Buckly took to the bit with no trouble at all. He never even chewed it. First horse I've ever started that took it so easily. Maybe Pistol will also. I do the bit before any other harness parts. Maybe that's not the right way. I let them wear it around for a while, and take them for walks with it under the halter.
I just realized on your signature that you have an OTTB as well. I've got a 2000 model. Bold n' Easy whom we call Comic due to his April 1st birthday and his goofy antics of dunking EVERYTHING in his water and stealing hats and gloves from heads and pockets.
TheOTTBs can be quite the characters, can’t they? Festin is really my daughter’s horse, although my name is also on his adoption papers. He’s really a great horse, just a little too high maintenance for me. I like push button, go down the trail like I’m window shopping horses, and Festin needs to have someone in the pilots seat all the time. No one believes he’s 21 yrs old, he acts like a 4 yr old. Forever young, I guess.
I think my easier team will be Candace and Major since Candace is so steady and isn't bothered by anything. Major and she already get along well and she can drive right or left and is a great helpmate. Clementine and Pistol will be more of a challenge as Clementine has quite a bit more "spunk" than Candace and Pistol is still spooky about things. He'll be getting lots and lots of desensitizing and ground driving before he's ever on a cart and the two of them will get lots of groundwork as a team before they are ever hitched to anything with a human in it. I think Pistol has the mind for it he'll just be a little more work.
I'm getting to the point I'd like a quiet horse as well. Comic was given to me by my grandfather when he pulled his last horses off the track. Comic was 6 at the time. He was the first horse that I called my own. My parents and I had two of my grandfathers OTTBs already that we shared between the three of us. The mare my mom still rides (also 21) is a handful all of the time. I can't say much against Comic's character since he's always taken good care of me. The spring he turned 11 it's like his brain finally kicked in and he mellowed out a lot. However, he is still very co-dependent and if he's riding out with another horse don't even think about trying to split them up. Talk about throwing a fit!
Now that I have the arena to work him in I'm going to try with him again. He's very accepting of the harness and cart. He's just a little more reactive than I'd like him to be. I'm hoping that pairing him with Candace will help him with that since she is so steady. He's a very willing horse but just not confident on his own. He hollers at the other minis if I take them out driving where they don't care if they go out alone or if he leaves them. I think being part of a team may be the ticket for him. I'm going to ground drive him some more on his own then try some groundwork with him and Candace together. She's patient and steady so I've got my fingers crossed.
and seems generally happier when being brushed and worked with.
