# DIY Driving Qs



## ThatRoanHorse (Mar 2, 2017)

Hiya!

Long story short Duncan's gotten WAY better, especially with his groundwork. I've been working him every weekend for the past few weeks, and after Wednesday next week I'm home free to go out there as much as I want (with the exception of my part-time job ofc, but no more school for the summer! yay!)

I've been looking into teaching Duncan to drive. The problem is, I'm not really sure how to go about it as I really don't know much about Driving in general. The cart won't come for quite some time; long enough for me to get a good ground-driving foundation on him. BO has a cart but I'm pretty sure D will be much too tall for it.

Another thing: at least for now, I won't be buying a harness. My question is, is there a way I can DIY one? I have a breastcollar on hand along with two longe lines of the same length (23', I think) but I'm sitting here trying to figure out what to do for the cinch thing. I'm almost thinking of literally tying a string of rope or etc. around his girth area and attaching the breastcollar & lines to it for a makeshift basic harness. Opinions?


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## Mulefeather (Feb 22, 2014)

Don't DIY a harness.

There are tons of well-used harnesses out there that are cheap, and serviceable enough if you just want something to knock around in.

However - DIY driving equipment can be insanely dangerous if you don't know exactly how and why each piece works, and how it needs to be fitted and put together. 

Each piece of the harness works to handle the load the horse is hauling, and in a different way, just like the brakes, belts, and other parts of your car. Each piece is there for a reason. 

For safety's sake, please get someone knowledgeable to teach you about harnessing and driving a well-trained horse before you invest in your own harness. That way, you can also make sure the harness fits the horse, fits the cart, and that the pieces are all in working order. It also helps you to be able to know what to expect from him! 

For now, you can teach him most of what he needs to know with just a bridle and a surcingle, with long lines. You are teaching him the verbal cues first, and eventually the whip cues that act as your leg would when riding. You're not beating on him, just signaling that he needs to bend. 

I'd say it's worth it to invest in getting him broke to drive by a professional. Driving is one of those activities that isn't very forgiving of error, so it's important to know as much as you can before trying to break a horse to it.


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## ThatRoanHorse (Mar 2, 2017)

I meant a DIY harness to break him into driving, even I wouldn’t use a DIY harness (or car) to drive. 

BO has apparently trained horses to drive and there’s a couple who comes to town for shows that have a Gypsy trained to drive. They’ve offered to let me try but I’d rather not, especially before their class lol. If you think it’ll benefit Duncan and I, though, I can always ask them to show me the ins and outs.


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## ApuetsoT (Aug 22, 2014)

You can ground drive with with a surcingle or a saddle with the stirrups secured and the lines run through them. I prefer surcingle.


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## Kaifyre (Jun 16, 2016)

If you're interested in driving, I would spend a bit of money and see if you can get some lessons. That couple with the Gypsies would probably be happy to show you the basics for some cash, even for 30 minutes once a week or something. Nothing beats hands-on experience. I also had a lot of success watching videos, listening to seminars, going to clinics, and picking the brains of more knowledgeable people like a starved zombie. Driving is a bit of a lost art and in my experience when you ask someone to teach you they are over the moon about it - they love passing the torch, as it where. 

-- Kai


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## Kaifyre (Jun 16, 2016)

Also, see if you can get your hands on some decent driving movies or books. Check out your local library, I had some success there. 

-- Kai


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