11.06.07
green driving horse first hitched to cart
HOOOORAY!!! We have something to celebrate with Glendale! After 15 training sessions covering 4 1/2 months of ground driving training, all done ourselves (see Glen’s Ground driving horse training step-by-step), our 2 yr.old no-longer-a-baby has pulled his first cart and driver!!
Hitched and ready to roll!
SESSION 16 Nov. 5–
Equipment: metal easy-entry training cart, full harness, driving bridle with snaffle bit and blinders, driving whip
In this session we reviewed all our prep work: I ground drove Glen at a walk; then dad pulled the metal training cart on both sides of him with one shaft in a tug; we did a few sharper turns which pushed the shafts firmly into his shoulders; and we introduced pressure on the breeching (strap behind his rear which keeps the cart from rolling into him when going downhill) by pulling on it while he was standing.
Glen was good as usual, so we felt we could fasten the traces in. Dad first walked behind the cart, pulling back on it a little to add resistance, and I LED Glendale from the bridle, feeling I had a bit more control that way than driving with the reins. None of this bothered him at all, so dad next walked behind the cart driving him, then just got in and asked Glen to walk, which you see in video below.
Very first walkout fully hitched to training cart, using breeching, and steered from behind by Hubby driver, who soon gets into the cart. (Clanking sounds are quick-release bullsnaps on holdbacks hitting the metal shafts.)
Lo and behold the smart guy just went around, only showing his greenness by chomping on the bit, hesitating on startup, slowing down or stopping unasked, and going into a trot when the cart pushed against him on some downslopes. He didn’t get nervous, or kick at the cart or rear up, or try to scoot off, or any of the potentially risky things that can sometimes go bad in training.
Glendale looking like a real driving horse!
Continuing… walk, a little trot, and even backing a couple of steps on command.
PLEASE CLICK ON EACH VIDEO LINK BELOW TO SEE MORE ON YOUTUBE:
VIDEO Glendale shows unsureness in his hesitancy to start walking, stopping by himself, and trotting unasked when weight of cart pushes against him. (Driver can help the green horse on downslopes by holding him back a little, teaching him how to slow himself down and support the weight of the cart with his hind end.)
Dad was enjoying this so much it was hard to quit; he asked him to trot and trotted him short distances a few times. No excited reactions. Glen had one passage between the sawdust pile and the stone wall which he didn’t like much (I had noticed this spot while ground driving him,) but he pulled the cart on through it OK.
Almost an extended trot here…
VIDEO Round and round the whole paddock, practicing pulling weight at the walk, steering, and whoa.
The training cart is what’s called an easy-entry, which means it is an easy-escape design really… (I guess they don’t want to refer to it in those terms!) It is small, lightweight, durable and can be exited in a hurry.
Relaxed walk towards end of session.
This turned out to be Glendale’s longest driving-training session so far, all told about 45 minutes, of which he was pulling the cart maybe 20 minutes. He got lots of well-deserved praise, scratches and treats afterwards, he really had to work at this, mentally and physically too. It surely seems like the horse has a sense of trust in us, even when we ask him to do all these weird things, and he IS smart like his mom mare and very trainable.
It just doesn’t get much better than this, folks!!!
Thank you sweetie Glendale!
VIDEO Glendale now gallops with his herd family out into the pasture to eat and relax! What a rough life, huh?
(Read about all Glendale’s previous driving training at Ground driving horse training step-by-step.)
Ellen said,
November 17, 2007 at 2:48 pm
Hello!
Very nice step-by-step introduction of how to train a green horse. Definitely worth to read and watch!!!
The easy train cart is very interesting. Who is the manufacturer?
Is it adjustable to the driver’s weight to achieve the optimal balance?
One question, I wondered while watching the video: is Glendale pulling fully with his traces? They are hanging through quite often in the film.
Please feel free to check out this link for further tips on training the green horse for driving on http://www.discover-horse-carriage-driving.com/green-horse-training.html
Cheers, Ellen
connie moses said,
November 17, 2007 at 4:25 pm
Thanks Ellen for commenting!
The cart is called Easy-Entry, I don’t know manufacturer but I have seen several varieties. There is no adjustment to it that I know of, just the big fat rubber tires. It is quite durable.
You’re right about the traces being floppy, although he IS pulling only from the traces. There are a couple reasons for that, one is that there are no keepers on the shafts and we forget to run the traces through the holdbacks, not being very picky about that in training. Another is that our ground is very uneven so he is not always pulling on level or uphill; on the downslopes the cart would be running up on him a lot.
Glad to learn about your site, it is very informative!