# training for driving



## crimson88 (Aug 29, 2009)

I suggest you find a good trainer to atleast help with some of the work. I know that you said you have no one to help you, but I'm sure with some research there has to be a trainer SOMEWHERE in your area that can help. I'm not saying that you're not capiable of training a horse to drive yourself, but driving is way more dangerous than riding and a simple mistake can end up seriously endangering you or your horse.


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## jimmy (Aug 26, 2009)

crimson88 said:


> I suggest you find a good trainer to atleast help with some of the work. I know that you said you have no one to help you, but I'm sure with some research there has to be a trainer SOMEWHERE in your area that can help. I'm not saying that you're not capiable of training a horse to drive yourself, but driving is way more dangerous than riding and a simple mistake can end up seriously endangering you or your horse.


 hi crimson really interesting you should say driving is more dangerous,i wonder if thats just a personal view,i used to ride[not for years now] i can,t walk right for a week if i ride now,but i do drive a horse 5/6 days a week,from 8am until 2pm[winter] longer in the summer and i feel safer driving then i ever did riding ,i suppose its differant strokes for differant folks


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## crimson88 (Aug 29, 2009)

jimmy said:


> hi crimson really interesting you should say driving is more dangerous,i wonder if thats just a personal view,i used to ride[not for years now] i can,t walk right for a week if i ride now,but i do drive a horse 5/6 days a week,from 8am until 2pm[winter] longer in the summer and i feel safer driving then i ever did riding ,i suppose its differant strokes for differant folks


There is no doubt that driving is indeed more dangerous than riding. A lot of people believe that driving is safer than riding since you are not actually on the horse's back. However, I know of more deaths from driving than I do riding. Horses with a moving vehicle directly behind them is just asking for trouble when they are not fully prepared for it. Even when they are, depending on the horse, horses are more likely to spook at surrounding objects, noises or conditions. Espeacially when impaired with blinders. 

When horse's bolt undersaddle, we have our voices, seat and reins too stop them. When driving, we only have voices and reins and the use of our reins is limited because of the placement of the terret rings. One rein stops on a bolting horse is one way we stop a bolter, but when in shafts the horses body aligment stays in a straight line. Any horse can run with it's head over to the side, it's not as effective as a one rein stop mounted. "sawing" on the reins is another way to stop a bolter, but again with the horse's straight body aligment in the shaftes they typically brace agaisnt this method.

Bolting is a very common issue in driving and it can easily kill horse and driver if the horse is not controlable. It takes a very sane, well rounded, and well broke horse to be a safe driver.

Not saying that actually riding on a horse's back doesn't have it's accidents (We've all had and seen those) but driving is much more dangerous. 

Another common issue with driving is kicking. On most carts, we are seated directly behind the horse's rear end. Without a kicking strap, the driver can easily get a hoof in the face with one blow, I've seen it happen.

Here is a video of what can go wrong, trust me I've seen stuff like this happen more than once.


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## PerchiesKisses (Dec 6, 2010)

Sorry Crimson, I have to politely disagree with everything you said above. I think both riding and driving can be equally dangerous for the same reasons.

Name one thing a carriage horse can do wrong, and I'll bet you a bag of carrots that a riding horse can do and inflict just as much damage. It's all about properly preparing your horse for whatever discipline you intend them for. A riding horse can kick, bolt, rear, buck, hit a car, kill a person, seriously damage itself and others... just like a carriage/driving horse can.

And blinders *do not* impair a horse. They can be quite useful in focusing the attention of the horse ahead and changing the big scary rattling thing chasing them into noise.

That being said, back to the OP's question:

Training a horse to drive can be easy if done right and you have a horse with a good mindset. The important thing is to progress at the horse's pace and teach everything in step.

The book that I found the most helpful was the book Training Workhorses/ Training Teamsters. Granted it uses big drafts, but the principles for dirving remain the same.

Training Work Horses, Training Teamsters by Small Farmer's Journal, Draft and Wo at Back40Books.com

I've trained all three of my horses to drive, and find that the driving itself comes easily. Sometimes you can run into issues with pulling, but there are always solutions - the big thing is not to overburden the horse in the beginning.


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## Endiku (Dec 6, 2010)

I would also have to disagree with you Crimson. I would not go so far as to say that driving is safer that riding, but I do not think that it is more dangerous. The video that you posted is sad, and quite a mess- yes, but these are hot-blooded, high strung arabians/morgans/saddlebreds, bred to look lively in shows, but dangerous if something goes wrong. Besides that, I think that they handlers only made the situation worse, and that a lot of that could of been prevented if someone had actually been thinking.

I'm training my miniature horse mare to drive, and she is nothing even close to a dead broke, calm animal. But I'm moving in slow, easy to understand steps, and she's doing absolutely wonderful. I couldn't be more proud of her.

OP- I do agree with one thing that crimson said. A good trainer to help you is always a great idea, even if it's someone you can call up when you're confused or have a problem. Surely there is someone who is willing to help you, if you look hard enough.

Training to drive in itself isn't hard at all, but you must make sure that you do things in the correct order, and give your horse time to adjust. You'll want a soft mouthed-responsive animal, not one who braces against you and does the opposite of what you say. In order to do that, it's always best to have an experienced handler there to help you out, especially if you're a green driver training a green horse!


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## crimson88 (Aug 29, 2009)

I know that any equestrian activity is dangerous. I'm just speaking from personal exprience. I have seen more accidents from driving, ending up in serious injury and death, than I have riding. And I've been riding way longer than I have been driving. Luckily, I've never been envolved in any sort of accident, but I've seen wrecks happen like the video I posted above more times than not. 

Driving wrecks are a heck of a lot worse than most riding wrecks.


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## Endiku (Dec 6, 2010)

Seems to me that if your horse is bolting, you should just bail out, which is what the drivers in the video did- get the hell out of the way, and wait for the animal to calm down. Not chase it and chance getting bulldozed over. That'd make things quite a bit safer. If you don't think you can 'ride' it out, bail!


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## PerchiesKisses (Dec 6, 2010)

You're right: a driving wreck can be scary... I think more because the size of the horses, plus that often you have more than one animal involved can be the reason they look so horrific. 

I had a team of small-ish (still 1600lbs each) Belgians take off with me in a wagon once. Honestly one of the most frightening moments of my life.. I thought I was honestly going to die - the mare had broke her bridle, and the gelding had broke his bit... and they were barrelling along with the broken bridle slapping them repeatedly. They only stopped when the mare slipped and fell, dragging her teammate to a stop. Thankfully no one was seriously hurt.

But driving is also one of the most rewarding disciplines out there - personal preference only. And a driving horse dancing proudly in the shafts is a wonderful experience. A horse who you enjoy working with and who enjoys the job they have is a pleasure. I drove my Percheron gelding all around my township and we were always safe and never experience any issues that put us in serious danger while driving. 

Ideally, you want the goal for a driving horse to respond off voice alone. We had a rein come off once when we were driving along, and my wonderful gelding heard my "whoa" and came to a smooth stop so that I could jump down and run to his head to refasten the rein. 

There is a huge difference between a show-trained driving horse and a pleasure-trained driving horse.


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## crimson88 (Aug 29, 2009)

I agree and really it doesn't matter what size the animal you are driving. A women in my area died from a mini who took off on her in a field, the wheels hit a rock, bounced her forward and she hit her head on the waffle tree/dash area and that was the end of her. 

My stallion I broke to drive as a three year old, has been showing at local level (can't do much traveling at this time with college, but he did earn a championship at local level with very limited showing) but he is one of the calmest and well behaved horse's I've ever driven. I can truely say that he is a safe driving horse, despite the fact he's young, only been driving for 2 an a half years and a stallion. Of course with supervision, I would much prefer a child driving him than my gelding, as the gelding is a hot stinker and doesn't take much for him to get excited or spooked and threaten to bolt. Heck, my stallion can go driving bitless on a trail and he is always calm and unexcited. 

A lot of it depends on the horse AND the driver. When you have a good, sane horse and a good, sane trainer everything really just comes together well. Thats why (as I mentioned above) training really is everything. Most the time the wrecks are caused by a spooked greenie, that was never "pre conditioned" to drive. It takes so much ground work before you can expect a horse to pull a moving vehicle behind them. Not just ground work to condition the horse to pulling objects behind them, but the whole "de-spooking", espeacially to noise. That's what really seems to spook 'em, something like a plastic bag or a banner or anything thats not in their range of view behind them (because of the blinders) that really gets them spooked. 

The video happened to be at a regionals arabian show. I don't know the cirumstances as to why the first horse bolted, but ANY horse is capable of doing just what happened in that video. It doesn't matter wiether it's a hot show horse or not. I'm not saying the way they train their horses didn't have something to do with it, but any horse is capable of doing just what happened there regardless.


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## Ladytrails (Jul 28, 2010)

I ride and drive and am actually much more cautious about driving. In riding, I can always back up wherever I need to, and I can take to the ditch safely to make room for vehicles on our gravel roads or streets. 

In arena driving, maybe it's not a big difference in risk, but if you're on roads or streets (I have driven on both) you have to have a traffic-safe animal. In bouncing around in a 2 wheel cart, I've realized that it's just one more jolt and I'm out of the cart...I could bail out of the cart easier than out of the saddle, in an emergency, but I'd not be able to keep hold of the horse to keep it out of harm's way.

I do agree, also, that it is an awesome feeling to be behind a happy horse with lovely movement, the wind in your hair and knowing that the driving experience, for the horse, is all about trusting you.


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## PerchiesKisses (Dec 6, 2010)

I agree completely with the above post Crimson 

A good, knowledgeable trainer can be the difference between safe and dangerous. I've seen that video before as well... it's one of those scary chain reactions that no one wants to be a part of; where you know it just can't end well.


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## churumbeque (Dec 20, 2009)

Endiku said:


> Seems to me that if your horse is bolting, you should just bail out, which is what the drivers in the video did- get the hell out of the way, and wait for the animal to calm down. Not chase it and chance getting bulldozed over. That'd make things quite a bit safer. If you don't think you can 'ride' it out, bail!


 You should never bail out, you need to try and gain control. That driver fell out and was an old man. With no one in the cart it just chased the horse flailing and wreaking havoc. Had he been able to styay in the cart he may have regained control before it all went so bad.


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## churumbeque (Dec 20, 2009)

PerchiesKisses said:


> You're right: a driving wreck can be scary... I think more because the size of the horses, plus that often you have more than one animal involved can be the reason they look so horrific.
> 
> I had a team of small-ish (still 1600lbs each) Belgians take off with me in a wagon once. Honestly one of the most frightening moments of my life.. I thought I was honestly going to die - the mare had broke her bridle, and the gelding had broke his bit... and they were barrelling along with the broken bridle slapping them repeatedly. They only stopped when the mare slipped and fell, dragging her teammate to a stop. Thankfully no one was seriously hurt.
> 
> ...


 It is very important to have good safe equipment so incedents like these do not happen. lots of accidents are human error which make it scary for the rest of us poor souls in the path of destruction.


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## PerchiesKisses (Dec 6, 2010)

churumbeque said:


> It is very important to have good safe equipment so incedents like these do not happen. lots of accidents are human error which make it scary for the rest of us poor souls in the path of destruction.


Agreed completely. My freak accident was entirely my fault. It was the first time I went to drive completely alone - and I wasn't suppose to be going far, just turning the team around in the yard so that the second team could get by us. But I wasn't paying enough attention to my equiptment, so I didn't notice that Ruby - my mare - had rubbed her bridle off. And by the time they got going it was already too late to stop them... I have no idea what exactly happened to Max's bit.

I'll tell you though, I never miss an opportunity to check my tack now! lol


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## churumbeque (Dec 20, 2009)

PerchiesKisses said:


> Agreed completely. My freak accident was entirely my fault. It was the first time I went to drive completely alone - and I wasn't suppose to be going far, just turning the team around in the yard so that the second team could get by us. But I wasn't paying enough attention to my equiptment, so I didn't notice that Ruby - my mare - had rubbed her bridle off. And by the time they got going it was already too late to stop them... I have no idea what exactly happened to Max's bit.
> 
> I'll tell you though, I never miss an opportunity to check my tack now! lol


In driving the throat latch should be tighter than when riding. This is so they bridle can't rub off. Just a tip in case you didn't know this. Some people actually braid the bridle to the horses hair as a safety.


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## PerchiesKisses (Dec 6, 2010)

We hold our throatlatches on with snaps, the same style snaps found on dog leashes. The mare had been rubbing her face on the gate while she'd been tied and broke the snap, then rubbed it off.

My own personal pet peeve of that day was that I had one of the young volunteers at the barn untie my team. ... she's not the brightest thing going - and in the end it is my fault anyway because *I'm* the one ultimately responsible for my team - but anyways, I've always been a little ticked off that she unhooked them from the gate and never noticed the bridle hanging around the horse's neck.... :-| how dense can a person be? lol


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## jimmy (Aug 26, 2009)

crimson88 said:


> There is no doubt that driving is indeed more dangerous than riding. A lot of people believe that driving is safer than riding since you are not actually on the horse's back. However, I know of more deaths from driving than I do riding. Horses with a moving vehicle directly behind them is just asking for trouble when they are not fully prepared for it. Even when they are, depending on the horse, horses are more likely to spook at surrounding objects, noises or conditions. Espeacially when impaired with blinders.
> 
> When horse's bolt undersaddle, we have our voices, seat and reins too stop them. When driving, we only have voices and reins and the use of our reins is limited because of the placement of the terret rings. One rein stops on a bolting horse is one way we stop a bolter, but when in shafts the horses body aligment stays in a straight line. Any horse can run with it's head over to the side, it's not as effective as a one rein stop mounted. "sawing" on the reins is another way to stop a bolter, but again with the horse's straight body aligment in the shaftes they typically brace agaisnt this method.
> 
> ...


 well crimson,thats me told. lol but as i said it must be a personal thing,i drive 5/6 days a week and i feel saferdriving i,ve had horses kick and take off ,but i,ve never had one get away from me completely and if something does go wrong ,let motorists and evryone else look out for themselves,i,m looking out for the horse and myself


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## Alwaysbehind (Jul 10, 2009)

Ignoring the tangent - I will agree that getting a trainer is a good idea.

This book has lots of good information about starting a horse to harness.


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## churumbeque (Dec 20, 2009)

jimmy said:


> ,let motorists and evryone else look out for themselves,i,m looking out for the horse and myself


So if you hurt someone else that is their problem because they couldn't get out of the way?


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## jimmy (Aug 26, 2009)

churumbeque said:


> So if you hurt someone else that is their problem because they couldn't get out of the way?


well i would,ent put it as blatant as that ,obviously you would,ent want to see anyone hurt or damage caused but in that situation your full concentration would be on taking back control, with no injury to yourself or[if avoidable] the horse


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## Celeste (Jul 3, 2011)

About the video. Were those horses ok?


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## churumbeque (Dec 20, 2009)

Celeste said:


> About the video. Were those horses ok?


 Yes they were ok and the main horse went on to continue its driving career with out any issues


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## 5percherons (Dec 31, 2011)

Hi there I am new here but thought I would comment, I have trained horse to ride and had some wrecks and trained alot more horses to drive and a few wrecks, but my preference if I had to have a wreck would be while driving, not sure why maybe I'm a touch crazy.


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