# Sledding!



## littrella (Aug 28, 2010)

ok, now this is just the over-protective mother in me coming out.... How the heck do you plan on stopping that contrapion before you end up under the horses feet?!?!?!


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## Saddlebag (Jan 17, 2011)

You use your feet for breaks. The real fun starts when horse has a dump, hot and steamy and right in the path of the sled.


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## 40232 (Jan 10, 2013)

Saddlebag said:


> You use your feet for breaks. The real fun starts when horse has a dump, hot and steamy and right in the path of the sled.


I've never come close to going beneath my horses feet :lol: Usually i trot and then go down to a walk, so I don't really have a problem. Fortunately, my horse has not decided to relieve himself yet, and I hope he doesn't plan to :shock:


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## Skijoring (Nov 15, 2013)

Saddlebag said:


> You use your feet for breaks. The real fun starts when horse has a dump, hot and steamy and right in the path of the sled.


BWAAAHAHAHA!!!!!! :lol:


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## greentree (Feb 27, 2013)

That looks like fun!

You need the breast collar that goes straight across the chest, instead of a V, so he can pull with his chest instead of the girth. Hook the long "traces" to the breast collar.

Nancy


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## flytobecat (Mar 28, 2010)

That looks dangerous, but no more so than us having the horse drag you behind them on skis. Have fun, be safe! Hopefully you don't run into any green apples.


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## franknbeans (Jun 7, 2007)

When my friends do it, they use a longer rope, and either the rider holds it or it can be tied to the horn. THis makes it easier to release if there is an issue, and keeps it more off to the side for horses that aren't used to something coming up behind them. Shot-my kids used to do the same kind of thing behind cars on old hoods or bumpers….not that I condone that……;-)


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## EmilyJoy (Dec 30, 2011)

We do this all the time in the winter with our lazy laid-back quarter horse. 

Usually, though, we have two people doing it, one in the saddle and one on the sled. 
The person in the saddle has the rope wrapped a couple of times around the horn and then holds the tail in his hand (that way you can just drop the rope and get the horse away if need be). The person in the saddle monitors the speed and watches so the rope doesn't get caught under the horse's feet or so the horse doesn't get rammed in the heels. The person in the sled is responsible for hanging on, stopping himself or "bailing out" if something bad is going to happen. 

In my opinion, it's a great exercise for the horse to learn how to pull a bit of weight around and getting used to the noise of the sled going over snow/gravel etc. 

We ended up making a sled for hauling kids and maple sap. At first we used the pony but as much as she liked to pull it she really had a hard time pulling if it was loaded up with a ton of kids, so we had shafts made to fit Red.


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## EmilyJoy (Dec 30, 2011)

Bump...Didn't mean to murder the thread.


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## 40232 (Jan 10, 2013)

greentree said:


> That looks like fun!
> 
> You need the breast collar that goes straight across the chest, instead of a V, so he can pull with his chest instead of the girth. Hook the long "traces" to the breast collar.
> 
> Nancy



I'll have to try that! 

Thank you! I adore that horse in your picture btw. I would love to teach my boy to drive, but he is deathly afraid of carts :lol:


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## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

Hey looks like a heck of a lot of fun to me. But, I grew up riding on car hoods behind a team with no way to stop or keep from sweeping the horse's legs out if we turned too quickly LOL.


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## greentree (Feb 27, 2013)

Thanks Kylie!! She has been a most wonderful horse...DH calls her "BWF Tootsie...America's Favorite Horse" 

Nancy


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## Saddlebag (Jan 17, 2011)

At the stable where I rode as a teen, we harnessed the horse to the stoneboat, throw on a bale of straw and we were set to go. We liked to go late at night during bright moonlight. There's be no wind, clear skies. Add the sound of the hooves crunching on the hard pack and the beauty of it all was almost too much.


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## FoxRidgeRanch (May 20, 2008)

I just came back inside from sledding with my coming 4 yr old Nova, its so nice out today and we just got a ton of fresh fluffy snow so we slid good


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## JeepnGirl (Jan 15, 2013)

That looks fun!
I remember finding parts of a harness and thinking as a kid, that it would be great to get it on my horse and have her pull my Radio Flyer around. It worked until something broke on the girth and all fun came to a stop. When I was a kid, I also figured horses just knew how to do things like that! LOL She never knew how to pull a cart. Let alone a clanky metal kids toy. 

Emily! I love your sled. I will have to show your picture to my husband and see if he'll make one for me.


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## cowgirl4753 (Aug 3, 2012)

Looks like fun to me! We used to hook up to a big truck tire with plywood bolted to the bottom. Hooked up and rolled! One year I even bought battery operated lights and did up his harness and drove around the neighbourhood. Was lots of fun!!
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## EmilyJoy (Dec 30, 2011)

Thank-you Jeepngirl, I like it too! I think I have all the measurements still for a one horse sled, a person could just scale it down for a smaller horse/pony, if you would like them.

Also we had the shafts made at a welding shop, probably the most expensive part of the whole sled, and if I was doing it again I would have had them made with a shorter curve. The runners were made out of green treated wood. Everything else was combination of reg. pine wood and plywood, painted with a paint made for metal which was recommended to me by a painter. I sanded it first with a rough sandpaper, put one coat on, then lightly sanded it again with a smaller grain and put a second coat on. Altogether I put three layers on... So far, in the second year, nothing has faded or rusted, but the iron that we shod on the bottom of the wood runners, which isn't a big deal.


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## JeepnGirl (Jan 15, 2013)

That would be great Emily. We have horses with the smallest being 14 hands. So if that is what your sled is made for, it'll be perfect!


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## EmilyJoy (Dec 30, 2011)

Here's a rough list of the supplies I got;

Strap Iron~ 1/4" thick x 2" wide by 6' I'll probably shod the runners before putting the rest together.
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Runners-(green treated)
2" thick 12" wide x 5' long board
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Box sides (reg. board)
1-1" thick x 12" x 8' (2 sides each 4' long)
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Tailgate (reg. board)
1-1" x 12" x 4'
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Floor & Dash-(plywood)
1 sheet of 3/4" thick 4'x8' plywood
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Side supports (2x4)
2-2x4 cut in half length wise then cut into pieces width ways. (2 pieces 3 1/2' & 6 pieces 1-1/2')
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Box Support (2x4)
5- 2x4x8 
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Misc. stuff like screws & bolts. 

Hope this helps? The sled really wasn't that hard to build, we probably had the whole thing put together in under one day. The painting is what takes the longest.


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## JeepnGirl (Jan 15, 2013)

Thanks Emily!


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## FoxRidgeRanch (May 20, 2008)

A girl that I took out sledding the other day took this from behind me


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## EmilyJoy (Dec 30, 2011)

^^Is the breaching (sp?) strap supposed to be that low?


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## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

^^No, not really. Ideally, it should be up just below the point of her butt like this









BUT, the main reason for it to be up there on a horse that's actually attached to a proper wagon/sled/etc, if they are trying to stop the momentum, the britchin can basically take their hind legs away from them if it's hung too low. Since there's no chance of that in the picture, then the most they really have to worry about is wearing the hair off of the leg just above the hock....and even that's unlikely as I'm sure they aren't doing it for hours every day.

FoxRidgeRanch, you could actually take that strap off for all the good it's doing you :wink:.


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## FoxRidgeRanch (May 20, 2008)

Probably not, Its not an actually harness. It was a balance training system i bought a long time ago, I just never use the reins for it. Shes wearing a surcingle, and the rear strap and a breast collar. Lines run down from the lower rings on the surcingle thru the rings on the rear strap so they don't wander, down to the sled. The reins run from her halter through the mid-height rings on the surcingle to my hands. I wish I got a better picture, I really really want to get a legit harness and cart but am toooooo broke right now. She we just take it slow around the neighbor hood. This is what she has on, MINUS the Reins










Ill try taking it off next time, We only sled once or twice a week for an hour and its in straight lines down the back dead end roads I try not to turn when in the sled because the lines hit her legs.


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## FoxRidgeRanch (May 20, 2008)

I mainly bough this for the surcingle and will sometimes attach the stretchy reins on the saddle and a halter but loosely when I'm first teaching a younger horse forward movement and light flexing


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## FoxRidgeRanch (May 20, 2008)

I asked Shayne to get a few pictures today for me, We tried it without the rear strap and it was fine, I had to hook the anchor lines to a higher ring because they seemed to be swiping across her legs more then when I had them run through the strap rings. What do you think?


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## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

Looks good to me...and looks like a heck of a lot of fun.

We've got the framework from an old sled out behind the barn but the wood has rotted completely away. I need to get some new lumber and get it put back together for the rare occasion we actually get snow....like today LOL.


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## Zexious (Aug 2, 2013)

^I'm with you, smrobs. That looks hella fun!


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## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

Then again, maybe I should just go to the dump and pick up an old car hood:rofl:. That's what we used to do when I was a kid. Dangerous as heck, but super fun.


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