05.20.08
Glendale drives out in training cart
May 13. Today was gorgeous, one of those days which makes you remember why you enjoy living in New Hampshire! Glendale was ready for Session 6 of this year’s driving training– street work and going away from home. We did want a companion horse along, since we were going the farthest to date and he’s still only 2 3/4, so Hubby saddled up Gilford.
I drove Glen in the training cart, starting out following Gilford up the hill, but very shortly had to pass because Glendale couldn’t walk slowly enough to stay away from Gil’s butt. (He definitely was not rushing or acting nervous, it’s just that Gil tends to amble along unless he’s in a schooling session in a riding ring, ie. he has learned he can relax out on the “trail” so he does when possible.) Going down a long grade, Glen in front started to get a little agitated (shaking his head) which made me realize I couldn’t hear Gilford behind us; turned out Dad was walking him off in the grass and Glendale couldn’t hear his hoofbeats anymore. So I had to call back to Dad to put Gil onto the street because Glen was getting nervous. As soon as we could hear Gilford again, Glen settled down.
There were many new things the inexperienced young horse had to get used to today. First there was just plain old steering. Driving on a street challenges the driver to go in a specific straight line, on the right edge of the road without getting the wheel off on the shoulder except when desired. The green horse is not real practiced in going straight, and when he’s not under saddle you have no leg aids to help keep his body straight. It was an ongoing challenge to keep Glen straight, mainly to keep his head straight to his body, especially at a walk. When trotting, his momentum makes it easier to steer him straighter. We had this same challenge with Gilford starting him out, and still do to a small extent.
The driver must remain alert to ditches, mailboxes, bumps, pullouts, etc. and anticipate the best path, while watching out for traffic approaching and from behind. I did not want to keep Glen right on the edge of the road when there were deep ditches to my right, which he might easily drop a wheel into should he shy off to the right for any reason. Our horses are not usually bothered by traffic, thanks to their barn location on a pretty busy corner where they have seen all kinds of traffic, including fire trucks, ambulances and police cars, go by ever since they were foals. Any horse however can spook at any vehicle just by being out in a non-familiar situation and from being tense or nervous for any reason.
Next to challenge Glen was feeling the prolonged weight of the cart pushing against his breeching on a long downhill grade. I kept him to a walk and used half-halts, which are alternating tiny squeezes of the reins, to help him slow himself down and hold back the cart, so he doesn’t feel like he’s getting pushed down the hill. This lightweight training cart, like most 2-wheeled carts, does not have brakes, so the horse must be the brake on downhills. It can easily make a young driving horse uncomfortable or possibly really frightened to experience the cart pushing him down a hill the first time, and this was a long grade, but Glendale handled it well. I stopped him on the slope a couple of times to give him a break from the non-relenting pushing.
Next we turned off into a couple of different hayfields, where we had to stay at the outer edges or on specific tractor paths so as not to damage newly-emerging hay crops. More steering challenges! In one field the farmer was plowing. We approached quite closely, but didn’t want any spooks to cause haycrop damage right in front of the farmer, so we turned back. We practiced standing and not eating grass. Back on the streets, we stopped in a cul-de-sac, and while Hubby chatted with a neighbor, I did a little circle work with Glen in the round asphalt “ring”, tapping the buggy whip lightly on his outside hip to encourage him to step under himself in a tight turn. Then we practiced stopping, a little bit of backing, and standing quietly while we finished our conversation.
Driving past a constuction site was a little excitement when someone started up their air hammer, but Glen just scooted into a trot a little then came back to a walk. Bear in mind he was in front of Gilford most of the time, so he had no reassurance from bring able to watch his calmer brother. The biggest excitement was heading back home, when a small bulldog type critter ran out towards us barking like crazy. This did startle Glendale, who began cantering down the street with me firmly holding the reins and reining back telling him “whoa”– after a few strides he slowed to a walk, I never felt he was panicked or going totally out of control so that was a not-bad reaction to a scary stimulus. I noticed he did make a little butt lift when he started to run, and that the kicking straps caught him immediately, stopping any potential kick out behind. That’s what the kicking strap is for and it did its job!
All in all, a positive and productive training session. Glen got an extra couple of horse cookies back at the barn! (Sorry no pix this time, I had both my hands full! I’m not picture-crazy enough to try to carry a camera while I’m driving training!)
