Yesterdays driving lesson

[New mini]

I need to share with people who understand driving. My family is a riding famoly and do not understand totally what I accomplished yesterday. I have only been driving for about 2 months and have not driven in 3 weeks. this was due to weather and some problems that I have had here on my farm. Well, yesterday my instructor and I went out in the driving area and we started at a walk again around cornors and just reversing directions. We also trotted on the straght areas. After a little of this my instructor said ok lets trot all the way around. I did it and kept Jerry(the horse) on the rail including cornors. I knew he was listening to me and was doing what I wanted him to do. Really felt good and I feel I am getting somewhere. We even did a little cone work and I managed to do that too. Now I need to get some money and get my own mini so I can practice here. That will be a while as I ran into some problems. But I can wait since I am driving and learning and having a ball. Thank you for letting me share.

 

[bannerminis]

Thanks for sharing. Its great to hear other peoples excitement at driving and at their achievements. Driving is so different to riding so its a whole new set of skills to learn. I am trying to master my hands again as its been so long since I had reins in my hands it almost feels Alien.

 

[Marsha Cassada]

It's interesting that riders frequently don't appreciate driving. I have found that, too. So glad you are having fun.

 

[New mini]

Thanks for the replies. It is good to know that I have a place to share the excitement.

I know the feeling about having reins in your hands again. I rode for awhile and the reins felt strange too when I started driving. It is all coming back as I drive so hang in htere it will come back

 

[Sandee]

Glad that you're enjoying getting started. Just wait until you get on your own.

I've faced that "don't you miss riding" too. All I have to think of is the day that my old gelding (an old seasoned shower) at our second show took a look at the cones and took over. It was an obstacle course and I was just hoping to keep him troting in the right places as he was/ is very lazy. I swear, he got a look at those cones and I saw a light blub go on over his head. He quicken his pace and zipped thru that serpentine while I was sort of frozen in time doing tiny squeezes on the reins in what I hoped was the right place. After he was through them he slowed down and continued the course. I know that the shock showed on my face because when I glanced at the judges as we exited they were chuckling and nearly falling out of their chairs. It was thrilling to suddenly feel his power and his quick response. I was hooked on driving after that.

I now own a modern shetland that can wow me everyday in every way but that's another story.

 

[Reignmaker Miniatures]

It's interesting that riders frequently don't appreciate driving. I have found that, too. So glad you are having fun.

Isn't that the truth. I have so many people who say, "what do you do with them?" and when I say I drive them I get the blank look and "Oh" in response. They can't even think of anything to respond with since to them driving is for draft horses and wagons or heavy loads. :arg! They have no idea about the finesse that can be learned nor the thrills to be had. There is nothing much that they can do in the saddle that I can't do in my cart. I'll take a pass on fording a deep river or climbing a steep mountain but then I didn't enjoy that terrain in the saddle either. I would lay odds that my mini driving horse is better trained in many ways than most saddle horses in this area.

OK,

sorry, I get a bit annoyed by the lack of understanding at times.

Welcome New mini, both to LB and the world of driving. I agree it is good to have like minded people to share the disappointments and triumphs of this new adventure with.

 

[BBH]

Yes, if you are talking minis with someone and you say drive they sort of have a 'what"? look..........i have only gotten back to driving after 40 yrs and yes things have changed and gotten more sophisticated than back then, but I love it more than I thought I would and yes, sometimes miss riding until you remember how sore your legs/knees/back can get in later years. When you say driving people will assume car....when you say mini horses they are amazed. just love it.

 

[RhineStone]

I did it and kept Jerry(the horse) on the rail including cornors. We even did a little cone work and I managed to do that too.

WIth my total beginners, I find that if I put cones on the rail, it gives them a "target" to go through and helps them learn where they need to be. I also use them in the corners so they know how deep they need to get in the corners. I use little plastic $1 soccer cones that collapse when ran over vs. my $25/cone official driving cones! I made the mistake of using official cones with total beginners and have the cone pieces to prove it!

Now my students have to "earn" the priviledge of getting to use the "real" cones!

I have been riding since I was 6 yrs. old and my husband and I even met while working at a riding stable. Now, I ride once in a while and have the soreness afterwards, and I'm not even that old!

The BIGGEST reason we drive is because drivers tend to stick together and be amiable even if we compete with each other. There is no "catiness" like I have experienced in open riding shows. And there is so much "diversity" in driving shows. Not everyone has the same carriage, nor the same style or breed of horse. It is so neat to see all the different carriages, breeds, and ways of going which are celebrated, not "put down" because they don't fit in a "mold".

Myrna

 

[targetsmom]

Yes, this is a great place to share your excitement about driving because most of us understand only too well! Warning - the addiction will get worse. So glad to hear your progress - keep it up and keep us posted. I rode for years (50+) and now no longer ride but I am enjoying my driving AND the lessons I take from a former dressage (riding) instructor. I know there will always be something to improve on so we will never get bored.

 

[dreamlandnh]

I too have ridden for many years and love the driving now (when my daughter lets me)

. Enjoy and can't wait to hear the progress.

 

[drivin*me*buggy]

Welcome! You have come to the right place. We all 'get it' here.

Sounds like you are doing great. We look forward to hearing your continued progress and will love hearing when you get your own mini!

Angie

 

[LazyRanch]

Congratulations! I too am a fairly new driver and it's AWEsome when things come together!!

And what is this about not getting the driving thing? Some of my old students are shocked at my new equine adventures! "You're doing WHAT??" After decades of combined training/3-day somehow this change really stuns them!

Keep us posted on your progress!

 

[New mini]

My driving instructor has given me a different horse to drive now. She is much lighter on the bit and much more responsive. I have begun doing cone work and am troting almost all the time now. I am still having a blast. I can not wait until I get my driving gelding home. He is going to Nationals with Cathy Waxler. I will keep taking lessons and learn more before I get him and then he will teach me some I am sure. I love driving him. He is well broke and a joy to drive.

 

[shorthorsemom]

I think it is awesome that you are taking lessons and enjoying driving so much. I look forward to you posting photos when you get your own driving horse. Nothing better than getting the experience first with a quailified instructor IMO

,

I am new to driving too. I rode much of my life. Now I have discovered the wonderful world of miniature horses and I am a newbie driver getting lessons too. It is so exciting. I laugh at peoples expression when they ask what you do with your miniature horses and you tell them driving..and you get that blank stare... Sometimes they even say "Oh, like the Amish?" ...

We have many amish neighbors and I guess that is what they think of when I tell them I am getting into driving.

I got sidelined a bit this summer with the horrible heatwave weather and a bad farrier trim that made my driving boy sore for weeks on end. Now I am looking forward to getting back in the cart this fall and driving all winter, hoof trim scheduled for today and hoping we are good to go.

I am ready to blow the dust off my cart that has been sitting waiting for the hooves to heal and grow out, I even scheduled a lesson for Monday morning just for good luck.

I never thought I would enjoy winter driving, but I drove all last winter in my warm under armor winter wear with a scarf wrapped around my helmet and still had fun even when the wind was howling.

Driving, gotta love it. Makes me very happy.

Best wishes and looking forward to reading your posts for years to come! Adair from SE pa.

PS I crushed a few of those cheap cones, and a few times my instructor had me crush one on purpose to see what my horse would do, she said, maybe we can get one stuck in the wheel if we are lucky. LOL. She does like to proof the horse. I graduated to the better cones and was doing offsets when I was sidelined...

I have been "driving" my zero turn mower all over my farm paths and pretending it was my horse and cart and planning turns and how to take a hill at the right angle etc... funny to be thinking horse driving the whole time I am mowing grass. I pretend the zero turn mower sticks are my reins and I plan my turns and circle. I haven't done cones with the mower yet, but that is next if I don't get my boy back driving soon. LOL

 

[New mini]

thanks for the chuckle on the lawn mower. I also have a zero turn one and never thought to use that as practice. My husband is going to love that suggestion as I will now be cutting the grass frequently. A picture of my horse is in my avatar.

 

[hobbyhorse23]

Isn't it funny how we do that? When I learned to drive a car, passing was easy because of all the rail classes I'd done with my riding horse growing up! Learning to maneuver a truck and trailer was a lot like learning to drive cones with the mini and cart so it all tied in together. Sometimes I cluck to my truck or try to "put the hammer down" on my mini.

Leia

 

[shorthorsemom]

Yup, love it. My trainer said I can check out the pitch and lay of hills and my little "hazards" with my mower and plan how I will tackle my trails with my boy. I don't have marathon shafts or a sliding backband so I have to watch that I don't create too much angle or sideways pitch for my cart. I mow my cart paths anyway and my trainer explained that if I felt comfortable on my mower, then I would probably feel comfortable in my cart when traveling around on hills and doing my self-made mini hazards I created dipping in and out of the edges of different corn fields on our farm. I admit to sneaking in a couple of cool turn arounds that dip into a couple of corn fields. shhhhh, don't tell my husband. LOL. Easy to mow down a tiny bit of corn while the little corn heads are still small.... I also go out on my mower and mark groundhog and fox holes with those white push in posts usually reserved for temporary electric tape fencing. They can easily be seen from a distance so I don't have to remember where every spot is that I have to avoid while out in my cart. The push in posts are the only thing I found the little varmits won't move on me, ones I pushed in early spring are still marking holes.

 

[RhineStone]

Sometimes I cluck to my truck or try to "put the hammer down" on my mini.

I have been known to do that, too!

I actually think that "brrr" noise that drivers use for a down transition came from the sound of a jake brake on a semi! (I'm not very good at that sound, though!)

Myrna

 

[susanne]

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I've become a new breed of backseat driver...saying "whooooooa" and "eeeeeeaaaasssyyy" when Keith is driving...