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Re: [RC] [RC] my endurance buggy horse!!!! (safety first) - Flora Hillman

Tx Trigger wrote:

       Sorry if this might seem a bit strong to some. But I have a passion
for Carriage Driving that is about as strong as it is for distance riding.
Both are wonderful, wonderful sports. But there is MUCH more risk and safety
concerns for driving than riding. Do it right, so you can enjoy your drives.


________

I have been driving for over 30 years, currently drive a pair ... and (in
keeping this endurance related) my endurance pony was a former pair and
tandem champion with his prior owner.  During my long driving career I've
been to two funerals -- both of close driving friends that were killed in
driving accidents -- both very experience people who (sadly) made one,
critical yet fatal training error with new driving horses.

I, too, was horrified to read Jody's blissfully happy (and totally innocent)
post -- but can relate to her youthful exuberance because .... I, too, once
owned (30 years ago) a lovely 3/4 Thoroughbred (bless her dear departed
soul) who took to driving with a totally ho-hum attitude.  We did
essentially the same thing Jody did -- except we did the dragging the tire
part (of  which this mare did without blinking an eye) and we decided that
she'd already been taught to drive somewhere along her
foxhunting/eventing/dressage/trail riding career....so we also hitched up
and drove off, happy as clams.  She never put a foot wrong and up to the day
she died of old age years later she remained ever the *perfect* driving
horse.

The Gods take care of fools...but only once.  I learned later my mare was
one of those rare individuals -- not other of the many, many driving
horses/ponies I've owned and trained (except for one Thoroughbred) ever
could be put to a carriage without any training at all.. and be perfect from
step one. 

Advice to Jody -- don't do that again -- just hitching and going.  Get a
good book on training the driving horse, and go step by step to advance the
education of both you and your horse.  Lots of endurance horses I know also
are wonderful carriage horses (and endurance riders who are also carriage
whips) -- but there are differences in how a horse needs to react in a
carriage as opposed to under saddle.  Don't handicap your horse by assuming
it knows everything about driving automatically.  It doesn't.

Advice to Jody's mom -- go talk to some driving trainers, and get a good
idea of what type of vehicle would be best for this horse.  Get Jody to some
driving lessons, and let her advance her own enjoyment of her horse's new
career.  Once she starts putting her family, friends, and anyone else in the
carriage, she needs to do so with knowledge and safety first in her mind,
and understanding and education in her hands.

Flora Hillman
Middleburg, VA  (who, with her former tandem champion pony,  just finished
the Mustang Memorial for our 1,210 AERC miles)
www.aurigafarm.com



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