Can a complete driving novice break a pony to drive?

[poiuytrewq]

or am i being stupid!!!

I have a shetland pony. I took him on about 3 years ago as a companion. The advert stated he was aged but on having his teeth done several times since having him he's aged at about 7/8 years now. Whilst its nice to find out your old pony is young (usually hear these stories the other way round) it did make me feel a bit bad that he has no purpose.
He's a clever little chap and since i had him gelded he's prone to weight gain.
Ive tried to find him a rider, offering a sort of free loan come as often or not as you like, no money etc as he has the best temperament with kids brushing him etc. Two families took me up on this one after the other but soon dropped out as he is a bit fresh only hacking out for half an hour here and there.
My daughter went through a stage of riding him but she's 14 and way way too big, although he seemed to carry her fine he's only small and it cant be the best thing for his back.
Im also a bit bored at the minute being mum of a independent teen who's suddenly off out and about and my o/h is harvesting so id like a project!
I half thought about getting a young pony, (big enough for me to ride) to break as i love doing the groundwork but then id have to sell it as id have no use for it and that would be tough for me!
Sooo, I wondered if i might kill several birds with one stone and break the Shetland i already have to drive? Weight loss and brain activity for him, and something for me to get my teeth into.
Is this similar to a complete novice declaring they are buying a TB to break for riding or is it a feasible idea? If so how do i go about getting started? Any good books or driving people on here who's brains i can pick please.

 

[Nudibranch]

I did this as a kid many years ago! I had a lovely little welsh mare I'd outgrown, I'd already backed and brought her on myself (non horsey parents - no idea what their horse mad child was getting in to). I'd never driven before but broke her to drive no problems. Not that I would recommend it at all, just saying I have done it and she was a cracking little scurry pony, and we had some amazing long hacks in harness.

Obviously a complete horse novice absolutely not in a million years, but many of the skills from riding and handling are very transferable. If you can long rein you have a big skill in the bag already. In my case I'd already "broken" her to pull a sledge so I guess that was a big help. Again, not something I would strictly recommend nowadays but it was great fun!!

 

[bakewell]

Yeaaahhh, you can.
Best references for this are american draft animal sites.
However!
I personally think the risks to the horse, and risks to the general public are much higher. A bolting horse attached to it's horror can be deadly to horse, driver and public. Shetlands are stronger than you'd credit (I think two shetlands to a draft?)
Do you have a long safe drive (with a gate at the end), or suitable surface. Pulling on a menege or grass is really hard work.
Nowadays I usually break basics (long reining, backing into shafts, harness acceptance, maybe pulling a tyre if felt necessary) and then break a novice as a pair with a lead horse. Certainly when I want to go on the roads. The novice can be a few hands smaller too as long as you know how to alter the harness. However, I do most of it with an assistant. There's a reason many driving classes insist on grooms...
Tbh I probably *wouldn't* in your situation. Getting the harness fitting safely and the skill of driving is an art in itself.

Lots of people break horses for driving, it's cheaper than you think. I'd send him away for breaking and join in the last week/ few days. If you're willing to send him to devon I can recommend someone superb.

 

[pennyturner]

The way that you phrase this question suggests to me that you are quite intelligent and confident of your own ability, so you should be able to do it.

First though, (and assuming you haven't driven before) you need to find someone locally who drives, and go out with them a couple of times. They'll make sure you understand the basic safety rules, and you'll have a chance to see if you enjoy it, or if it leaves you in a cold sweat with that 'never again' feeling.

Buy or borrow a copy of Sally Walrond's book 'Breaking your horse to harness', but don't expect to follow every step to the letter. Enlist the help of a friend. It is possible to long line (even for the first time) by yourself, but not without experience. Once you start putting to a vehicle and getting out and about, you need someone else, or things can go badly wrong very quickly. Male sure you're very confident of his reactions to traffic etc before you progress to a vehicle. You can't put too much work into preparation and desesitising. We had a tyre blow-out on our vehicle on Saturday (HUGE bang!), and the pony barely moved!

It does sound like the right thing to do. You'll have a ball, and your pony will love you for it.

 

[Merlod]

I've never driven before, but broke my shetland to drive last winter and it's been fantastic. The best start is just long reining, and long reining and more long reining. Then introduce harness, I walked out in hand in the harness the first few times before long reining in it, and then had someone walk out in front the first time long reining, just so he had something to focus on and follow in front instead of worrying what he couldn't see with the blinkers.

After they long rein happily in a harness get something for them to pull, I used a little log as a tyre wasn't really a suitable size. Preferable to do this on grass or arena as it's quite noisy. Once your at that stage you can think about getting a trap - I long reined the pony in harness and had someone push the trap along behind us until he was happy and used to the noises it made. First time I hitched up I just walked him out with the trap on, sat in on the way home and just gradually increased the distances we go and that's been about it.

Obvious other things, they need to stand when told, and learn to wait however long for, even if spooked they should wait so if something does happen you can sort it out and not have a catastrophe!

BTW it's addictive, i've just had to buy another shetland to break to drive so I can have a pair now!!

 

[applecart14]

I don't see why not. Teaching a horse something is about patience, repetition (sixteen repetitions for it to sink in to a horses brain say researchers) and constant praise. Not everyone has the patience (I know I don't) but for those that do I am sure it will be very rewarding.

Anyone can break a horse in, it's not rocket science. But whether they do it well..... well that's another matter!

 

[Orangehorse]

The way that you phrase this question suggests to me that you are quite intelligent and confident of your own ability, so you should be able to do it.

First though, (and assuming you haven't driven before) you need to find someone locally who drives, and go out with them a couple of times. They'll make sure you understand the basic safety rules, and you'll have a chance to see if you enjoy it, or if it leaves you in a cold sweat with that 'never again' feeling.

Buy or borrow a copy of Sally Walrond's book 'Breaking your horse to harness', but don't expect to follow every step to the letter. Enlist the help of a friend. It is possible to long line (even for the first time) by yourself, but not without experience. Once you start putting to a vehicle and getting out and about, you need someone else, or things can go badly wrong very quickly. Male sure you're very confident of his reactions to traffic etc before you progress to a vehicle. You can't put too much work into preparation and desesitising. We had a tyre blow-out on our vehicle on Saturday (HUGE bang!), and the pony barely moved!

It does sound like the right thing to do. You'll have a ball, and your pony will love you for it.

This is EXACTLY what I would have said.

I have a friend who bred Shetlands and broke several to drive with no problems at all, we borrowed one for a while - how to entertain 3 children with one pony!

She only ever had one that was a problem and took off with her, luckily down a long farm drive, and never drove it again.

Good luck.

 

[trottingon]

This is EXACTLY what I would have said.

I have a friend who bred Shetlands and broke several to drive with no problems at all, we borrowed one for a while - how to entertain 3 children with one pony!

She only ever had one that was a problem and took off with her, luckily down a long farm drive, and never drove it again.

Good luck.

I've an 11.2 who is with me got life, and if I ever em out of little rides for him (they are queuing up at the moment so unlikely for a couple more years at least!) then this is what I intend to do with him. I think we have a local RDA who also do driving so plan to volunteer there as well to get a bit of experience if they'll have me!

 

[Orangehorse]

If two or more were on board I used to lead the pony and we all wore hard hats.

 

[poiuytrewq]

Thanks all. Some interesting points not least the fact i don't really have many suitable places to do it! My yard is on a long quiet lane which runs to a dead end/gated fields so that could be utilized. He is a little on the sharper side so maybe he's not the absolute ideal candidate but like i say i've never been sure if that's just lack of getting out and about or if he is a devil.
He learns quickly though. I did long rein him a bit to check his breaks and steering before letting children on so i know he does long rein quite well.
I think i will start long reining anyway as thats step one and see how he is with daily work, then decide if i carry it on or not. I see our local RS out and about recently with a pony and trap... wonder if they would do a driving lesson!

 

[Wiz201]

You'll need to learn to drive a trained driving horse or pony first. You could send him away to a professional trainer to break to drive.

 

[PoppyAnderson]

I had ideas of doing this once. I have a lifetime of experience with horses but I pretty quickly realised that I really didn't know what I was doing! I got as far as getting her to the point of merrily dragging a tyre round but then heard that this was no longer seen as safe and I realised that I could inadvertently do something to put me, her and others at risk, so I abandoned my efforts. I'd defo get some help because you don't know what you don't know!

 

[Olderrider]

I feel that a few driving lessons until you feel really confident and are aware of the dangers,would be really useful, and then have a go. I did that myself, with a shetland I'd had from a foal, and it worked really well. If he's a bit on the sharp side then driven work will be ideal to help him use his energy. And if you can find somewhere to do it you can have great fun doing some scurry-type driving. Good luck

 

[rara007]

Things like carriage and harness fit are cruicial and come from experience as well as theory. The ground work is all easy enough to do but the actual putting too and driving would be much safer if you had someone experienced about to help troubleshoot (and you certainly need someone else)