06.27.08

Driving horse pairs training, step-by-step

Posted in Horses for the horse crazy at 4:33 pm by petArtist Cmoses

As I did with Glendale’s initial driving training, I am now following our sessions with the two brothers preparing them to be driven together as a pair. If all goes smoothly, we hope to first hitch them together in July, with help from a professional. We now have pairs harness plus a pole for our Eagle 4-wheel carriage. (Also, Hubby got a front-facing rear seat for the Eagle, to be more comfortable and sociable for passengers.)

Each training Session will be added into this post as it occurs, so you may check back here for the latest progress reports. Please refer to Training our horses to drive as a pair– BACKGROUND for background details.

Please see my Horse training disclaimer

Glen and Gilford pretending to be a pair (see SESSION 4 below)
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SESSION 1 June 15, 2008
First Goal, on the ground– to introduce the concept of moving side by side

With daughter Emmie’s assistance as a third set of hands, we fit the pairs harness on the boys, including bridles with blinders and pairs reins. Our plan was for Emmie and I to lead the horses from in front (using leadropes to the bridles) and for Dad to walk behind controlling the driving reins. He would drive them by voice and rein and we would be leading to reinforce the ideas and to guide them as needed.

We used baling twine to tie them together at their chests, via the pole straps on their harness breast collars. (Twine would break away easily in a panic situation;l however, with the pairs reins in use the horses would still be attached to each other by their reins… maybe not so good.)

We set up Gilford on the near (left) side and Glendale on the off (right) side. Our reasoning was that Gil being more experienced would be less likely to shy at passing traffic, although an argument could be made the other way too, because scary distractions can come from the side of the road as well.

Gilford as the near (left) horse of the pair (see SESSION 4 below)

I had Gilford’s lead line, and Emmie had Glen, having to lead him from his right side. We walked a couple of turns around the paddock this way OK, then Glen had a sudden reaction to Gilford indicating he may have gotten bumped by him on his left hip. Glen jumped a little then started traveling crooked with his right hip to the outside and his head turned inside to his left. We felt he maybe got startled by Gil bumping him and because of his blinders he couldn’t see behind himself to understand what was going on.

Although Emmie tried to correct Glen’s body position and we kept on leading for a while, Glen never really let go of this worry he had. One other reason he may have been swinging his butt to the outside could have been the influence of his cross rein. Pairs reins have two reins in the driver’s hands which split into a Y-shape before they reach the horses’ bits, giving the driver right-side control in his right hand and left-side control in hiss left hand.

Because of the Y split, the two reins between the two horses, called cross reins, come into the inside of the bit at an angle, thus creating a slight sideways pull on the inside of the bit. Both the horses and the driver have to adjust to pairs reins– the horses have to learn that this pressure does NOT mean “turn to the inside.”

We finished up this first session feeling pretty frustrated and wondering if Glen was going to be able to deal with this pairs stuff or not.

SESSION 2 June 16, 2008

Suspecting that wearing blinders and using cross reins could be a hindrance in the introductory stages, and now remembering the training “rule” of keeping things simple and introducing a new concept ONE PIECE AT A TIME, in our second Session of pairs training we decided all we wanted the boys to do was to walk side by side quietly in a straight line. So we harnessed them partially (saddles and breast collars but no breeching) and we did not bridle them, we used their rope halters.

We tied them together at the chests with baling twine again, to give a little of the feel of being fastened together, then Hubby led Gilford and I led Glendale next to each other. Coordinating with each other, we simply walked them around the paddock, keeping their noses as even with each other as we could. In executing turns, this meant that the outside horse needed to walk a little more briskly than the inside horse, and/or that the inside horse’s walking pace needed to be held in check just a little.

In this situation, Glendale started out acting just a little worried about his left hind side being too close to Gilford, but he quickly got over that and just walked straight. Gilford meanwhile seemed very content to be doing something so simple and easy (and short) and to be beside his brother.

Hindsight being perfect, we should have kept our first session simpler; THIS should have been our first session. We had had it in our heads that we needed 3 people to start out and do what we did, including actually trying to drive them with the pairs reins, but obviously that was too many new things to introduce at once. Though Gilford wasn’t bothered by anything in Session 1, younger (and slightly more reactive) Glendale definitely was. This session today was much more positive and gave us renewed optimism!

SESSION 3 June 17, 2008

For a while Hubby has been piecing together his version of a pairs training pole. Though we have not seen one mentioned in training guides, there are various types of drags that can be used in beginning driving training for single horses, to simulate for the horses the feel of shafts against their sides and of pulling something behind them while they are being ground driven.

So clever Hubby made a sort of T-pole out of 1 1/2-inch PVC pipe, with eye bolts attached for the pole straps and traces to hook into. [NOTE: we now feel that 2-inch PVC would be stronger and have less flex.] As usual, I was a bit leery of this contraption, but I could see the reasoning behind it so was OK with trying it out. This experimentation would require me to walk behind the horses, holding the singletree crosspiece up off the ground, while Hubby alone led both horses forward. I mentally crossed my fingers and hoped for the best, putting a lot of faith in the steady temperaments of the brothers and their proven abilities to get along well with each other.

Training/practice pole as seen from rear, made of PVC pipe. 2-inch diameter pipe would be better.

and with horses attached by traces on their sides, pole straps to the breastplate and to the neck “braking” strap, and baling twine to their harness breeching on the inside to hold it up. Green striped rope out behind is pulled on by me walking behind, to add some resistance, simulating the “load” of a carriage.

We started out harnessing in the barn aisle, as we have done each time, just as if we were going to take them out and hitch them to a carriage. We used baling twine again to fasten their pole straps to the front piece of the PVC pole. Also, to help support the practice pole in the rear so that it wouldn’t fall down and bang the horses’ hind legs, we tied baling twine from the center pole onto the inside breeching of the harnesses. The pole was so lightweight, it actually was held up by itself this way while they stood in the aisleway.

We were still working out the best way to attach the traces to the singletree, and used S-hooks this time which were a pain to insert into the trace slot and had to be adjusted carefully with pliers to make their gap spacing just right. Also, the pieces of the pipe were not glued together, since this was a trial run. Hubby assured me that they were pressure-fit really tightly, he had banged them in with a hammer and he couldn’t pull them out. I said, “well the horses could pull them out if they jumped around” and he thought maybe it was better if it popped apart in that instance. I had my doubts…

The boys modeling the PVC practice pole designed by Hubby. Note pole straps securing short T-ends of the pole to their breast plates.

Anyway, with them “hitched” up to this pole, he led them out the barn into the paddock and I walked behind, using a rope around the back end of the pole to pull back against and give them resistance against their breast collars, simulating pulling a load as well as keeping their traces taut against their sides, which encouraged them to walk straight. They led around easily from their rope halters and we took some turns around the paddock, feeling pretty pleased with ourselves.

After a few circuits and changes of direction, we were making our last turn back to the barn when the T-bar Gilford was attached to pulled out of the pole joint. Hubby stopped them and Gilford scooted a little feeling the piece of PVC pipe hitting his hind ankles/dragging on the ground, but we whoaed him and they both stood OK while I unfastened both their traces from the contraption, and Hubby unfastened their pole straps. OK, this could have been a real setback with a flighty horse, and we don’t know what would have happened if Glendale’s side had come loose, but it wasn’t any disaster.

As I observed Hubby leading them together back into the barn, it reminded me of watching the draft teams in Acadia Park’s Wildwood Stables being handled; they just walked along side by side like they had done it all their lives.

LESSON LEARNED: If you’re going to do something experimental, don’t set yourself up for an accident. We should have asked ourselves “What would be worse, the horses getting jumpy from something external to the pole (and how likely is that inside their paddock with someone leading them), or having the pole itself pop apart and making them scared of that?” Maybe there’s no easy answer…

SESSION 4 June 18, 2008

This time the PVC practice pole is glued together securely. We still feel comfortable leading them from rope halters. We go out from the barn and do many circuits, including somewhat tighter turns. Hubby starts to allow them to feel for themselves while circling that the outside horse needs to speed up a little.

SECOND “HITCH” as a pair, led out by Hubby. At the start, the rear of the pole is not held up by me, then I grab the rope… and notice that Glen’s outside trace (on the right) has come unfastened, so we pause to secure that and then proceed. I must say, DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME because leading them around in halters does not give you much control over them, and we should know better. Do as I say, not as I do…

When Hubby, who is giving the voice commands, whoas them back in the barn, I push forward on the pole to simulate what a carriage would do. The pole straps on front of the pole are the brakes, being attached to a neck strap which is actually called a “brake strap;” since we are using breeching, the stopping force goes through the harness to their butts, which they are accustomed to from singles driving. (The Eagle, as most 4-wheel carriages, has a foot brake for the driver to hold back the carriage on downhills… otherwise a heavier carriage would overrun the horses and be too much for them to slow down with horsepower alone.)

Finally today I am able to get some pictures, and even a couple of videos while walking behind them, pulling back on the pole with my left hand and holding the camera in my right. This is a gratifying session, as they are taking to this like ducks to water!! Interestingly enough, Gilford is the one who seems most comforted by having his little brother right beside him. Maybe not so surprising, since Gilford is a wimp and Glen is dominant over him, though Gil is less reactive to things…

We couldn’t be more pleased!! Next step is getting them used to the different feel of the pairs reins! MORE Videos coming soon!!!

SESSION 5 June 28, 2008

For this session with the boys, our good friend HorseGal was visiting and helped us out by taking all these pix and videos! THANK YOU HORSE GAL!!!

Having done great so far while being led, we felt the brothers were ready to be ground driven using the pairs reins. (Remember, in Session 1 baby Glendale acted confused by the cross-reins, in which the inside rein puts a slight sideways pull on the horse’s mouth, different from other reins while driven or ridden…)

They were very quiet standing side by side while we fastened them to the PVC training pole and then attached their driving reins, which we had to futz around with due to our own lack of practice. Pairs driving reins differ from single driving reins in the use of half-length reins called cross reins. In your hands you have only two reins, the right rein turns both horses to the right because it goes to the right side of each horse’s bit. Each rein in your hand splits into a Y before it reaches the horses; your left-hand rein goes to the left side of each horse’s bit.

Cross-reins being attached to both horses… we still are using open bridles on them. When driving a pair, it is difficult to correct an individual horse with the reins because both horses feel each rein when you apply pressure. Therefore, the horse’s training should continue on an individual basis (driving singly) in order to refine and perfect that horse, or to correct any issues that might arise during pairs driving. Your voice, and signaling with the whip, will be the influencing factors on each horse of a pair.

Showing the PVC training pole, each horse having two traces attached to it on either side; the traces will be attached to the doubletree/eveners on the carriage when they are hitched. The horses pull the carriage along by means of the traces, which continue around the horse’s chest via the breastplate.

I put a leadrope on Glendale and walked beside him out into the paddock, letting Hubby drive the horses and steer them while I was there for support if needed. Hubby gave them the voice command “walk on” and they walked beside each other nicely.

Starting out with Hubby ground driving Gilford and Glendale together, using pairs reins, and I have leadrope on Glendale. The PVC ple is supported in back only by a piece of baling twine tied to each horse’s inside breeching (note how the pole flops around quite a bit.)

Shortly I took the lead line off and moved behind the rig. Using a rope tied to the pole, or at times holding the crosspieces, I pull back to give resistance so they will sort of be “pulling” a load.

Hubby ground driving the boys while I pull back on the pole to give resistance, simulating a carriage behind them.

It was awkward for me trying to stay out of the way of the reins; obviously I had no fear that either of the guys would try to kick me. They are fine with all this, never flinch a muscle. They even seem to know when we speak to each one indiviually to step up or to stop trying to play with brother.

Performing a “whoa” is no problem, again using voice commands and also pulling back gently on the reins.

Next we swap places, I drive them at a walk while Hubby pulls back on the pole.

I stay walking on the right side while ground driving, which is the side of the carriage I would sit on, and I don’t even try flipping the reins over Hubby’s head! This PVC pipe is 1 1/2 inch diameter, I think 2-inch would be better because this one flexes a bit when they are turning.

I drive them back up into the barn after several turns around the paddock. What a pair!


Note how calmly they stand while we detach them from the PVC pole and move it out of the way. We couldn’t be more pleased with their dispositions and willingness to do this stuff! Would you believe that Glendale is the same horse that spooked at other horses so badly in Tom Curtin’s clinic that I fell off him…? Together they really do seem to calm each other down, at least in their pasture.

Glen and Gilford done for this session, wishing all their work was this easy!

The next and final new thing to add will be to put their full driving bridles on them, with blinkers. This should help stop Glendale from trying to pester his big brother Gil by nibbling at his face while they walk along! Then we may start ranging further afield. We look forward to hitching them to our carriage in July, with assistance from a professional trainer to be sure we do everything as safely as possible, and to get some coaching in pairs driving and how it differs from singles.

SESSION 6 July 5, 2008

In this attempted training session with the guys, our homemade training pole came apart as we were just leaving the barn, causing the piece of PVC pipe behind Glendale to fall down to the ground hanging off his traces. It ended up between his hind legs, he was just stepping around a bit while we got them both unfastened from the whole darn thing. But it didn’t really bother him, they both are so trusting we just tell them whoa and they settle right down. Joanne Gelinas Snow desensitized them so well with her initial ground handling training to that sort of thing, and we also worked with them since foals with feeling ropes around their legs and bodies!

Then we tried to ground drive them side by side WITHOUT the pole. They were wearing blinders again this time (their new pairs bridles), and Glen started doing what he did in SESSION 1, walking sideways with his head turned towards Gilford. So we decided to just drive Glen on the training cart, I was by then suspicious of how the new driving bridle with the blinders was working for him, because he was acting like he couldn’t see Gilford again. He had even bumped into the stall door when I first led him out (bridled and harnessed).

Well LOL– it turns out I had that new driving bridle really misfit, with the blinders too low and too close to his eyes, and he really WAS having a hard time seeing, not just Gilford but everything. Poor guy, that must have been what was bothering him when Emmie helped us take them out the very first time. Once I got the bridle and blinders properly adjusted, dad drove him put to the cart and he did just fine. In fact, if he has any more problems with going straight beside Gil I will be surprised, but if he does I’ll just get rid of the blinders again, at least for a while. He’s had no problems in the other Sessions without blinders.

SESSION 7 [LAST session of ground training prep] July 11, 2008

This training/practice session started out frustrating as once again the PVC training pole which Hubby had reglued (but not well enough) came apart on us a SECOND time. By this time the boys could have cared less about pieces of PVC pipe flopping around their hind legs, and they whoaed while we extricated them from the remains of the pole.

So to get something productive done (after spending a half hour just getting them harnessed), we ended up tying their traces together behind each of them with a length of rope, then Hubby ground drove them while I walked behind him pulling back on their traces. We had full driving bridles on them with blinders and they were fastened together at the chest by their pole straps.

They went along well, Glen did not seem bothered by the blinders anymore since I had fit his new bridle to his face properly and he could see as he was supposed to. FYI, the new pairs harness we had for them is synthetic. Our single harness from years back when we got Abby was a nice Smuckers leather, but over the years I have tired of all the cleaning needed for a leather harness.

We ended on a fine note, they did fine, and we felt they were ready for the BiG DAY coming shortly when they would be hitched together to a REAL carriage!
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We finally got an arrangement with the Carriage Barn in Newton NH, we’ll be taking the boys down there near Newburyport early next week and with pro assistance we’ll hitch them as a pair to the Eagle carriage. As you know, they have done amazingly well so far, they seem to love being side by side. Now that I have Glen’s bridle adjusted properly…

We’ve done everything but hitch them, we have the Eagle set up with a pole, they have each pulled the Eagle individually… you know all this!! We are all ready and psyched!

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