# Thoroughbreds and Carting



## Horsefreak13013 (Sep 29, 2014)

Hi everyone! I have this 7 year old Thoroughbred , Sally, and is currently boarded at a Saddlebred and Hackney pony facility. I was watching one of the horses in the cart and though "My horse could do that!" So now I'm looking into teaching her to cart, I haven't gotten a harness or anything yet, but she will be used to the harness when we get one as she is very desensitized to things all over her body. We have been ground driving her with a surcingle and she does great.  My next step would be to set up a whipple tree (Which someone said I could use) I haven't purchased a harness yet and am unsure of what to purchase. I haven't even thought to ask anyone else from my barn till now, haha. Thanks for all of the input!


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## 4horses (Nov 26, 2012)

Is your tb spooky? 

My tb would spook and bolt. It didn't matter how much you rode her or how much training she had. Only the calmest horses should be taught to drive.


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## Horsefreak13013 (Sep 29, 2014)

My tb has gone through a rigorous desensitizing routine. She is extremely calm for being 7 years old and a Thoroughbred, before I got her she was a lesson horse. I have been working on getting her used to many things so that one day, if I sell her, she would have a variety of different disciplines under her girth. She has seen carts for the length of time that I have owned her(Roughly 7 months) She has seen them move, stand still, and flip over, haha. I think that she could make a nice pleasure driving horse. (She is also a jumper and going into dressage)


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## CaliforniaDreaming (May 8, 2011)

4horses said:


> Is your tb spooky?
> 
> My tb would spook and bolt. It didn't matter how much you rode her or how much training she had. Only the calmest horses should be taught to drive.


And the irony is even the most steady eddie driving horse can have a moment and just lose it. That's how I'm spending my summer with a broken knee instead of driving my awesome guy and riding and having fun.

OP, as the saying goes, green and green make black and blue, and the saying couldn't be truer for driving. How much experience have you got? Ground driving is one thing, my little mare does it since horses are often ground driven prior to be ridden as youngsters (how do you think she'll react to a crupper and blinkers?) but you'll have to go through a set process of dragging weight and such. It might be in your better interest to get her ground driven to a point where she knows that kind of stuff, do a little weight pulling, and then send her to a very experienced driving trainer to deal with getting the harness on her, and evaluating her as well as putting her into the cart and training her to drive. 

Driving can be a lot of fun. But it can also be an accident waiting to happen (although the same could be said for almost any horse-related situation.). 

Good luck.


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## Horsefreak13013 (Sep 29, 2014)

CaliforniaDreaming said:


> (how do you think she'll react to a crupper and blinkers?) but you'll have to go through a set process of dragging weight and such. It might be in your better interest to get her ground driven to a point where she knows that kind of stuff, do a little weight pulling, and then send her to a very experienced driving trainer to deal with getting the harness on her, and evaluating her as well as putting her into the cart and training her to drive.
> 
> Driving can be a lot of fun. But it can also be an accident waiting to happen (although the same could be said for almost any horse-related situation.).
> 
> Good luck.


I am working with a driving trainer currently, but we have been focusing on ground work and riding mostly. This is mostly a crazy idea that comes to mind because I would love to drive my own horse. I have driven a Saddlebred and various drafts before. My horse is completely cool with blinkers, but I still have to introduce a crupper. Thank you all so much.  This is probably a fleeting fantasy, but with work I believe that she could make a nice driving horse. Did you train your horse to drive CaliforniaDreaming?


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