How to Start Driving?....Completely Clueless

[MyFriendFlicker]

I'd love to train Flicker to drive, just for pleasure. (I don't have a competitive bone in my body AND don't have a schedule that would accomodate showing.) I've driven pleasure (around farms and in parades) in the past, but only with horses that were previously trained.

I have no clue how to start training, what to buy, what books to read, anything! I've seen all the little easy entry carts and such, but they seem, um, useless. Ideally, I'd like to get a little, lightweight wagon that could be utilitarian around the ranch.

Flicker is trained to ride, and not just leadline, so maybe that's a helpful start.

I don't expect a play by play of how to train him to drive, but would love to how I get started. I'm lost.

Thanks, folks!!

 

[muffntuf]

Does Flicka lunge? NOw how to whoa? that's the start. Then lunge with bit and saddle (harness saddle), move up from there, work to lunging with both rein lines. Then I do about 6 weeks of ground driving, never less, sometimes more, depends on the horse. I round out by a few weeks of dummy driving, either with a home made dummy jokey or a cart I don't gets kicked to pieces. Finally an enclosed area with a few weeks of driving. Finally a friend that can walk beside me or drive beside for first few times out on the road.

NEVER RUSH, don't skip steps. DON"T harness to a cart a just go - you and horse will get hurt.

Always wear a helment and body armour if you have it. There are driving videos out on minitack.com by some reputable trainers. Or find a trainer in your area and work with them.

 

[Jill]

Read some books and watch some videos as a start. I've watched many driving horses trained and know that if you skip steps, or do things "wrong", it's way way harder later on to try and fix things than if you were able to do it right the first time. Whenever possible, I think it's ideal to find a good trainer and let them start the horse professionally.

Personally, I would get the horse used to the bit first, lunge in part of the harness, use an open bridle (NO blinders), ground drive, have the horse drag something other than the cart (poles), have a helper pull the cart beside in front of and behind the horse while I ground drive, work up to hooking the cart to the horse and ground drive to the side or behind the cart, work up to eventually getting in. It's not something that happens in just a couple of weeks. It's a long, steady process.

Specifically, one thing I think is important is the use of an open bridle until the horse is well trained and has put some miles in the cart. I feel many times when minis have been spooked and run off, etc., in the cart is because the horse never really had time to see and become comfortable with what they are pulling (and then when spooked -- "it" is chasing them and attached to them.)

I've trained one of my own horses and made mistakes not knowing better! I've learned a lot since then but probably don't know half of what a good trainer does. I've had many horses professionally trained to drive and am able to appreciate the difference between a job done well and one done by guesswork.

So many times on this board, I have read where someone's "trained" their horse to drive and it took a couple days, etc. Or they trained by leading the horse in a halter with the cart attached. Just some things that I personally think are BIG accidents waiting to happen. If you do have a real episode with a horse in the cart, you and the horse can be seriously injured and you may never be able to drive him again due to the mental aspect of what he/she experienced in the incident. Skipping steps or rushing just makes that so likely to happen eventually. It honestly would make me think twice (times 10x) before buying a "driving" mini from someone if I didn't KNOW how he/she was trained.

 

[muffntuf]

Jill,

Thank you, I also start in an open bridle. I don't have help, but I do drag the cart along side the horse when I am leading it so they get used to the noise of the cart. I also spend a good deal of time ground driving with a cart that I don't care that it gets kicked to pieces behind the horse.

the BIG THING - time - it takes time, patience, practice, good common sense and listening to those that have and do train on a regular basis.

 

[dangerranger]

You and I are at or near the same place. I have one mare thats very accepting of the harness and loves attn. shes safe around traffic, kids, etc. I think it will be very easy to get her started driving but have started taking driving lessons first on a trained horse as I need to be corect before I try and teach a horse . our mare Phebe could probably learn to hack around or do a few trails but I want to do more so Im waiting a little longer so that she and I can both work with a trainer . Id really like to try CDEs or ADTs. Good luck DR.

 

[muffntuf]

We are hoping next year at our show to offer ADT classes. I know there are a lot of pony people up this way starting to attend ADS events which have CDE's. The VSE classes are growing pretty fast for ADS. At a show we could probably only have the three driving type classes. Although I would like to try to figure out a CDE course for it, but if I remember correctly there has to be a water hazard. Most arenas won't allow you to dig up their base.

 

[mini1]

First let me say that I am in no way shape or form an expert on teaching a horse to pull a cart.

I have taught one gelding to pull a cart in my life and he was absolutely bomb-proof, kid broke and unflappable from the start. He was pulling me in the cart around the farm in 3 days BUT, that was a big mistake and a potentially dangerous one. I was impatient to drive him but I also completely trusted him, I was there at his conception, birth and showed him alot. I taught him at 2 years old and had been in the barn with him everyday of his life. I knew that horse extremely well. I know better now.

I agree with everything in the above posts. Start slow, don't skip any steps and make sure you don't rush anything.

I would start on the lunge line in harness, then ground drive in a round pen. I don't like to put a bit in their mouth and attach the reins right away. I attach the reins to the halter and teach them to give to pressure, once they are used to that, then I put the bit in the mouth but still reins on halter until they get used to the bit. Maybe that is being overly cautious but I don't like to give them to many new things at once. Just one of my personal quirks (I have alot of them, quirks that is).

Anyway, considering I know very little about teaching a horse to pull a cart, I think I have rambled on long enough.

Kelly

 

[hobbyhorse23]

We are hoping next year at our show to offer ADT classes. I know there are a lot of pony people up this way starting to attend ADS events which have CDE's. The VSE classes are growing pretty fast for ADS. At a show we could probably only have the three driving type classes. Although I would like to try to figure out a CDE course for it, but if I remember correctly there has to be a water hazard. Most arenas won't allow you to dig up their base.

That's great that you want to offer some ADS-style classes!

Just to clarify terms a little bit an ADT is an "Arena Driving Trial" which is a one-day version of a CDE or "Combined Driving Event." A CDE is a particular type of stand-alone competition, not a class offered at another ADS ("American Driving Society") event. I'm not sure what you mean by the three driving type classes as there are no classes in a CDE, only phases.

A CDE has three phases where you earn penalty points that are added into your final score, determining the winner. There's dressage, the marathon (which is that course I think you're thinking of), and cones. Cones is an easy one to set up in an arena as all you need is tennis balls and up to twenty sets of cones to put them on. For each competitor you measure the distance from the outside of one wheel at ground level to the outside of the other wheel at ground level and then add a predetermined amount of clearance, then set all the cone pairs that far apart. The goal is for the competitor to make it through the numbered cones without knocking off any of the tennis balls. The person with the fewest penalty points from knocking balls down or going too slow would win in that class. In a real CDE the cones phase doesn't have a winner, it just adds to your overall penalty score the for final win.

A water hazard is not required for marathon and certainly not for the Arena Driving Trial version of one. Besides, you wouldn't be holding sanctioned classes anyway so the rules don't really matter for you!

Do whatever sounds fun.

On the original topic, if you can't get a trainer to work with you and your horse then I would strongly recommend buying Clay Maier's long-lining and "Starting Your Driving Horse" DVD's http://www.claymaier.com/tutorials-drive.php and reading Heike Bean's "Carriage Driving: A Logical Approach through Dressage Training." I thoroughly approve of the common-sense and safety espoused in both approaches and both will take you from start to finish. Wagons are indeed more utilitarian around a farm but you may need a pair for that unless your mini is almost pony sized. Most minis aren't up to hauling a 4-wheeler up hills or holding it back going down one, especially if it's loaded. It's just too heavy!

While you are reading books or watching DVD's and getting ready to start, the best thing you can do is make sure your horse is used to just about anything scary you can think of and has a perfect "Whoa." Teach ground-tying to build patience and desensitize them to dogs, kids, waving trash bags, poles being dragged around them, sand-bags and tires on ropes, a plastic bag full of pop cans being clanked around their hind end, ropes all over their bodies and even under their tails and between their legs, everything! You absolutely cannot overly desensitize a driving horse.

Leia

 

[MiLo Minis]

For a green horse and a green driver I would strongly advise against starting out with a 4 wheel vehicle. Even if it is a cutunder it is just far too easy for it to go over with an inexperienced horse and driver. I would suggest you get a 2 wheel vehicle first to learn and train in - much safer. I would also suggest that you find an experienced driver to help both you and your horse learn to drive.

 

[MyFriendFlicker]

Hi All! Thank you so much for the wonderful and helpful replies!! I don't have much time for a big response, but wanted to quickly address some specific concerns/questions.

I'm slow and patient and insist everything be done correctly, so there won't be any rushing through things or skipping steps. Conversely, I have to work on not being too obsessive and slow.

We're working on lunge training right now. He's getting it and is obviously a smart boy, but man oh man...he is obstinate!!

Flicker's 36.5" and stout. Add to that southeast Texas land with not a hill or even tiny fluctuation in land to be seen, and I believe he can handle a light wagon. I'm very willing to learn with a cart, but will have to find a used one, I guess. Shelling out $400 for something I can't utilize just isn't in my budget. Any tips on where to find used carts? (Or links on how to make one? My husband is a craftsman and would probably love to tackle the project!)

 

[muffntuf]

Before buying a cart - use pvc poles - make a make shift dummy jockey. You can get poles that are just the right size to go in the tugs, then put a pole across those in the back of the horse so that he has the feel of the front of the cart and the space he has to work with.

I don't think you should start with a wagon - start with a cart, and one that is around $400, easy entry, is what I use to start horses out on. Not too much money and the worst I have had to replace is the shafts. I use Frontier Easy Entry, but I also bought a smaller easy entry at an auction - it was brand new and I got it for$375.

Put a want ad out on the board for a used easy entry cart.

 

[muffntuf]

Hobby Horse - Yes we are working right now to start adding other small equine breeds into a combined show with ADS - ADT classes. It is really hard to find an arena that also has the facilities to do the CDE classes. I am very excited about this, it will be a fantastic show!

 

[MyFriendFlicker]

I just was looking at minitack.com and the DVDs look awesome. However, I have no clue about which ones to get. In big horses, we do the natural horsemanship stuff, a la Chris Cox or Clinton Anderson. We do clicker training with our dog. So, something with positive reinforcement would be right up my alley.

I'm so excited and so overwhelmed.

 

[hobbyhorse23]

Hobby Horse - Yes we are working right now to start adding other small equine breeds into a combined show with ADS - ADT classes. It is really hard to find an arena that also has the facilities to do the CDE classes. I am very excited about this, it will be a fantastic show!

It's hard to find a place big enough to hold an entire marathon. It's not hard at all to do dressage or cones, those can easily be done in a regular arena. Pleasure Shows have classes you might be able to borrow the specs for that are very similar to CDE. CDE's themselves do not have classes.

I just was looking at minitack.com and the DVDs look awesome. However, I have no clue about which ones to get. In big horses, we do the natural horsemanship stuff, a la Chris Cox or Clinton Anderson. We do clicker training with our dog. So, something with positive reinforcement would be right up my alley.
I'm so excited and so overwhelmed.

Just attach clicker training to your standard "Starting the Driving Horse" kind of program. They integrate very well! After all, the goal is to keep the horse calm and happy and enjoying his work. If you're accomplishing that then you're doing fine.

Leia

 

[garyo]

We are learning to drive and have done a couple things to help us train our horse and get better at two that a friend has helped us train. We have books that we have purchased: Driving your horse from Gloria Austin Productions (we also took carriage driving lessons at the Florida Carriage Museum with big horses),Driving by Anne Norris & Caroline Douglas, Driving Do's and Don'ts by Sallie Walrond, Starting to Drive by Sallie Walrond, The Essential Guide to Carriage Driving by Robyn Caffey and Jaye-Allison Winkel, and Breaking and Training the Driving Horse by Doris Ganton. As we learn more I go back and reread them because some of the stuff just didn't mean anything the first or second time I read it. We used the last book and a friend who had exercised harness ponies up north to ground train our ten year old stallion. We have driven him attached to our easy entry cart without us in it and with us in it with a person still at his head with a lead rope. We have not free driven him yet. We also have the larry Parnell video from AMHR and the Patty Cloke series. I personally have found them very different and took a little from both.

The best thing we did was to go to Jennifer's (Hairicane Ranch) and drive her stallion who was wonderfully patient with us, then go to Keely's and drive. A very mellow gelding ended up coming home with us and he has patiently been our confidence builder. Now our mare who is much more lively is trained and driving beautifully thanks to Jen & Keely's guidance and help. Some of the lessons we have learned as we began training and driving were: Never do any of it alone (they get scared and can really hurt you), As others have said GO VERY SLOWLY and BE PATIENT, give them and yourself lots of reinforcement (All three of ours know they get to eat the rich grass in the yard after they drive), and ask lots of questions of other experienced driver (which you are already doing.)