08.08.08
Pairs driving, first hitch of the boys
FIRST PAIRS HITCH/LESSON July 14, 2008
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WOW, today is the exciting day!! We have Glen and Gilford at the Carriage Barn in Newton, NH. We have harnessed them and led them around so they can see all the stuff in the indoor arena… several carriages and carts, mirrors, doorways etc. Trainer Mary Gray has helped us adjust harnesses and is now observing as Hubby ground drives the boys around the indoor.
Hubby ground drives the brothers for instuctor Mary Gray to watch, this is first time she has seen them or us and she evaluates their readiness.
They are fastened together at the chests only by the pole straps running off their harness breast plates. Always before (at home) we had them fastened on their hind ends as well, feeling the traces taut against their sides to encourage them to stay parallel to each other. I was wondering how they would do without feeling any traces, but they went quite well. They were a little loosey-goosey at times, spreading apart or one lagging behind, but mostly they moved in unison.
Seeing no issues at all with their ground driving, Mary had us go ahead and hitch them to our Eagle 4-wheeler. She helped us set the telescoping pole length properly and checked the fit of the harness parts relative to the pole and carriage.
Then, with a sidewalker assisting at each horse’s head (just in case), Hubby climbs into the box, says “Gilford… Glen… Walk On,” and off they drove. What a thrill! No jitters or jumpiness, no reactions, just walked and steered and that’s it. After a couple of circuits the unneeded sidewalkers sat at the end of the arena to watch (just in case) and Hubby drove around while Mary instructed and coached him, and I furiously snapped pix and video from the ground.
WALK ON says Hubby, and off they go! (first drive-around)
To say it was uneventful is true but misleading, because actually uneventful is exactly what you want. To say that the trainer was amazed is an understatement. Mary told us they were the easiest, smoothest pair she had ever seen start out. Mary commented on how often they were walking in sync with each other (legs moving together at the same striding pace), saying that is the goal with pairs and that it usually takes a lot of training and practice. Our guys were seeming to do it automatically!
Trainer/instructor Mary Gray remarking how amazing our guys are!
Mary says it was a testament to our solid ground work, their breeding and compatibility, and to being so similar in build, stride and disposition. Also that because they knew each other well, they didn’t have any horse issues to work out between them.
Hubby did some trotting then and much of their trotting was in sync too! Looking through the camera from beside them, I could frequently see only one set of legs, as if I was watching only one horse. It was awesome! You’d have to say they are well matched!
First trotting a bit rough, as horses and driver begin to learn how to be a coordinated unit.
Walking and trotting was not as smooth going around the turns at the ends of the arena; in curves and circles the outside horse must learn to stride out a little longer while the inside horse shortens his steps a little, to compensate for moving on a curve. The pairs driver much teach them this and they get better with practice. It is called keeping them both “in draft,” ie. pulling equally, which you strive for at all times, encouraging each horse to pull his half the load. The driver wants to watch the singletree behind the horses, and watch the traces for tautness, to continually finetune their efforts (or lack thereof) and keep both horses pulling evenly.
Here they smooth out and are moving very often in sync with each other. Mary coaches Hubby from the ground– it is awesome!
With nothing left to accomplish in this first hitch session, we ended for the day, leaving the boys at the stable and heading to Plum Island for a very enjoyable overnight with our friend and fellow horseperson Clare T. at her four star beach house summer home.
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Shared with permission of Mary Gray and Ann Miles at the Carriage Barn, Newton NH.
For the ground training leading up to this hitch, see previous posts:
Driving horse pairs training step-by-step
BACKGROUND
Ground driving horse training step-by-step
BigBan said,
August 16, 2008 at 8:21 pm
Oh, Thanks! Really interesting. keep working!