# I have 2 y/o mini that i want to teach to cart how do i strt



## orchid park (Jun 1, 2008)

Hi,

I would make sure he is mouthed properly before progressing.

If there is a harness club etc in your area. Go along and speak with people and get and idea about all the harness. Little things like not knowing how tight or loose to do a breeching can be dangerous. You will need to learn how to harness, correct fitting of the gear and safety but in the mean time you can easily prepare him for driving by:

To start you only need two lunge leads, a bridle and lunge roller, and a whip. This is all you need to start from the ground. (The whip is purely used in place of leg aids, as you now only have hand, voice and whip). 
This is the method we use - 
No.1 always have a second pair of hands when you have a harness horse. Never do it on your own. 
No. 2 start out by long reigning / ground driving (If your horse is already mouthed). 
No. 3 then move into winkers / blinkers (these have eye blocks to stop the horse seeing the vehicle attached). 
No. 4 Then progress to him pulling a tyre or weight of some kind etc so he gets use to weight and the sound. 
No. 5 Now I begin to add harness for the horse to wear.


Regards,


Laura.


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## girl_on_black_pony (Jul 19, 2008)

Do they have to have blinders?


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## Lil Bits (Aug 11, 2008)

barrelgrl, since your horse is two, you realy shouldn't start having them pull a cart until he/she turns 3. Minis start pulling at that age and definitely can't be shown in driving until 3. He/she can start ground driving now though with no problems.

As far as blinders go they can be trained to pull in an open bridle but most don't. I don't think any show would allow open bridles.

Amanda


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