hobbyhorse23
Well-Known Member
Hey all! I've enjoyed reading about your adventures with starting new horses and am quite excited that the time is finally drawing near for starting my own. Turbo is almost 2.5 (another month or two) and is finally growing into himself and beginning to look like a respectable prospect.
I know he wants badly to be a Big Boy Driving Horse and he's already been between the shafts and worn most of a harness at one time or another but I still plan to wait as he's quite a youngster mentally and I want him to be completely ready and eager for work. I think it will make a difference in the long run and I like my horses bold and confident.
Besides, there's a LOT more groundwork he and I can be doing between now and then and with that foundation by the time summer rolls around he'll probably be in the cart in a week or two. He did at least get a lot of exposure to new things this year and even brought home a Reserve Champion Stallion title at his last AMHR show in July. Yay, my first neck sash!
Kody got back in harness this summer and has been working lightly but it's pretty obvious his big heart is the only thing functioning 100%. He tires easily and is ouchy in the back but he's so happy to be driving again I don't have the heart to deny him. I'll start a gentle reconditioning program this fall and see if getting him out a few times a week for very light works with the Hyperbike helps him develop a bit more stamina without hurting him. My goal is eventually for him to be a leader in a tandem with Turbo as that would allow him to compete again without having to pull weight or deal with making turns into shafts, something which causes him to get tense and stiff through the back in anticipation of pain. I very much want to make a pair out of them but that depends entirely on how well Kody progresses. If he can't pull weight comfortably he can't, and that's an end to it. We'll see! At least he's doing what he loves again and that has made all the difference in his quality of life.
I recently took my first international vacation and was privileged to visit many forum members and driving folks in England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales. What a blast we had! There will hopefully be separate threads about the trip itself but suffice it to say I got to attend driving classes at an Irish Agricultural Fair, a just-for-fun HDT and a miniature horse show in England as well as visiting several vendors, breeders and competitors so got a very good look at how things are done over there with both minis and full-sized driving horses. Let me tell you- if you need a mini fly sheet, don't buy one from the U.S.! The UK ones are miles above our current designs. We got to look at blankets, bits, rollers (lunging surcingles), quarter sheets, sport boots and brushing boots, artwork, mini saddles, carts, just about everything you could imagine. It was so much fun! And I finally completed my inventory of hitches by driving a four-in-hand of minis as well.
Now totally broke but happy, I return home and settle in peacefully for the slide into the off season. If Turbo is ground-driving by the holidays I have ideas for the cutest Christmas pair turnout you can imagine thanks to my British friends and may just have to find a parade to enter them in so I can show it off. I promise pictures if it happens!
Hope all is well for my LB friends and I look forward to hearing about Nationals, Walnut Hill, the Happ's VSE DT-T and any other adventures ya'll may feel like sharing.
Here's to horses!
Leia
Kody got back in harness this summer and has been working lightly but it's pretty obvious his big heart is the only thing functioning 100%. He tires easily and is ouchy in the back but he's so happy to be driving again I don't have the heart to deny him. I'll start a gentle reconditioning program this fall and see if getting him out a few times a week for very light works with the Hyperbike helps him develop a bit more stamina without hurting him. My goal is eventually for him to be a leader in a tandem with Turbo as that would allow him to compete again without having to pull weight or deal with making turns into shafts, something which causes him to get tense and stiff through the back in anticipation of pain. I very much want to make a pair out of them but that depends entirely on how well Kody progresses. If he can't pull weight comfortably he can't, and that's an end to it. We'll see! At least he's doing what he loves again and that has made all the difference in his quality of life.
I recently took my first international vacation and was privileged to visit many forum members and driving folks in England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales. What a blast we had! There will hopefully be separate threads about the trip itself but suffice it to say I got to attend driving classes at an Irish Agricultural Fair, a just-for-fun HDT and a miniature horse show in England as well as visiting several vendors, breeders and competitors so got a very good look at how things are done over there with both minis and full-sized driving horses. Let me tell you- if you need a mini fly sheet, don't buy one from the U.S.! The UK ones are miles above our current designs. We got to look at blankets, bits, rollers (lunging surcingles), quarter sheets, sport boots and brushing boots, artwork, mini saddles, carts, just about everything you could imagine. It was so much fun! And I finally completed my inventory of hitches by driving a four-in-hand of minis as well.
Now totally broke but happy, I return home and settle in peacefully for the slide into the off season. If Turbo is ground-driving by the holidays I have ideas for the cutest Christmas pair turnout you can imagine thanks to my British friends and may just have to find a parade to enter them in so I can show it off. I promise pictures if it happens!
Hope all is well for my LB friends and I look forward to hearing about Nationals, Walnut Hill, the Happ's VSE DT-T and any other adventures ya'll may feel like sharing.
Here's to horses!
Leia
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