Your Drive Day

[Northwolf]

Northwolf, do you enjoy the tandem or team driving more?

There is a movie called Darby O'Gill and the Little People. At the beginning, the Squire drives up with a tandem rig. I think it is a dog cart, or governess cart. I think that is the only time I've seen a tandem in the movies.

I love both; tandem and team driving. Tandem is much more difficult and needs more skills to proper drive, but team driving is more action. Tempo is higher when I drive the team. I've tried to canter the horses when I drive them in the tandem last time, but Teddy was not able to canter and it was a little mess with him. But we improve our skills in tandem driving every time!

When I drive the team, cantering is a normal thing for the horses. I also drive curves, hills and water graben in gallop. They love the action too

I don't know the movie, but I'll have a look. I've never seen a tandem in a movie, this seems to be a rarity. Thanks for the tipp!

@Cayuse: I recommend to practice the canter too when educating a horse in driving. This will help to control the horse when it is cantering accidentally. And I wouldn't miss cantering, it's just fun! I've some ponies who were not able to canter because the haven't the balance to do it in a controlled area. This will be better the more trained they are. And they often need a clear command to jump into canter. Moony is a non-cantering candidate too

He can do 2-3 galloping strides before he falls back into trot on the lunge, but I'm happy with this for the moment. Massai is the opposite; he loves cantering and if he has the choice, he always prefers canter over trot.

 

[MajorClementine]

Clementine is one that loves to canter. She gets into a nice smooth canter and it's my favorite stride on flat paths we know well. She's a blast to drive. If she's not cantering she's trotting. Trying to get that girl to walk (which I sometimes force her to do so she remembers it's about what I allow) is a pain. Occasionally we'll go out for a single mile drive and I'll make her walk the whole way. But more often than not it's 4-5 miles at a good trot. Especially if someone is driving the foxtrotter along behind us. We can actually out-pace him

Clementine heads south in the morning. She and Major (along with 3 riding horses) will be joining Candace, Pistol, and the Fjords for the winter. The nice fall weather is about to turn ugly here so it's perfect timing. Lucky for me it's only a 4 hour drive so I can easily make quick weekend trips to drive all winter. They'll get a lot more use this way than they get when I've got them up here in the snow.

Speaking of tandem.... Google "suicide hitch" Also "15 in hand" This guys is amazing!

Marsha: Any more adventures with Buckly??

 

[Northwolf]

MC, thanks for the tipp! Just checked it out - it looks just amazing and it seems to be a great driver! I cannot imagine how heavy the lines are with a 15 in hand percheron hitch, uff!

Did your horses safely arrived? I would miss my horses if they were 4 hours away

and do you plan to visit them all weekends?

One day, I'll have a 3- or a 4-in-hand... My 30 year old shetland gelding is feeling better with his arthritis the last few weeks, maybe I'll try to hitch him again for short drives this winter. He loves being not just a pet, we always took him out for easy walks 2-3 times a week. If I add him to my tandem, I'll get a unicorn hitch

While talking about winter driving, I'm very looking forward to drive with the sleigh (IF there will be snow...).

 

[Cayuse]

Northwolf, glad to hear your Shetland is feeling better. My welsh pony started on Adequan injections on Monday. I believe I see a difference already.

We pulled the shoes and that helped a lot, too.

The vet wants me to start giving him some light work. I see more ground driving in my future as he will not drive except to pull a sled. He is afraid of the shafts :-(. He may be my "work pony" this winter, pulling the manure tubs, and the minis will get lazy ?

 

[Marsha Cassada]

Mine does very well with the adequan. Hope your pony does too, Cayuse.

Today I put the bit on Buckly for the first time. He yawned and gaped a couple of times, and then never made another comment about it. No chewing, no chomping. He carried the bit as though he did it every day of his life; I know he has never worn a bit before. We did our 2 mile walk. He did lather up a little as we passed the pasture of mares. Removed the bit and rope halter and we did a little tarp work. He walked on it fine and only stiffened up a little when I dragged it over us. Practiced our tricks, then he went off to tell Dapper Dan all about it.

Is he just a stoic, or is he really this level headed??

The moon is right on the 18th so I will reschedule the gelding. I know it needs to be done, but I dread it.

 

[Cayuse]

He really could be that level headed. Peanut is and that is why I put up with all his quirks and peculiarities, lol. Nothing phases him except shadows, and then he doesn't spook, he just tries to step over it. Does his eye remain "soft" and inquisitive when he is learning something new? I have found that the ones who are stoic and just "tolerating" something different have a look to their eye. Not glazed but sort of detached, if that makes sense.

Where did you get your rope halter? I have been thinking of getting one for each of my guys. I have seen nice ones that look like a regular halter but with the rope noseband and they are expensive, more than I want to pay. I think they are called the Hybrid Halter.

Oh, and Peanut doesn't like hula hoops, but thankfully we don't run into those too often

 

[Marsha Cassada]

I ordered the rope halter from Diamondktperformance on Etsy. Sent my measurements and they custom made it. I got the stiff rope instead of the soft. It's my first rope halter and I'm liking it. I got it for Dapper Dan but it fits Buckly better.

Buckly had that inward, detached look at first; he has had a lot happen to him in the last month or so and was doing the wait-and-see thing. But the last couple of days he is coming out of it and really paying attention to me. Ears up and really looking at me. He's still stand offish, which is okay by me, after the last two. We'll see.

 

[Cayuse]

Thanks Marsha, I will look up the halter. I think it would give me slightly more more control.

Buckly sounds like a really nice little guy, I am enjoying hearing about him.

It's fun when they relax and start to come out of their shell.It is like unwrapping a chocolate that you don't know the flavor of.

 

[MajorClementine]

Marsha: It sounds like Buckly is really coming along. Some of them are just that level. I'm hoping my Pistol might be one of those. He gets over things and accepts them very quickly. Especially for a horse who was untouched for 8 years. I'm excited to see how your Buckly progresses.

Northwolf: Yes, thank you, the horses arrived safely. I will miss them. This is the first time in 15 years that I haven't had to care for a herd of horses twice a day. But I am a wimp and a fair weather horsewomen. So other than feed and a quick hello I don't work with my horses much when winter sets in. We get deep snow and can stay below freezing for weeks at a time. Having the horses 4 hours south makes a huge difference. Where they are now gets no snow at all and only drops below freezing at night. The daytime temps are in the 50-60*F all winter. So even though they are a ways away, I'll use them more this way. I will probably go every other weekend.

Cayuse: How did you find out Peanut doesn't like Hula Hoops??

 

[Cayuse]

I was practicing for a trail class and one of the obstacles was going to be walking the horse over a hula hoop on the ground, stopping with their hind feet in the center of the "hoop" and then pivoting their front end around while the back feet stay in the center of the "hoop". Hard to explain, but like a turn on the haunches.

Anywho, not thinking, I bought a hula hoop with beads in it that made a swishy noise. Peanut stepped on it and almost jumped into my arms (he really jumped on me he was so scared). I was oblivious to why he was so scared, so I compounded the issues by picking up the hula hoop and trying to show it to him, that's when I realized it was making this HISSING rattley noise like a SNAKE but I was still too dumb to PUT THE THING DOWN. Here I am, trying to calm him down while holding on to the very thing he is going nuts over. I still can't figure out why I did that! I think he thought I was chasing him with a rattlesnake.

That was a year ago. I took the "hoop from heck" out this Fall, emptied the beads out of it and tried again.

After I fed him treats from the middle of it he tiptoed over it, but gave both it and me the stink eye.

Your winters sound just like ours here. I am not really looking forward to shoveling snow and cold toes.

 

[Marsha Cassada]

Ponied Buckly again yesterday. This time I put the sulky harness on him. He was perfectly calm with the crupper and girth. Took the bit fairly easily and didn't chew it a lick. We went our 2 miles. He did fine, only neighing at the mares as we passed by. Haven't seen the cows up close lately. Froth on the bit, which is supposed to be a good sign, right?

 

[Cayuse]

Buckly appears to be right at home in his harness and DD looks very nonchalant. Two happy minis

Are you going to drive DD in a Christmas Parade this year?

 

[Marsha Cassada]

Today Buckly raised his hoof for the hand shake cue without my touching his leg! He is a smart boy

I helped my sister put the harness on her new driving horse. Jackie O did great. The children drove her, too. So glad she finally got a sweet one to play with. Jackie O came from Teacup Stables. She is a retired brood mare.

Maybe we will get to do a Christmas parade this year. Have not looked into any scheduled ones yet. May just drive around town with our bells on and give rides.

 

[Cayuse]

Jackie O is a cute name.

 

[jeanniecogan]

I want to check out the tanendem deal again. how do you attach the front horse to the cart.

i was watching charlie walk accross the pasture this morning and daisy was right behind him ... i need some hints, i gotta try this it looks soooo cool

 

[Northwolf]

Great! Looking forward to see Daisy and Charlie as a tandem

I use long traces for the front horse that are fixed at the carts singletree. And trace holders on the back horses breastcollar. But there are other possibilities, too. You can use a second singletree that is fixed on the back horses breastcollar. It may be more safely if you use a second singletree because with the long traces, it's more risky to ravel.

I recommend to try the tandem first only on the ground, without cart

I ponied my horses to walk in a row on many walks at the halter!

 

[jventresca]

Another attachment method for the lead horse are tandem keys and cockeyes. The tandem keys are short metal pieces that fit over the tongue of the breastcollar buckle. Cockeyes are on the lead horse's traces and have snaps that hooks into the tandem keys. I use a carabiner type snap that I put through the slot end of the traces.

I think using a singletree with minis would be hard. Too much slack and the wheeler would be getting smacked in the knees by it.

I tried to drive two horses that were used to driving in a pair. The lead horse liked to hesitate hoping the wheeler would come up next to him. It didn't seem to matter which of the pair was leading or following, they really wanted to be next to each other.

 

[Cayuse]

Jaye, I was watching an antique carriage driving class this fall and if I remember correctly it was a team of four (big horses) and they had a singletree in front of the wheel horses. There was a lot of swing in the singletree and it made me nervous to watch. It seemed really low, knee high. Is that the level it is supposed to be at? Is a lot of swinging normal? And the traces near the wheeler looked low too (point of hock). Is that a normal set up? It looked like if there was some shenanigans someone would get hung up.

They were HOT horses and it made me nervous to watch. They did fantastic though!

 

[MajorClementine]

Be sure to post pics if you get them set up as a tandem. Even if it's ground driving pics. I think I would need lots of ground driving for myself to get used to how to drive that setup and giving proper cues at the correct times.

This thread is officially 2 years old! And almost 100 pages long. How fun it's been to keep up with everyone on here.

Jaye: I wonder if that Tandem Keys and Cockeyes are what they used on the "suicide hitch" video I watched. It looked like the horses were connected to each other that way but the wheel horse was the only one actually hitched to the cart.

 

[jventresca]

http://www.frogmusic.com/drivingpairs/articles/pair-driving-101.html

This is a link to a good site about pair driving. There's several photos of tandems as well, horses, ponies and minis.

Cayuse - My impression of tandems with a single tree between them is "danger!" also. I'm sure an expert can make it work though. I think that hitch is more useful if you plan to use the leader for actual pulling. The tandem keys set up is fine if you're just driving tandem for the "hay" of it, like a sporting tandem. A sporting tandem was used pre horse trailers when a person wanted to transport their hunter without wearing them out. The riding horse would be the leader of the tandem, not pulling, just going along. They would wear their riding bridle and saddle. The traces could be run through the stirrups. There's a very nice article in the Driving Digest showing photos of a sporting tandem driven by a lady. The leader is wearing a side saddle!

Major - I didn't see the suicide hitch you mean. Northwolf's hitch is the first time I heard of bringing the traces from the leader back to the carriage. I would think it could be a matter of how long can traces be made in leather and still be manageable. Now we have all sorts of new materials to make durable straps that are light and easy to care for.

Northwolf - What are your leader traces made out of?

Thanks!

Jaye