Does anyone drive their horses/ponies?

PinkCob

PinkCob

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Ok, so first forum topic post thing so yay!!

Just wondering is anyone drives their horses or ponies? I have a very big interest in it and I used to drive a small cob for an elderely woman. Unfortunately I haven't done so for many years now and i'm thinking of getting back into it.

So, if you do drive could you please give me some advice on driving and the 'perfect' horse to drive.

Also, if you have any pictures/videos you will make my night! :-)
 
Hi Bubblegum

I don't think there is a perfect type of horse or pony for driving it really depends what sort of driving you want to do.
I drive my boy, he's 14.1 riding pony, was used as a trials pony many years ago before his last owner got him.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/47015540@N00/5547918062/in/set-72157626319887420 This is him
I also help friends who compete in driving trials, did my first marathon backstepping this year
http://www.flickr.com/photos/47015540@N00/5547918062/in/set-72157626319887420 some pics from one of the competitions last year. The dark bay mare was doing her first trial and was amazing
 
I shall be getting my lad started later this year lightly!

He's a gypsy cob...I personally think you can't beat a good gypsy cob stallion in a harness :) Never driven myself much, but been out on my friends driving cobs a couple of times and loved it!

427258_10150688342506753_708806752_11073599_238057511_n.jpg
 
there are a few of us bubblegum ;)

advice on driving ...... errmmm its fun , go have some drives out with someone local or go along to local driving club. ... or go have some lessons to remind yourself what it is all about :D

If you are interested in driving trials or driven trec for example, volunteer to steward at local club events and watch / listen and ask loads questions....... and someone might just offer you a drive ;)

the perfct driving horse is like the perfect riding horse ..... rare as hens teeth. :D :D :D :D

You get some that are flipping good though ;)

breed and even size to an extent does not matter ( unless you want to ride and drive ;) ) but one that is brill in traffic / spooky situations is a must !
For a novice driver it is usually better to get a been there and done it driving pone to start with ...... while its possible to do it otherwise there are far more ways to muck up a driving pones education than a ridden one ;)



this is my welshie doing trec

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and outdoor driving trials

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I dont drive myself but my husband does (well he did until i sold the pony he used to drive last year lol)
He was a gypsy cob and my husband having driven for many a year broke him to harness himself, said he was the best pony he had ever had the pleasure of driving :) I now have a 16hh shire x thats is ride and drive....just got to buy ourselves a cart that fits him!
 
Yes I drive one of mine I learnt while I had a broken leg I was lucky and got the most amazing school master a fab KWPN who had been there and done it all I now have a Clydesdale / welsh section D who is an amazing alrounder he turn his hoof to anything.
I would echo the advice to go and help at your local driving club that will also be the best way to source help , instruction and probally the horse to.
 
It has always been something I thought I would love to do. I always wanted to break seren and her daughter wizard to harness, never got round to it, but enjoyed many years hacking instead. However, I did buy my last filly with this idea in mind, she is a traditional cob like my last girl, so depending on a few factors if she stays with me I would like to perhaps actually do it and not just think about it :)
 
I am currently "umming and ahhing" over breaking my shettie to drive this summer. She has long reined previously but never driven and I have a harness in the tack room 'waiting'!! I have known her all her life and helped break her in to ride and rode her for nearly 10 years!

How long does it take to break a horse to drive? I wouldn't want to rush her but equally would need enough time to do it properly before heading back to Uni in Sept.
 
I'm reading this with interest as I have just started a "driving Back to Sport" course and will hopefully be starting to drive a friend's pony once I have learned more. My first session was amaxing and one thing I did learn is that it is not as easy as it looks,even though I have ridden for many years.
 
BubbleGum. said:
Ok, so first forum topic post thing so yay!!

Just wondering is anyone drives their horses or ponies? I have a very big interest in it and I used to drive a small cob for an elderely woman. Unfortunately I haven't done so for many years now and i'm thinking of getting back into it.

So, if you do drive could you please give me some advice on driving and the 'perfect' horse to drive.

Also, if you have any pictures/videos you will make my night! :-)
Click to expand...

i drive mine (he is a trotter cross) started long loning, then ground driving, then pulling a tyre, then 2 then tried him with a sulky and went straight in and went. although he has done it in the past so has already been driven a few yrs ago x

NEED TO KNOW: HOW DO I ADD A PIC? VIDEO???????? please i have done the copy URL thingy but its not working :s xx if i can get help to upload i will upload some vids and pics x
 
Goldenstar said:
Aggre with this driving is not a single person sport you need two people every time you drive.
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i dont agree. after we got him going i can harness up and put his cart on ect and strat to drive him without anyone else . the only thing i need help doing is with the gates as i leave or come back xx if you have a good horse that will stand to let you do it all then you dont need 2 ppl. (have to state my horse is no way perfect ) x hes a bugger x
 
Sorry i totally disagree with you Jager Bomb, much as mine is well behaved i have only ever driven on my own once and even then i felt really nervous about it.
It is also a very long way to the head if something happens
 
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Driving out alone is a complete no no you can not deal with an emergency alone we put the groom down at junctions where the visibility is poor driving is not a jolly it potentially very hazardous if it goes seriously wrong ,my horses are extremely well trained but I never drive out alone.
I do however school alone my groom comes on for the first five minutes once I am happy we do a quick harness check and she goes off to yard but keeps an eye she returns for practising cones and cantering to balance the carriage.
Driving is great fun and a different thing to do a good driving horse is a marvellous thing the bond and level of co-operation you get when you click with one is very special.
But you need to be well trained and it's safety safety all the way in the early Trianing so you train your self and groom to react in correct way.
I was lucky I had a very experianced national level groom working for me so I got daily lesson from a real pro who had started lots of horses and was really hot on safety.
 
echo GF and GS above... I'm a total driving novice and just wouldn't hitch cart without my experienced pal... and would just never ever contemplate going out alone ...tons of other ground training i can do by myself.

Young pony... one bad experience ... and there goes your bombproof driving pony. I've got strafing jets, logging lorries and random speed cyclists tho... so far, every new experience has been a positive one... because he's had the support of the human up front.

Every driving experience for my young uns - same as any ridden horse... my aim at getting back to the field is "what have they learned from this outing?".

So far it's a swagger to the others in the field (Duuude you'll never guess what I just did...).

Driving is brilliant. But when it goes wrong... it goes utterly pear shaped.
 
Goya said:
I'm reading this with interest as I have just started a "driving Back to Sport" course and will hopefully be starting to drive a friend's pony once I have learned more. My first session was amaxing and one thing I did learn is that it is not as easy as it looks,even though I have ridden for many years.
Click to expand...

I think in a way I was lucky when I learnt I was on crutches as I had a serious accident so I had not ridden for along while in a way it made it easier also my schoolmaster was an exceptional horse he was very easy to point and get to go where you were looking you will pick it up quickly ,of course once I started I drove most days do it was easy.
I glad you enjoyed it Enjoy all your lessons !!!
 
I broke my shettie to drive, just for the sake of it, really:)

Middle aged gelding, never broken in, field companion all his life. I had never driven before.

I bought a wee cart and harness second hand (off HHO!) read a couple of books & went to a half day session.

It was easy. I just did it like I do everything with horses. Small steps, only moving on when you have something well established, taking a step back when necessary. I had my mum to help (like me, never driven) and agree that a second pair of hands is essential.

Shettie loves it, he wears reindeers antlers and delivers presents round the village at xmas. Daughter has had pony parties with loads of sqealing girls in the cart.

It is not rocket science, just common sense and patience :)
 
It's really not advisable to drive on your own- I don't even drive in our arena alone even though they stand like rocks to put to and have never had an incident.

I drive welshX 13.3s, my Dad has a 4-in-hand of 13hh section Bs, and I drive my mums 11.1 sectionA and she drives her 12hh section A.

Dads team at the national championships:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nB9Cn_b0Dk&feature=g-upl&context=G241e9d8AUAAAAAAAJAA

the 11.1 who will be at the Indoor championships as a 'full size' open pony:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eH1BinAIGB0&feature=g-upl&context=G21d2011AUAAAAAAAIAA

Driving a 16.1 KWPN SJ bred indoors I was very kindly given the drive of:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nlkqm9syfNo&feature=g-upl&context=G2ca93f8AUAAAAAAAYAA

One of my 13.3s at the indoor nationals:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pytUmx5jffU&feature=g-upl&context=G2d8e851AUAAAAAAAsAA

and then the other at a carriage fair display:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RNObXRAaNg&feature=g-upl&context=G2c2092fAUAAAAAAAyAA
 
Two of my ponies when I 'were a kid' were 'ride and drives' and I swear the better for it! One was Welsh x and the other Connie x. My dad used to drive them and I ride them. I'm breaking my two Dartmoor Hill Ponies to be ride/drives this spring.
 
i have always driven in a sulky (dont race ect before anyone asks) its just my personal preference. i have driven alone on roads the first few times with him where nervy and yes i did have someone to hand if needed (i also had someone drive there car behind us at a safe distance)

but after a while its nice just to take him for a quick drive round the block in it (well not so quick as he is a bit of a plodder in a cart)

i get more nervous hacking him out when ridden

i suppose it is to do with confidence too , i always have my phone on me incase something happens and i always tell someone where i am going and when to expect me back (10 mins -30 mins) and if i am not back by then i always call to say where i am and why im not back yet.
to me driving alone and hacking alone have risks, if u fall off when on a hack then you will get injured just as bad. i feel i have more control and i feel safer on a cart than i do under saddle. yes it can be dangerous anything to do with horses can , i do have to point out , when i drive on the roads i wear a pody protector and a riding hat, we both have refective clothing on. we never do anything more than a slow steady walk on the roads and if we are in the yards big field we will have a trot but that is it i dont belt about. it is leisure and he loves it... alot more than being ridden , he defo isnt ploddy when ridden x

everyones personal preference. and i know a fair few that do drive alone, or drive out with someone else who is also driving , so far (touch wood) i have never had an accident while driving thank god. but i have had a fair few while ridding and hacking including broken bones and fractures x
 
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Jager I used to be like you and drive my bombproof pony alone.

One day he spooked in the rain, jinking right directly on oncoming traffic. Lorry just missed him but he reared up and snapped the swingle tree, tried to turn in the shafts and ended up straddling them. Proceeded to run down the road back the way we had came, now with more oncoming traffic coming at us and the cart at right angles to the pony, with me still in it.

Through sheer brute strength I managed to haul him to a stop and get off the trashed cart.
He never drove again and never have I. If I'd had someone with me they could have easily hopped off and grabbed his head at the first spook.

I also wasn't insured and was so glad he didn't actually hit anyone or anything else! I could not have coped with that!

Get a driving buddy and get insured!!
 
I broke my welsh pony to drive when he was 15 and I was too big for him, he was 12.2, he enjoyed it so much better than being ridden, he like everyone looking at him and showed off. I used to drive him alone he was totally bombproof, sometimes I'd have a little passenger my friends son.

My dad made the cart, thing I always regret is that my dad never got to sit in it, my pony died in 1996 when he was 22 and my dad died in 2003. I still have the cart, in pieces in my garage, sadly it will never be used as he designed and build it himself nobody knows how its supposed to go and I wouldn't be driving anything now anyway, its just a cherished thing that I can't get rid of.......................

Go for it, lifes too short, I really enjoyed the time I had doing it, there is no way I'd get a cart near my horse I have now lol he'd run the other way, although he used to see us out driving with his old owner on board and he freaked then
 
I drive! I'm coming into my second season of HDT and love it... My bank manager doesn't! I never drive alone and always take a sharp knife if I have to cut harness if there's an accident.

Schooling

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Stressage

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Cones

IMG_3542.jpg


And marathon!

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Oh- and some exercise vehicle classes last year-

IMG_3274.jpg


I'll be breaking my three year old to drive as well... End of this summer! Can't wait!
 
Oh, thanks for all the tips guys! Really helped. I loved the pictures. They're fantastic!!
I am seriously considering buying a cob to ride and drive. It's always being a dream of mine! :-)
 
nevis said:
Tazzle - driven Trec??? :D
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yup .... great fun :D

starts off with the assessment of harnessing up.... all inspected for fit and safety as well as spares kit and stuff like hi viz etc. This is great because it ensures that all turnouts are safe and that the harness fits the horse and turnout etc. one is not allowed to start the other sections until pass thigs bit ;). None of the other disciplines include this. ( although stewards / judges can have a quiet word there are times when I have seen nothing done about appauling / dangerous fitting harness etc).


Turnout then goes on a "jaunt" around the countryside :D following own map reading taken from the start point and throughout checkpoints have to be passed / marked.



Then the obstacle course where ones ability to safely negotiate everyday obstacles is judged ..... sometimes such a "simple" thing as going over a black mat on the ground sorts the "men from the boys". :)


and even another "simple" thing like backing up in a straight line ......its much, much harder than it looks ;)


reversenice.jpg


( we are very proud of this one as it got a 9, the only turnout to get one ;))


Other things can include going through water, weaving though tractors, through narrow spaces, one handed circles, stand stays while groom does a task off the vehicle..... list is as endless as the course setters imagination :D
 
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