How practical is driving with a pony on the road?

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NeilM

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I know this is a bit of a specialist question, but seeing a Hackney Trotter demo at the Royal Show yesterday has planted a (n insane) thought in my head.

How practical, given that I live on the edge of a Somerset town, would the use of a small gig, trap or something similar be on the public highway?

I am not talking dual carriageways here, just local roads and lanes.
 
I do Neil....or rather did - I dont have a carriage at the mo - but that makes the majority of exercise for a carriage pony/horse. As long as you have a grrom on the back step/seat next to you and you are wearing viz vests you are fine....horse drawn carriages actually have right of way over motorised vehicles.... Just make sure your neddy is good in traffic tho!! x
 
As long as you follow safe practice on the roads and your horse is safe in the gig and road worthy, you have as much a right to be on the road as a car.

I drove horses in London for years and as long as you have your wits about you and you are responsible you should be able to enjoy driving. It does help though if you have a good quiet horse and if you are a beginner make sure you have some one with you in the gig. BDS Society offer a lot of help & advice look it up, Good Luck with the driving
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Like I say, it's a bit of a crazy thought at present, but we may be moving very close to where we keep the horses and for just tootling about for the day, it would be ideal.

I'd either use our 14.2 NF gelding, or possibly start out with a trained pony.

Is it essential to have a groom on board? Not sure what the OH would make of that
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It can be done, and it is done, but I don't like doing it! I could drive round the local lanes but I'm lucky enough to have enough private land to exercise on so I avoid the roads in general. You take up a much wider part of the narrow lanes with a carriage than riding, and when cars come round a bend towards you its pretty scary IMO. Even if the ponies or horses are perfect, its the idiots in cars that are the problem, and practicality wise, its hard to jump out of the way in a carriage.
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Personally I would never drive without a groom on board. You need someone to bele to get off and get their head if there is a problem.

If you are starting out I would advise getting a driving pony that is experienced rather than trying to train one yourself.
 
I have queried doing this with Frank but the lanes we ride down are single track so am not sure it would be ideal if we met something coming the other way, my only other option is the A38 which he would be fine with but not really much fun.
 
QR During the petrol crisis we used the wagonette and pair to go shopping and pub etc. But then again we were in the middle of nowhere! lol I know a few people who nip into town with a small vehical and pony
 
A guy who lives close to us drives the local roads solo, some of the drivers are a bit mental but he has hi-viz and a warning sign on the back of his trap thing and to my knowledge he has never come a cropper.
Our road itself is a main route for the local potato-factory lorries, which are huge, a magnet for bikers and er, two feasome GSDs also live there and like to bark loudly at anyone who passes their property
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Oh as for driving without a groom, basicially you should never do it. (unless your in a school perhaps) There is far too much to go wrong, esp when your on the road, you are a vehical. If something were to happen you need a person to hold the horse/pony while you get them out/deal with the inncident.
 
I have a pony who is better to drive than ride TBH but I very rarely drive these days as he's not happy driven off road (doesn't like a bouncy trap) but he is fantastic on the road.....watches the traffic lights, looks both ways at junctions, won't move off if a vehicle is approaching, that type of thing.
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I find that car drivers are too dangeous and as you are in a much larger outfit, you aren't half as manoevrable(sp).....the amount of times that they try to overtake without enough room then pull in under the ponys nose, hammer past skimming the trap and the classic of overtaking us as we're turning right with indication. All the above plus more have ruined my enjoyment of going for a drive on a Sunday or Bank Holiday.

Maybe the drivers in your area have better manners(hope so!) and in that case I'd say go for it......but as a novice driver I'd be the first to say that a groom is essential as is a "been there, done that"pony. hi viz, hat and gloves are also essential.....people forget the hat but I got thrown from a trap last year and it was the only thing that saved me from concussion.
 
Your pony sounds superb.

Hmmm, sounds like the are plusses and minuses. I must confess the poor level of driving these days just appals me and around here the worse offenders are the elderly and retired. I do have age and size on my side though as I am younger than they are and just over six feet tall, plus I have a STARE, developed over 30 years of riding motorcycles. People can't see my face in my crash helmet, but they sure can see my eyes
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I would certainly want to be properly trained and would take all the necessary safety precautions, but I have to say that what started out as sounding like some alternative horse drawn fun is starting to get a bit serious. Maybe I'll go with a heavy horse instead
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OK, a big plus. When driving we find 99% of drivers give us plenty of room. When riding the same horse, they nearly whip his back legs off!
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Don't drive without a groom. I have a friend who turned over, ina school, with a weight on the backstep, its not worth the risk. I know people who go to school by pony and trap, and people obviously did it all the time. Hacking with the carriage, especially with a big carriage or more tha one pony cars give you so much respect
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