Wheee! Driving hours 2023

[Marsha Cassada]

Maybe the girth broke and that spooked him?

That's what I'm thinking now. But he went all the way home with it slapping his legs without any trouble.
Took the harness to the saddle guy today and got it fixed; new straps on both sides. It has held up very well over the years but broke at the hole. New bearings on the sulky, too, so I am ready to go again. Since I cleared the odometer last (which I cannot remember when that was- maybe I wrote it down--I've logged 240 miles on the sulky.

 

[Cayuse]

1.5 hours for Peanut

 

[Standards Equine]

Phillippe and Jasmine each drove for roughly 1 hour between ground driving and hitched.
I drove each for roughly 10 minutes of that.

The clinic went really well! My friend Jed is so talented. We had 4 participants and 2 auditors. A great group to start teaching. One participant is his regular student. Two came from a couple hours west and the last came from Saskatchewan, a 9-hour drive! The two auditors were from the neighborhood, twin young adult ladies. I've known their mom for years.

The two minis that came from west of us did not have a great start in ground driving. They'd learned the spin to look at you, but not how to move forward away. Jed had them sorted out in short order! It was so cool to see them having success with their owners!

Phillippe, Jasmine and Falcor all came with me to be demo horses. Phillippe and Jasmine demoed ground driving first, and Jed used Jasmine to demonstrate some body control techniques. Not something I was aware of how to do, so I learned too!

We discussed types of harness, parts of harness, lines of draft and types of vehicles. I made a 4-page handout for everyone. Parts of the harness, common driving terms, types of vehicles and driving classes/activities. And lastly I put my two littles to their carts and everyone had a drive around in each. Naturally the donkey was the crowd favorite. I liked that participants got to feel the difference between Jasmine, who's very light and forward, and Phillippe who's stronger, needs firmer direction and is a bus to maneuver.

It was a great mix of information, demos as well as hands-on with participants' ponies. Falcor did a ground driving demo too, with Jed. WOW!!! I want to handle the lines like that! Oh my gosh, my pony is stunning!

Incidentally, Falcor's new harness arrives Friday and I'm just working on the final details to bring his new (consignment) vehicle home in November!

 

[Standards Equine]

I also got to drive for an hour on Saturday. This little dude's name is Finn.

In the hunt for a vehicle for Falcor, I wanted to try out the Voiture BP Carriages from Quebec. My friend has a little vehicle for her mini so we headed out for a trial. Her mini was given to her, wild, likely a reserve pony. He's still sketchy to touch him and isn't a loving dude, tolerates as best he can, but he is BUSINESS when he's in harness and to cart. The little man is FORWARD and likes to work. He's not afraid of pulling at all, just wants to get going. It's most interesting to see the change in him once he's in harness and put to. Anyways, I felt really comfortable in the cart. I like the fit and balance. They have a consignment model available so I'll go ahead with that one for Falcor. Only thing is the seat is in grey vinyl. Hopefully they'll change it out to green for me.

Anyways, please see sketchy mini Finn. And I'm sorry I have no pictures from the clinic!!!

 

[HersheyMint]

That's what I'm thinking now. But he went all the way home with it slapping his legs without any trouble.
Took the harness to the saddle guy today and got it fixed; new straps on both sides. It has held up very well over the years but broke at the hole. New bearings on the sulky, too, so I am ready to go again. Since I cleared the odometer last (which I cannot remember when that was- maybe I wrote it down--I've logged 240 miles on the sulky.

240 miles, that is great. It's a good feeling

 

[HersheyMint]

I also got to drive for an hour on Saturday. This little dude's name is Finn.

In the hunt for a vehicle for Falcor, I wanted to try out the Voiture BP Carriages from Quebec. My friend has a little vehicle for her mini so we headed out for a trial. Her mini was given to her, wild, likely a reserve pony. He's still sketchy to touch him and isn't a loving dude, tolerates as best he can, but he is BUSINESS when he's in harness and to cart. The little man is FORWARD and likes to work. He's not afraid of pulling at all, just wants to get going. It's most interesting to see the change in him once he's in harness and put to. Anyways, I felt really comfortable in the cart. I like the fit and balance. They have a consignment model available so I'll go ahead with that one for Falcor. Only thing is the seat is in grey vinyl. Hopefully they'll change it out to green for me.

Anyways, please see sketchy mini Finn. And I'm sorry I have no pictures from the clinic!!!
View attachment 50604

What a fun busy weekend. Your smile says it all.

 

[Standards Equine]

I have no time to log, I just want to share a story. This seems to be the thread I share my stories in...

The student to the gentleman I was supporting with the driving clinic last weekend, he's Jed, student is Jacqueline. She owns a mini named Bobbie that they've been getting ready to put to. All the pieces seemed to work and, after driving my magical tire and single tree without any concern, decided it was time to hitch Bobbie to the cart. Since my K-bike is so stable, they asked if I'd bring it back for the first drive. Absolutely!!! I broke the bike down and put it in the back of my car (Ford Escape) and away I went! Reassembly in the yard took 5 minutes. Bobbie got harnessed, pulled the tire around as I pulled the cart beside him on both sides and put hm between the shafts. No concerns. As you see, they drive with the bridle open. So we went ahead and hitched. Bobbie stood so quietly and walked off without issue with Jed aboard first. His expression remained totally relaxed. After a few minutes, they swapped out and Jacqueline climbed up. I guess she'd previously had a wreck with another mini and was palpably nervous. She'd driven both Phillippe and Jasmine a couple weeks ago at our place, and again last weekend. Now she got to be on the box with her own pony! He was a perfect gentleman. There were definitely tears at the end. I was so honored to have been present and been able to facilitate such a wonderful experience.
That's what it's all about!

 

[Standards Equine]

I also JUST talked with Kent Maerz and he's advised me that K Bikes will soon be available in Canada again! In fact, he has one that's going for powder coat right away that's available. It doesn't currently have a foot basket but one can be fabricated for it.
Super exciting news for us northerners!!

 

[Cayuse]

30 minutes driving Peanut

 

[Standards Equine]

Friday, Phillippe and I drove for 30 minutes.
Saturday, Ali drove Jasmine and I took Phillippe around for another half hour.
Sunday, I drove Phillippe for 45 minutes and Ali joined us bareback on her mare. Working on conditioning as much as possible again. No bugs, the weather's been lovely. Ali's mare, Special, has never had an issue with the driving critters so Ali decided she was going to join me and Phillippe on the road ride. Bareback, of course. The mare was brave and happy until we got a couple km down the road and she decided she was far enough. Since Ali didn't have a great seat and it was the mare's first time out on the road, she honored her as she wasn't rude, and headed back home. It was fun to be out.

 

[Standards Equine]

Another half hour for Phillippe and I last night.
Ali rode our buckskin quarter horse gelding, Jessie. He's quite fond of the donkey. We had some fun chase after Jessie and Ali, even felt my little donkey kick into a higher gear than I've ever felt before, like he found a bit of his own power and away we went! He's been comfortable walk, trot and canter in harness for quite a while now, but I'd never felt him really power forward like that!

 

[HersheyMint]

Another half hour for Phillippe and I last night.
Ali rode our buckskin quarter horse gelding, Jessie. He's quite fond of the donkey. We had some fun chase after Jessie and Ali, even felt my little donkey kick into a higher gear than I've ever felt before, like he found a bit of his own power and away we went! He's been comfortable walk, trot and canter in harness for quite a while now, but I'd never felt him really power forward like that!

Go Phillippe

 

[Marsha Cassada]

50 minutes driving Billy. No adventures today. All calm. New girth straps and wheel bearings. Smooth.

 

[MaryFlora]

Sounds serene! A good feeling when everything is working right!

 

[Cayuse]

40 minute driving Peanut this week.

 

[Standards Equine]

What a great weekend!
Saturday: Phillippe 30 minutes, Jasmine 30 minutes, FALCOR 30 minutes!!
Sunday: Phillippe 45 minutes, FALCOR 30 minutes!!!!
Of course, Falcor doesn't count, BUT, I had my first 2 hitches with him at home, solo. His harness is such a treat and he's very comfortable in it. My K-bike though.... It tried really hard but it's just not the right vehicle for him. A couple more weeks and his proper vehicle will be here. Ali even took the lines and tried him a bit until one of the shafts bumped too far forward through the shaft loop.... Talk about floating shafts, in the trot, you could see them lifting in the loops. Regardless, we had fun. I'd sent up a bunch of pilons and "hazards" in the arena to get us focused and working together. It was awesome.
I'm so glad that I spent so much time with him on the ground before trying to get back in the cart. now I can't wait to have a more appropriate cart for him and be able to get out into the field to open up some more. He's a very proud driving pony, and that's a neat feeling. I'm excited for next year!

 

[Marsha Cassada]

Drove Billy 45 minutes today. Light traffic and short visit with neighbor. He is doing much better, but I would not let an inexperienced driver take him out.

 

[Standards Equine]

Phillippe and I were out this evening for a half hour.
Fall is trying its best to hold out! It's been above freezing for the last week, almost unheard of for this part of Alberta at this time of the year. I don't anticipate I'll be driving much, if at all, for the rest of the month. Work has a special project and I'll be working long shifts out of town. I'm glad to take the overtime before Christmas but it's going to impact my pony time a lot!

 

[HersheyMint]

Phillippe and I were out this evening for a half hour.
Fall is trying its best to hold out! It's been above freezing for the last week, almost unheard of for this part of Alberta at this time of the year. I don't anticipate I'll be driving much, if at all, for the rest of the month. Work has a special project and I'll be working long shifts out of town. I'm glad to take the overtime before Christmas but it's going to impact my pony time a lot!

I hated when work got in the way of my pony time. How dare they!

 

[Standards Equine]

Phillippe and I out for a half hour yesterday.
The kids decided to head out for a trail ride and Phillippe and I went for a drive. You guys, he's SO FAT!!! It's got to be an il neno year as we still have no snow and it was +7 C yesterday. Sunshine and just beautiful! Normally we've got snow on the ground and regularly remains below freezing. With the lack of work and, I'm sure, more food than he needs, Phillippe is SO FAT!! I'm actually worried for his health. So off he went back to donkey jail and a major diet. If it was cold, I wouldn't worry so much because he'd be using the fat to heat himself, but right now he doesn't need it.
Everyone, please grieve with my poor long-suffering donkey as he slowly starves due to neglect... at least that's the story he'd have you believe.