# Basic Tips??



## ilovestitch (Dec 22, 2006)

I have never driven anything, like with a cart behind it but i did teach my paint gelding to ground drive. I started him with lounging so he knew all the commands first and then I started on the ground driving and if you ride your gelding (and you use vocal commands) it should be an easy transition. The commands for turning and halting were the same when i taught my gelding from riding to ground driving just think of the lines being extended reins, and i used my vocal commands for halting and transitions (walk/trot). I dont know if that was any help or not


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## AlmagroN (Jul 19, 2009)

um pull left to turn left right to turn right both back to slow or stop.. yep... thats about it. there are things like sawing the bit or shaking it, but you really have to sit behind one to be able to feel when you need to do that. umm, light tap on the rump with either a whip or the lines to go, or you can chirp... pretty basic


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## CheyAut (Nov 26, 2008)

Gee and Haw are directional terms often used that your boy might know, you can try it out and see.


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## lillie (Oct 26, 2009)

if he has been driven he will probably be used to the left rein being kept steady, to keep him from falling in, whilst you give with the right rein, to turn left, and vice versa for right turn. and sawing on the mouth is generally not good. nor is reinflapping. i would advise some long reining using voice commands, with general groundwork and when he is responding well to you, i would attatch a log or small car wheel behind him with some baler twine which you can easily cut if you need to get him out of it in a hurry. get someone at his head while you try him out first too. and if he will pull the tyre or log happily for a week or so, i would then think about putting a cart behind him. even if he has been driven in the past, if he has had a gap, then he will need a refresher course, so to speak, and it is far easier to sort out any problems in easy stages, rather than end up with a big expensive or dangerous problem because of rushing things. ie. no point in getting hurt or wrecking a perfectly good cart.


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## AlmagroN (Jul 19, 2009)

lillie said:


> and sawing on the mouth is generally not good. nor is reinflapping.


no but these are things you NEED to know if you find yourself in trouble with a horse. sawing the bit can bring a horse from a beginning to run away on you, to a hult and back under control. just because its not something you need to do all the time, doesnt mean you should know WHEN you should use seomthing like that. 

and i dont see anything wrong with tapping on the rump with lines. its been done for many years without a problem. especially if this was an amish horse. this is what he was used to.


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## lillie (Oct 26, 2009)

i just have to disagree with you again then. one of the bonuses of learning from a good driving instructor, and spending several monthes training your horse so that it behaves sensibly and calmly in a tricky situation, and so that you learn the methods of actually being able to avoid a lot of those situations before they accelerate into a bolting horse etc. , is the fact that you dont need to saw on his mouth or flap your reins.


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## AlmagroN (Jul 19, 2009)

the fact of the matter is horses and situations are sometimes unpredictable. you cant stop every situation from happening, and you cant take a horses instinct of flight away from them. the only thing you can do is control it. just because YOU dont do it, doesnt mean its not a tactic that can be used properly and effectively.


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## lillie (Oct 26, 2009)

so tell me, if you had someone yanking on reins, and flapping them on your ****, and they attatched to a lump of metal stuck in your mouth, wouldnt you be unpredictable too, or hadnt it occurred to you that whatever you do with the reins has an effect on the horses mouth. and further, just because a horse has been owned by someone who may have flapped the reins in the manner that you think may have occured with a horse owned by amish, is no excuse for not trying to do it properly and with consideration, for the living , feeling, animal in your care, and for your own pride and enjoyment.


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## AlmagroN (Jul 19, 2009)

the key to everything is proper use. you dont saw the bit while tapping them with the lines. thats common sense. and if your horse doesnt know what that "big chunk of metal" is for in their mouth, then why are you driving them in the first place?


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## lillie (Oct 26, 2009)

my point exactly, which is why your replies to people- remember you are the person who told this girl to flap her reins etc- is so irresposible, and actually puts you in a position of being judged by your comments, which really are not coming across as a good advertisement for horsemanship.


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## AlmagroN (Jul 19, 2009)

lillie said:


> my point exactly, which is why your replies to people- remember you are the person who told this girl to flap her reins etc- is so irresposible, and actually puts you in a position of being judged by your comments, which really are not coming across as a good advertisement for horsemanship.


ya know what. im really getting tired of your replies. youre constantly calling me irresponsible and other names. thats not acceptable. maybe you should take a look at the forum rules again. just because you dont agree with somene doesnt mean you need to call them names and a bad horseman. 

she asked for basic tips, i gave them. i TOLD her about sawing the bit and such but that you NEED to sit behind a horse and learn how to use it. if youre going to sit around and tell every person that asks for any advice on here to go get a trainer, thats not going to help anyone. some people just cant afford that. do you think everyone in the world had an instructor to learn from? not really. and truthfully just because someone is an "instructor" doesnt mean theyre going to know it all and be perfect. there are many "vets" out there that i wouldnt let lay a hand on my horse because they really know nothing.


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## jimmy (Aug 26, 2009)

well girls i suppose thats the end of this thread lol


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## weefoal (Apr 4, 2009)

Getting lessons from a trainer is actually *very good* advice. There are so many things that cannot be explained fully in type. Too many things a novice cannot see. Driving horses is a very dangerous hobby or sport and should not be taken lightly. Cannot tell you how many wrecks I have seen caused by green horses and green drivers. Green plus green usually equals black and blue.

And I have seen horses that never recover from the trauma of wrecking in cart. 9 times out of 10 horses they are horses that did not have nearly enough training or were rushed into the cart. Our national Congress this year had one of those accidents and it wiped out 8 other horses and carts. This is serious stuff! All because someone rushed a horse into a cart and into a class that it was no way ready for. 

I think a big part of the problem is a lot of people asking for advice have no experience with driving. So many times they have no idea of what is good advice verses bad advice. 

Again I am not a driving expert but have worked with, watched and helped some of the best in our industry. I am always learning thats for sure. But its very hard to keep quiet when you see advice given here that goes against what the general community would say is sound and appropriate.


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## lillie (Oct 26, 2009)

almagroM; i think the feeling is mutual, but in my case, its not personal, you might be a very nice person, but i really cant agree with the stuff you are saying. and i have been involved with horses for 35 odd years, both as a professional and as an owner, and i stand by my remarks that the advise you are giving could be very dangerous to a newcomer, or anyone, who has no experience of driving, and are not neccasarily in the horses best interests either. jimmy, fear not, hopefully you will get some more interesting reading out of this- if we all agreed, life would be boring!


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## lillie (Oct 26, 2009)

and i forgot to add, yes i have read the forum rules, but i am sure the forum owners dont want dangerous advice posted on here either.


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## lillie (Oct 26, 2009)

and further, i have not called you names; you should re- read these threads.


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