New Pair Pictures

[keely2682]

my boys' first time hooked up together

 

[MINI REASONS]

Great picture !!! That looks like so much fun. I love your little wagon too.

 

[Knottymare]

That just looks like the best; nice team, cute cart, beautiful location and a lovely day!

 

[TheCaseFamily00]

Looks like you had a great time,thanks for sharing.

 

[lucky seven]

Thanks for sharing, nice to see grass again.

 

[Marsha Cassada]

Wow! What a nice presentation you all make. They seem to be going nicely together.

 

[jegray21]

So cool!

 

[hobbyhorse23]

They're adorable, Keely! Harness adjustment looks pretty good from what I can see and I DEFINITELY want to try that carriage out for my boys at Nationals in 2012. Looks like it would be great for their size and you said the weight was right-on for a smaller pair too. Do you still have the shorter pole I think you said it came with?

I kept staring at those reins as something seemed wrong there. It's hard to tell exactly how you have them run but in the second photo it appears you have the coupling rein through the opposite horse's neck terret? My understanding is that if they run through any neck terret at all it should be through the horse whose bit it is attached to to ensure that the pull is more backwards than lateral. The way you have it looks complicated and the reins seem to come up the middle between the horses instead of along the outside of each horse as they should.

I would also lock down the evener bar the singletrees are on as your pair is green and eveners can cause problems when the pair first starts forward. It looks like it's permanently canted so the lefthand horse is forward and if that's not a visual illusion it needs to be fixed.

The two boys themselves look awesome though and I can't wait to see them really going! What a high it must have been to finally hitch them together.

Leia

 

[Blackwater Farm]

I LOVE that last photo! Beautifully in step! Isnt it wonderful to live in the south? Love the weather we have been having!

 

[keely2682]

I kept staring at those reins as something seemed wrong there. It's hard to tell exactly how you have them run but in the second photo it appears you have the coupling rein through the opposite horse's neck terret? My understanding is that if they run through any neck terret at all it should be through the horse whose bit it is attached to to ensure that the pull is more backwards than lateral. The way you have it looks complicated and the reins seem to come up the middle between the horses instead of along the outside of each horse as they should.

Sometimes while training I have been using a joiner ring on the inside rein on both horses between the bit and the terret. In the picture you are looking at, one horse is pulling harder on me so the reins are shifted. Also the reins are close together because I am holding them in one hand and tsking a picture with the other

I can post a picture of this ring.

I would also lock down the evener bar the singletrees are on as your pair is green and eveners can cause problems when the pair first starts forward. It looks like it's permanently canted so the lefthand horse is forward and if that's not a visual illusion it needs to be fixed.

good idea. i should have done that to start with. i've found that the bar usually evens out when i get the boys pulling together. I often have to push Cali up and hold Lightening back. They should get better.

I'm surprized that you didn't notice Lightening's breeching tied to the team pole in the first picture. In spite of years as a driving horse, he feels that i hooked him to a scarey, horse-eating pole. I had him tied to it temporarily to keep him straight. He seems to have gotten over the problem now at least.

Any other critiques?

I'm really unsure of what I'm doing on this. The first time I have ever driven a team was Saturday with my boys who don't know what they are doing either.

I have seem some teams drive with a bar in front of them perpendicular to the team pole. What is this? does it help? Should I have 1?

I am also not sure how to keep the slack out of the traces when stopping. I am assuming part of my problem is the light harness and side holdbacks on my breeching. Does anyone have an idea of how to fix this?

 

[Make A Wish Miniatures]

Keely,your boys look great. I guess we will see you at Nationals this year.!

 

[Al B]

What Leia is saying is that both the draft rein and the crossover rein should go thru the terrets on the same saddle. Then the crossover rein goes over to the other horse. You should use a rein ring and remember to place it perpendicular to the horses. It's tradition.

 

[keely2682]

Al, do you have a picture or illustration?

 

[Al B]

Check out some of these pictures and you should be able to see it.

Pair webpage

Click on pairs+photos.

You do have a nice looking pair. Now you need 2 more.

 

[dancer31501]

Keely,

Here are some pic i hope they help you with the reins. I also have a lot of pair pictures on my facebook Amanda Cervini.

Not sure you can see it here there may be too many reins

Hope that helps you and i do really like your pair!!!

 

[Peggy Porter]

Check out some of these pictures and you should be able to see it.

Pair webpage

Click on pairs+photos.

Al- THANK YOU!!!! I can't tell you how many times I have been to driving pairs and not seen the pairs + photos designation (only looked at the top banner pages, I guess!) There are some really helpful photos there!! The rein ring is visible in several photos, and I can definitely see the benefit of having it. I have a mismatched pair of VSEs (two inches size difference, as well as body type difference, and color difference) that I am hoping to get hitched together this year; both have driven extensively single. The few times I have ground driven them together, they seem to adjust to each other strides very well, so I have hope that we can have FUN together. I will be referring back to these photos a lot, I am sure!

 

[MiLo Minis]

It looks to me like what you have done is run the inside coupling reins through the same horses terret and then buckled to the long outside rein on the opposite horse. The coupling reins would ordinarily be run through a coupling ring before the terrets or between the horses necks and then through the inside terret on the opposite horse and buckle onto the long outside rein. The way you have done it helps somewhat with the sideways pull that a horse isn't really used to but could account for why your left hand horse is pulling away from the pole or poling off because it is shortening his inside rein too much or exerting more pressure than you realize due to the pulley effect of going through his own terret. Please excuse my funky horses, it's just a quick sketch

PS Your boys look great together and I think you have a nice team coming!

 

[hobbyhorse23]

I tried to reply to this twice on Thursday but the computer kept eating my reply.

So frustrating!

What Leia is saying is that both the draft rein and the crossover rein should go thru the terrets on the same saddle. Then the crossover rein goes over to the other horse.

Lori gave you an excellent diagram of pair reins.

When harnessing up you'll run the draught rein (the outside one) through the outside saddle terret, the neck terret if you have one, then down to the bit. The coupling rein should be run through the inside saddle terret, possibly through the inside neck terret, and then hung off the throatlatch or cavesson until hitching. I still need to discuss the issue with more experienced pair drivers and see if we need to use the inside neck terret with minis. With big horses it can take up some of that "slop" from miles of rein up there but it's such a short distance with minis I'm not sure it's necessary. It also might put more of a lateral pull on the other horse's bit than necessary whereas running it straight back to the saddle terret would spare some of the leverage effects and make the pull more rearward.

Anyway, once both horses are harnessed and have their reins secured this way, lead them to the pole and buckle each coupling rein to the other horse's inside bit ring. You can use a coupling ring at this point and it helps keep the reins from getting caught on the pole end and such but I know some people who drive without them. I've never discussed it with those drivers but I assume they simply never felt the need to add it. That's another thing I need to learn more about but with your bigger horses it might be a nice addition as they've got more loose rein up there.

So it's reins, pole strap, outside trace, inside trace...hitched. Voila! With a single horse it takes much longer to hitch than to harness usually between wrap straps, breeching holdbacks, kick straps, traces, etc. but with a pair most of your time is spent harnessing the two horses. Once you're at the carriage it should be a fast buckle, buckle, snap-snap-snap-snap-snap-snap and you're done. Yay, pairs! That's good as with two horses there's twice the chance that somebody will act up so even with a header (which you really should have anytime you're working with multiples) the faster you can put them to and get on the carriage, the safer you are.

Remember- "Control before Power." Get those reins done up before hitching them to the carriage! Then the pole straps so they can steer and stop the carriage if they bolt, then the outside trace so they can't swing away from the pole, then the inside trace. There's a reason for everything in pair driving, just as there is for singles.

Any other critiques?I'm really unsure of what I'm doing on this. The first time I have ever driven a team was Saturday with my boys who don't know what they are doing either.

I'd be doing some more reading if for some reason you can't get your hands on an experienced carriage driving instructor for starting the boys. I've read everything I can get my hands on (which believe me is a LOT

), attended at least three in-depth "Harnessing Multiples" clinics over the years, driven a few borrowed pairs, taken lessons with pairs, and still had about a zillion questions the first time I was faced with putting one together myself. I can't imagine how much I'm going to learn I don't know when starting my own!

Heike Bean's "Carriage Driving: A Logical Approach through Dressage Training" has a good chapter on pairs that answers some of your questions on equipment. Sallie Walrond is another good one to read, as is Max Pape's "The Art of Driving" and the british picture guide "Putting to a Pair." I'd also read the "Pair Driving 101-104" articles by Hardy Zantke on the Driving Pairs website.

I've found that the bar usually evens out when i get the boys pulling together. I often have to push Cali up and hold Lightening back. They should get better.

I'd focus on encouraging the laggard as forward movement solves just about every problem with multiples.

I have seem some teams drive with a bar in front of them perpendicular to the team pole. What is this? does it help? Should I have 1?

That is called the yoke and it has some advantages relative to bending and staying straight between the traces. Heike Bean's got quite a bit on it in her chapter on pair driving. I'm not sure if you could retrofit your team pole with one; I do know that using a pole without it is a perfectly acceptable option.

I am also not sure how to keep the slack out of the traces when stopping. I am assuming part of my problem is the light harness and side holdbacks on my breeching. Does anyone have an idea of how to fix this?

What do you mean? Traces are generally supposed to go slack when you stop as the breeching should be taking the load. Are they drooping too far down? In that case you'd use trace carriers. If your breeching isn't engaging soon enough you'd tighten the side holdbacks, and if the breeching is sufficiently tight but the carriage is riding too far up before stopping you need to tighten your pole straps and let out your traces to move the horses further up towards the end of the pole.

Leia

 

[MiLo Minis]

The coupling rein should be run through the inside saddle terret, possibly through the inside neck terret, and then hung off the throatlatch or cavesson until hitching. I still need to discuss the issue with more experienced pair drivers and see if we need to use the inside neck terret with minis. With big horses it can take up some of that "slop" from miles of rein up there but it's such a short distance with minis I'm not sure it's necessary. It also might put more of a lateral pull on the other horse's bit than necessary whereas running it straight back to the saddle terret would spare some of the leverage effects and make the pull more rearward.

Leia

With most Minis I find that their necks are just too short to make running the rein through a neck terret sensible - puts too much pulley effect into play because of the angle created. A horse that has been trained singly will quite often find that too much of a sideways or lateral pull and will tend to pole off whereas going straight back to the terret on the saddle is somewhat better.

 

[hairicane]

Congrats on getting the boys going together!! I know this has been a long time goal. Cant wait to actually see them driving together.