(and videos) A dream come true

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LauraWheeler

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For a very long time I've dreamed of having a ride and drive pony.

Lucy's unpredictable temprament ment she wasn't sutable for driving and Herbie is probably as unsutable as they come ;)

But my Merryn seemed to fit the bill in every way. He's calm, sensable and excepts new things easely. So this year in a spur of the moment I ordered him a harness from Ebay. Then I bought a book and dvd about breaking a horse to harness.

We started by trying his blinkered bridle on and in true Merryn style he wasn't bothered at all.

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Then I took him out for inhand walks to get him used to the blinkers

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I also rode him in the blinkered bridle to make shore he was realy happy in it.

Next I introduced the driving saddle and crupper. Once again he wasn't bothered at all.

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Then I started longreining him out.

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Before long we were longreining out in full harness

[video=youtube_share;k0tEMtpD7Hw]http://youtu.be/k0tEMtpD7Hw[/video]

He took that in his stride so we tried pulling a tire

[video=youtube_share;AR5wosRq-aM]http://youtu.be/AR5wosRq-aM[/video]

He found that easy so we tried something alittle heavyer and noisyer

[video=youtube_share;FvLO87kklps]http://youtu.be/FvLO87kklps[/video]
 
[video=youtube_share;EPtuSt9X280]http://youtu.be/EPtuSt9X280[/video]

We took the tire out on the forest afew times and then we progressed to pulling his cart.

[video=youtube_share;DWgherwudMs]http://youtu.be/DWgherwudMs[/video]

and prity soon we were having our first proper drive :D

[video=youtube_share;JXbsgPS3u3o]http://youtu.be/JXbsgPS3u3o[/video]

I can't believe my dream of owning a ride and drive pony has finaly come true and to have broken him in myself has been increadable. It's all thanks to my amazing Merryn.
He's such a special pony who never realy gets the credit he deserves. I can't wait till the summer we are going to have so much fun driving in the forest.

I'm so very proud of him and am so lucky to own such a wonderful pony.
 
Thankyou both. I still can't believe how easy he was. It's like he was born to drive.
Leannepip I hope yours masters longreining soon. Driving is so much fun.
I knew I'd enjoy it but didn't think i'd like it this much. I think Merryn enjoys it more than ridden work to :D
 
Thankyou he is a super cool pony (even if I do say so myself) He just took it all in his stride. Like he'd been doing it all his life. (I know his full history so I know he's never driven before.)
 
Fantastic! I loved watching the videos - they were really interesting. Thanks for sharing, and well done you - he is a cracking little pony but he didn't teach himself to drive! :)
 
Brilliant Laura, well done you. My filly long lines very well, but I now know who to call if I were to 'go the whole hog'! Lovely videos, thanks so much for posting.
 
What a little superstar and he is a credit to all your hard work & devotion. You are one of my favourite H&H teams.

Now, having said all of the above, please don't think I am being a party pooper but please please please wear a hat whilst on your trap! Ex yardowner of mine has driven for years (40±) years & has just had a terrible accident on her well practiced driving pony! Medics think the pony was stung by a wasp, cue horse, trap, driver & passenger in full bolt! She has fractured various bones including her spine & medic said if she hadn't been wearing her hat she would not be here today. When they removed her hat, it was snapped in two :-(
 
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Well done nice team, I second please wear a hat when driving. When it goes wrong it can go spectacularly wrong, I know and I was not wearing a hat!!

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Brilliant little pony! Well done Laura :)

I plan to drive T'Khasi. Am getting him used to the blinkers and harness now, so that he will find the actual training part easier once he's old enough. Hoping to start long lining him once he turns two. We have a huge arena and a lot of very quiet private lanes to practise around. I want to try driving him properly (light trap) when he is three, and leave backing him until he turns four or five.
 
Well done to you and Merryn.
Look forward to hearing about your adventures through the forest in Summer!
Merryn looks very chilled with his new role. How old is he?
 
Have fun the ponies love going out for drives me on the other hand cant bear to be on the trap I hate it OH drives our little man and we are fully intending to get a trap with a back step so I can go too but can get off it I dont like it
 
Thankyou guys for all the lobely comments.

I know I should wear a hat *Slaps wrist* :o

nikiChristmasBells thankyou, Yes he was my fatty this is him when he first arrived. He weighed 469kgs :eek:

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soltydog love your driving pony.

Arizahn sounds like a good plan :)

Spottyappy I think he prefures being driven. Due to being obice his whole life before he came to me his joints are nackered already He's only 11 :( I'm hoping by doing more driving he'll be able to go for longer as it's less pressure on his joints.

windand rain It is very strange being all the way back in the cart. I love it but do find it nerveracking at the same time. I'm hoping once the weather improves and we can get out more the nerves will get less and less. Merryn is a real dope on a rope type nothing much bothers him. When we were walking out with his tyre we spooked some feral ponies, they galloped off and Merryn just stood and watched them dissapear into the distance then carried on as if nothing had happened :)
 
Well done :)

Please do wear a hat though! Is something going a bit wrong with the carriage balance and trace length? Might be an idea to get some trace and breeching quick releases as well with synthetic harness?

Just better safe than sorry!
 
Im so in awe of you thats brilliant well done. I love the fact you just brought a DVD and harness off ebay and off you went, lol. Just brilliant :D
Im so jealous, would love a little driving pony :o
 
Rara007 thanks i'll look into those. I'd deffinatly rather be safe than sorry.

Antw23uk LOL thats me all over. Once I get an idea I just go for it. If I think about it to much i'd never do it.
 
Well done. I know what you mean about needing the right temperament for driving Before I had him, my old boy (Sec D) went away to be broken to harness. He was meant to be gone 3 weeks but he was expelled from driving school after 3 days with the words "If I ever see that b****y thing again I'll shoot it" :eek:

He was a bit opinionated and god help you if you got on the wrong side of him! I can only assume the trainer saw him being bolshy and decided the best way to deal with him was to 'show him who's boss'. There'd only be one answer to that and it wouldn't be human!:D
 
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