Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

Jon, cross training an endurance horse with driving is an excellent idea. I
have used it here, to help work the hind end on my one gelding, as we have
very few hills, and it works different muscle groups as they "push" more
with the hind quarters. I also used driving to work on building some bone
density by driving out on our hard packed roads some, but without the weight
of me on him. Of course we started out slow, and short distances, like any
other type of training.  Below is a link to my webshots page, where you will
see 3 of our Arabs doing both driving, and trail riding. I competed my one
endurance horse in combined driving events, where they do Dressage (yes, you
CAN bent in a carriage) , marathon, and an obstacle course of cones.  We do
what we refer to as "Carriage driving", which is different that breed show
ring driving. I want my horses to drive in more of a dressage frame, round,
and supple, without the use of any kind of check reins. We work on teaching
them to use their back, stretch through the top line, and carry themselves
balanced. All very good training for trail horses.

<http://community.webshots.com/album/51348449WwrYTQ>


There are also some distance driving organizations that have events. Here
are some links:

<http://www.midwestdistancedriving.org/>

<http://www.umecra.com/>

<http://www.ectra.org/>

And for more info on driving, including the CD-L (the "Ridecamp of driving"
go to:
<http://www.carriagedriving.net/>

That should keep some of Y'all busy.

Jonni in TX



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