I said, mind freeze! It was nearly terminal as the horse had never been worked in an open bridle. Luckily for him George Bowman launched himself from the lorry seat and wrapped himself round the horses head, cutting off it's vision of the cart behind whilst bringing serious and very loud doubts about my friends parents marital status down around his ears.

Managed to get the closed bridle back on very quickly. Never did that again.

So, bridle on first off last!

I do not use blinkers and this is one of the reasons.

You do not tie up a horse that is hitched, therefore you do not tie up a horse that is being put to the cart. Ever.

If a horse needs to be secured then it needs to go back to ground training and it needs to be taught basic ground rules again.

Tyeing up a hitched (not just harnessed, that is OK) horse is SO dangerous on SO many levels I cannot even begin to explain.

When horses were being worked the carts had brakes and the brake was applied and then the horse was either hitched to one of those weight things or, more often, just had a feed bag shoved on so was happy to stand. That last one is the one I was taught and it works well for me when I have to get a horse to stand for a few minutes.

The point is there was no time when a horse was tied facing a rail or post or trailer side- they were always tied in line with the way they were going- does that make sense?- so the idea of tying in cross reins in a wide aisle is the least dangerous method of tying. If you absolutely have to tie to put to then I suggest you get two wide spaced (they have to be able to let the cart through) posts put up.

The idea of tying a green horse facing a rail or a wall and then asking it to back the cart up fills me with absolute horror- just asking for trouble and should be avoided.

Misty is now just gone three years old, he is about as green as you can get and a lot friskier than Bertie ever was. He has been put to the breaking cart twice now and both times stood whilst I fussed and fiddled, making sure everything was in the right place. He was not tied, I do not believe I have ever tied a hitched horse, except once with Bert, who was very quiet, in order to take pictures.

I have always done all this on my own, so it can be done.

Safety FIRST, fun second, is not a bad adage.

 

[chandab]

Regarding taking the horse(s) to the cart - that is the way I learned how to do it decades ago, and when on a wagon train ride a few years ago, the teamsters mostly drove their teams to the poles, stepped over and backed up as necessary - of course for the most part they were not hitching alone.

My FIL, now about 75 (or is it 76) years old, still trains and drives draft pairs; he always takes the team to the wagon to hitch and usually works alone. He still wagon trains every year, he's usually the wagon boss of the local train, and participates in several area trains yearly. He has stepped down from Percherons to Fjords; he has a pair of black Percherons, 4 Fjords (drive in pairs or 4 in-hand) and of course a couple saddle horses. And, he trained the mini gelding I have; although the little begger got sick before I had a chance to drive him, so he'll need a major refresher.

 

[rabbitsfizz]

With a team you obviously have to take the horses to the carriage as a four wheeler is hard to shove around! That's a pole anyway, and a different ballgame completely.

With shafts the "rule" is that the cart comes to the horse, but I still think it makes sense to teach the horse for every eventuality.

So long as it does not involve tying the horse up, I am OK with it!