12.01.07
Driving Mishap Caused by Inexperienced Trainers
An idea I am seriously toying with involves re-training momma mare Willy to hitch, and then someday to drive her and Glendale together; they would be a nicely-matched pair in color although Glen is somewhat larger than mom already. I say RE-train Willy because a few years back we rushed her when we were first learning to drive ourselves, she had a scary experience, and after that she wouldn’t get back between the shafts. (Well I never claimed we were perfect at all this horse-training stuff.)
Willy was trained to drive as a 3-yr.old before she was ridden, before we got her. So in 1999 when we bought the Meadowbrook cart, we assumed it wouldn’t take much to get her pulling it. (She was age 13 at the time.) We got help from an experienced friend, and had ground driven her and hitched her once or twice to the cart, pulling it with a side-walker on each side of her head and no blinders on.
This did not bother her at all, so next time out Hubby and I went it alone without our experienced helper around (first BIG mistake), we hitched her and I was leading her by a halter rope under her bridle (2nd BIG mistake) while Hubby walked beside the cart with her reins in hand. What apparently happened next, as we started into a turn, she caught sight of the cart behind her (no blinders on), which she probably had not seen the previous training session when she had a head-walker on each side of her blocking her rear views.
Sight of the cart startled her so close behind and she tried to scoot away from it, could not of course, then kicked back at it when she felt like it was CHASING her and ran harder, got loose from me (having only a rope to her halter– DUH!), I had to duck under and was lucky not to get run over by a cart wheel (I actually hit the ground and the center of the cart rolled above me), she broke her harness (flimsy lightweight– 3rd BIG mistake), and by the time Hubby got her stopped she had hind legs over the shafts from bucking and was totally freaked.
Obviously we were lucky as dog-do that she did not hurt herself OR US and the cart was not damaged. After that I tried re-training her several sessions, but feeling a shaft against either flank made her REALLY nervous. What we did wrong was to not be sure she had seen the cart following her and gotten used to the SIGHT of it before she was hitched to it. We had focused on getting her used to sounds and the feel of pulling it. And we probably should have started her with a training cart, not the heavier wooden (expensive, breakable) Meadowbrook cart.
I still believe letting the horse see it by training initially in an open bridle is a good idea, because sooner or later they WILL see it even with blinders on so better for them to know what it looks like from the start. THEN add blinders to help shield them from road distractions and to keep them focused forward and paying more attention to your voice and hands. Also, in training her sons to drive, we now use a bucking/kicking strap which hinders the horse from bucking or kicking out behind. This is a training and safety aid.
We did not pursue retraining Willy then because we got Abby and Abby was well trained to drive so we had little incentive to try to drive Wil. Abby taught US about driving. I’m sure Willy would still ground drive, and she is smart, so retraining could be done– and she and Glendale would be very flashy and a nice animated pair for showing… and we could always hitch her with steady Gilford for initial practicing, keeping in mind that Willy IS the boss mare so that if SHE got nervous it would tend to make either son paired with her become nervous too… so we’ll see. It will all depend on how steady Glendale becomes, and how ambitious I am. Stay tuned!!!
