TJB
Active Member
What advice would you give regarding a horse that has been used to drive to being ridden? What to do and look out for?
Loaning
- Thread starter TJB
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paddi22
Well-Known Member
has it been ridden before or only driven? what age?
TJB
Active Member
Not completely certain. So advice for ridden/ non ridden greatly received.
TJB
Active Member
Age 5
paddi22
Well-Known Member
I've had a few that came from driving background. they all turned into very handy, nice, riding horses. if you wanted to focus on dressage and flatwork you get some issues that come up. But there are also a lot of advantages the come with horses that HAVE been driven.
5 is a good age, you can retrain them easier. theres a spectrum of driven horses. one who hack/does leisure driving the odd time, is very different to one who has only done sulky racing for example. so a lot depends on what you want the horse to do, and what background it came from.
5 is a good age, you can retrain them easier. theres a spectrum of driven horses. one who hack/does leisure driving the odd time, is very different to one who has only done sulky racing for example. so a lot depends on what you want the horse to do, and what background it came from.
TJB
Active Member
I believe it has been used to pull along a seafront.
TJB
Active Member
I only want to do basic riding, nothing fancy and some light hacking.
paddi22
Well-Known Member
sounds like it could be a good fit. it'd be good to know if the horse had been ridden, or ever broken for riding. do you have someone experienced who knows horses that you get to ride it to see does it understand ridden aids, leg aids etc? if it doesn't then thats a trickier process, you'd nearly need to treat it like a breaker and get it backed correctly etc
MiJodsR2BlinkinTite
Well-Known Member
Soohhh..... is this horse that is a driven-horse, broken to ride?? Coz if not then you'd obviously need to do that.
I had a nice little Welsh D ride-and-drive cob a few years ago now; he was a nice little cob and in retrospect I wished I'd kept him, but he just wasn't the right horse for me at that time, and he hadn't been broken to ride till he was 9yo. He was sent away to be broken by a professional.
I did experience difficulties with getting him off the forehand and into anything resembling a decent outline.
When I did sell him, I sold him to someone who wanted to drive him not ride him - he hadn't done anything wrong under saddle but he was just too forward for me at that time. I had the feeling that he enjoyed his driving more than his riding tho'!
Wish I'd kept him now in retrospect........... like you do.
I had a nice little Welsh D ride-and-drive cob a few years ago now; he was a nice little cob and in retrospect I wished I'd kept him, but he just wasn't the right horse for me at that time, and he hadn't been broken to ride till he was 9yo. He was sent away to be broken by a professional.
I did experience difficulties with getting him off the forehand and into anything resembling a decent outline.
When I did sell him, I sold him to someone who wanted to drive him not ride him - he hadn't done anything wrong under saddle but he was just too forward for me at that time. I had the feeling that he enjoyed his driving more than his riding tho'!
Wish I'd kept him now in retrospect........... like you do.
Wishfilly
Well-Known Member
As the title of this thread is loaning, is this horse on loan to you or one you're considering as a loan?
If so, I'd raise two potential issues:
1) Why is the owner loaning out a driving horse as a potential riding horse? There may be a good reason for this, but I would want to understand it.
2) You may put lots of work in to produce a nice ridden horse, at which point the owner asks for the horse back.
Personally, I'd look for a loan that was already doing the job I wanted it to do.
If so, I'd raise two potential issues:
1) Why is the owner loaning out a driving horse as a potential riding horse? There may be a good reason for this, but I would want to understand it.
2) You may put lots of work in to produce a nice ridden horse, at which point the owner asks for the horse back.
Personally, I'd look for a loan that was already doing the job I wanted it to do.
TJB
Active Member
Thank you for your reply and advice.
TJB
Active Member
Thank you for your reply. Hindsight is a wonderful thing.
Glitterandrainbows
Well-Known Member
It’s easy to teach a horse leg aids from the ground no fancy equipment needed it’s not hard all the horses I know that have pulled carriages are bomb proof also