Driving a mini shetland? How to go about it...

[Moobucket]

My mini shetlands are delightful, but essentially useless, and they are getting fat! So my mum has decided she would really like to break them to a little cart. The roads where we are based are very quiet and straight, so I think its a great idea, and I'm sure they would love to have a job. They are really quite well behaved for mini shetlands and seem quite easy to train, we have a few newbie questions though...

1) Where is the best place to buy tack?
2) Which are the best carts to start with? I've heard mixed reviews of the Robinsons ones.
3) Are there any things we should know before we begin?

 

[ace33]

We drive a couple of mini shetlands and an american miniature.

We broke them in ourselves and just take it slow, long-reining for miles so they have a lot of road experience and I know how they react in different scenarios.

All you need to start long reining is a bridle, roller and some long reins (we have light webbing ones from ebay but you could use a couple of lunge lines if you have them knocking about).

We use a mini harness from ebay (leather one). Which is good enough for our everyday light use but we'll probably upgrade to a zilco one when funds allow.

 

[3OldPonies]

Having broken my mini in to drive, I would say that the best thing to do is find someone local to you who is experienced and can assess your mini and if suitable help you on your way. Not only do you need to have a pony that is pretty much bombproof, you need to know that your harness is fitting correctly and that you have the correct bit (driving bits tend to be quite strong because you sit so far from the point of control). Also they can help you make the correct choice of vehicle and ensure that you, the vehicle and the pony are balanced. Not forgetting of course that you will need training as well - those long reins and whip can take bit of getting used to! I'd also advise a look at as many books and DVDs as possible to get an understanding of what you are taking on before spending any money - driving isn't cheap!

I was super lucky in that I had some HDT competitors near me and they were more than happy to set me straight. They advised on all the above and without their experience I think all could have ended in tears, as driving is just as much a minefield as riding when you are first starting out.