Tandem driving rig ?

[Honeygrey]

I’ve been reading about tandem driving teams  ( just out of curiosity) and for the life of me I can’t figure out why they don’t extend the shafts to encompass the wheel and the lead horse ? Would this not work?  It seems quite dangerous to have the lead horse basically loose. 

I’m sure this doesn’t work, but I would love to know why? 

Thanks!!

lynn

 

[jeanniecogan]

i am going to try the tandem thing, later this year.  will let you knoe how it goes.

 

[Northwolf]

Hi Lynn

I not sure but I've remembered I saw kind of tandem hitch with enlarged shafts on historical photos. I'll check this out. 

But I think it's not useful because it will be a very long vehicle and not flexible enough. If you make turns, in normal case, you turn the front horse before you turn the wheel horse. Because if you give the parade to both at the same time, the horses have to go sideways and not in a correct bend. Bending would not be possible with long shafts. 

Look at my amateur video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W86L-E6sT1I

We're not perfect and they seem to be very wiggly ? (it's not easy to hold a camera AND control two lead lines AND drive on a crossroad while trotting) but as you can see in my video driving a slight turn, the front horse turns BEFORE the wheel horse does. This wouldn't be possible with enlarged shafts.

 

[Al B]

That would work fine until you tried to turn. In any case that is not the purpose of a tandem. The lead horse does no pulling at all. He simply goes along. In driving the tandem the objective is to keep the leaders traces hanging slightly. The purpose of the tandem was to put the Hunt horse in the lead and the plow horse in the wheeler (shaft horse in Europe) position The dogs would be carried in the compartment under the seat. When you get to the hunting ground the dogs are released and the lead horse is saddled and the hunt is on. The groom would then drive the cart back to the barn. When you try it make sure you have an absolute solid horse in the lead. Also remember you will now have 2 sets of leads to drive with. You have to drive each horse separately.

 

[Cayuse]

Beautiful picture and horses, thank you for sharing it. And thanks for explaining about the traces. You answered a question that I've had for awhile regarding that little bit of slack seen in the traces. 

 

[Al B]

About the traces you will notice that they are not attached to the cart. They actually clip to the wheeler's breast collar. Pulling is not an option. Also notice the bit guard on the wheeler. Its a piece of plastic tubing slipped on to the cheeks of the bit. It keeps the leaders traces and reins from getting hooked in his bit.

 

[Cayuse]

Is the bit guard tubing hanging down like a loopey  curb chain?  I spent quite a bit of time yesterday studying your picture trying to make sense of what I was seeing there.  I did notice the traces clipped to the breast collar.  It must be challenging to keep the pace of both horses just right to get the perfect slack in those traces.  Is it better to have the more forward moving horse in front or as the wheeler if they are unevenly matched in their way of going (or unevenly matched in "fizziness")?

 

[Al B]

It hangs like a curb chain (note: the judges at this World Show had no clue what it was and even asked my wife, the groom, what it was).You also see it on four in hands and often on pairs. Get a rein caught on the adjacent horses bit and you have a real problem. The closer the better on pace. The lead must be absolutely solid and the wheeler must be happy to do all the work with the view never changing. . You may have to try them both ways and see which works best for them.

Another tip. Get a set of rein clamps. You can see in my left hand that the reins loop thru my hand. In this picture the clamp is actually in my hand. If the lead horse is too far out simply walk up the lead rein. This will pull him back without affecting the wheeler. If he is too close simply walk down the rein and he can move out. Without the reins being clamped this is a difficult process. The overall length of the reins never changes. You are simply adjusting their position.  This also is a must for four in hands. Make sense??

Once you get the hang of it, it will be more fun to drive than anything.

 

[Cayuse]

I had never heard of rein clamps so I looked them up.  Handy devices! 

I have difficult time with holding just the two  lines because of arthritis.  I can't imagine being coordinated enough to hold four instead of two, although I used to when I was a kid and rode Saddleseat.  But that was many moons ago!