ride/drive

J

JM07

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why??

i've yet to meet a horse/pony who is either happy or willing to accept both....

most i've known have schooling issues at best and muscular/mental issues at worst.


anyone out there have a "happy" ride n drive???
if so, how do you know/tell it's happy??
 
Hmmmmmmm.......got me thinking now! We're currently breaking one of ours to drive - purely because she's the build for it (welsh D X), she long-reined so well and it would be something we would enjoy ('we' being the people), nothing to do with her being mental or anything. But come to think of it, she is sooooo mcuh more responsive to drive than ride (same bit for both). I wouldn't say she's "unhappy" being ridden, but she's VERY forward-going and joggy. Whereas, when driving she'll merrily plod along, pull up easier, etc. Can't explain it really. Never thought about it before. And i dont know any other ride/drive horses to compare her to.
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Yes, my sister hass a ride and drive. I drove it while I was pregnant as I didnt want to ride. My sis said that he does prefer to drive but is fun and ok to drive.. here is pic of him..
he was 16 here, he is now 18 years old
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Kids having a ride

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i'm only asking as i have 2 supposed ride and drives...

both have/had schooling issues, both had have muscular issues.
 
Our section A is both ride and drive and seems equally happy doing either. He has never had any muscular issues and is quite happy to be schooled under saddle for half an hour and then put straight to the cart for a whizz around the village.
 
this is another of me sis ponies ( i sold her this one) he'd been broken to harness at 7 years and 4 months later was out on the xmas drive... fab fab..
Pic of him first time driving..
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this is her next project... she is keeping this one as he is fab!!
4yo and not broken to anything!

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what i mean is that the build up of their muscles, over their rump/topline/shoulder area was totally impractical and useless for riding...which has a different outline altogether.
so what i'm asking is...if your horse/pony is ride/drive..how can their muscular buildup/outline change from one day to the next, to compensate???
i think it's impossible....without disscomfort....
 
Yes, I've got 2. Both love to be ridden and driven, both are in-foal at the moment. When they come back into work they will be driven as a pair as well as ridden.

Bramble (haven't got a driven one on the comp)
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Teazle
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a driven pony/horse works from the front 1/4
a ridden pony/horse works from the rear 1/4

how can they work comfortably/correctly at the same time??

impossible...??!!
 
My friend used to ride and drive her pony, but stopped driving when she wanted to do more dressage as found he was getting more on the forehand. Never saw him driving, so can only take her word for it.
 
[ QUOTE ]
a driven pony/horse works from the front 1/4
a ridden pony/horse works from the rear 1/4

how can they work comfortably/correctly at the same time??

impossible...??!!

[/ QUOTE ]

But the average horse/pony ridden by the average rider doesn't work from the back end like it should, so the average horse probably copes quite well with doing both
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a driven pony/horse works from the front 1/4


[/ QUOTE ]

Sorry but i dont agree with that!.You make it sound as if it drags the trap/cart along with its front legs only.Alot of the power comes from behind.And alot of the time it pushes the trap/cart not pulls it.The rear end is meant to be the engine on ridden or driven animals so muscle build up should be fairly equal on both ways.
 
Some driving competitors I know specifically broke one of their driving ponies to saddle as they find that riding their driving ponies can improve their performance in the dressage phase of driving trials.

I think for the happy hacker type of ride/drive horse or pony there shouldn't be too much of a conflict as they are unlikely to be asked to engage much out hacking. Might be more of a problem if you wanted to specialise in one competitive discipline, but having said that I know of a very successful driving competitor whose pony is also very successfully used for a range of riding club activities.
 
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I always had troubles with 'ride/drive' wouldn't buy one after finding the hard way how harsh there mounths can be? Is this common? I guess the driving bit is fairly strong?

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We were worried about that - our mare has a VERY sensitive mouth, so we didnt want to change her bit and use a Liverpool. Therefore she is both ridden and driven in a Sprenger KK double-jointed snaffle thing! She just seems to be more responsive being driven for some reason.
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Was warned by the traveller that sold Blue "Ride and Drive missus but what ever you do don't get on her back!"
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I doubt if she was much more than 18mnths.
Now she's a mature lady of 15ish but hadn't been driven fot 10yrs until I began again last year in the Saddlechariot--don't worry about bits anymore
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my lad is a ride/drive, i would say he is happy at both, although he doesnt have very good basic schooling simply because i mainly hack, drive & mini jump him but he enjoys going for a hack both as a ridden & driven horse. he can be a bit more spooky ridden but thats at leaves or birds not traffic.

i know that he doesnt work like other schooled ponies do but he's never been taught that so it doesnt change him, all i care about is that as long as he's happy with being with someone who he knows isnt gonna beat the s*** out of him i think he'll be all the more happier!

he can be strong, i only ride in a snaffle in the school but i think its more for my benefit than his, he is hacked out in a cheltenham gag but i only take up the cheek piece contact if he pulls fom me, he is also ridden in a pelham.

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Old share pony was a ride & drive. Utterly brilliant driving pony, used for the DDA etc and was always commented on about how good he was.

Ridden wise - the biggest problem was the fact he was broken to ride very quickly & it wasn't the best job really. In fact only broken as owner stopped jumping other pony and wanted something to showjump.

Had to spend a lot of time on his flat work which came together really well - he enjoyed his work that's for sure. It certainly took some time getting used to his trot work as he would just bounce on the spot & then launch into canter (although that may well been a reflection on how he was broken). He could go really well and very nicely - certainly managed to get some collection/extension out of him. So in that respect he was a wicked pony. It's when you come to doing circles, bending, lateral work that it begins to be harder to do because they're just not used to it.

Muscle wise - well, you'll see from the photo what his neck was like but again, not sure how much of an impact his backing had had on this and the subsequent ridden work performed by someone was fiddled all the time "oh that's a lovely outline" when his nose was on his neck.

I think it's the transistion between a driving trot and a ridden trot really which Baron seemed to change without a care in the world. Canter wasn't too bad and certainly would have come together (only had him 2 months).

Bit/mouth wise - driven in a liverpool and supposedly stoppable in a loose ring french link - stopable in walk and some trot - canter no way. I rode him in a pelham with 2 reins and he really accepted it and went well, barely used the curb on him.

I'm just not sure how much affect the not so good backing had on his ridden work really but he was honest as they came. His jumping (I never jumped him as felt flatwork was that bad) but he would approach speedily, stop then cat leap.

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i have worked with scurry ponies and they are happy being driven as well as ridden - they are eager in either discipline and enjoy themselves immensley.

I can't remember who said about the driving bit being strong and riving ponies having harsh mouths, but: the most common driving bit is the Liverpool. I have found that most driving ponies will have very light mouths, because the contact with them when being driven has to be light, and most of them will respond via voice commands because there is no physical contact, which you have when you ride. I found that this was a positive effect of their driving influencing them when being ridden as they responded well to voice and leg.
 
Having worked with scurry ponies who have Liverpool bits and have to turn at full pelt around sharp corners and do 180 degree turns that involve coming from gallop to trot, I can assure you that the mouth of the horse depends entirely on the driver. I have known riding horses have mouths like iron and driving horses have mouths like butter. I rode all our scurries in eggbut snaffles and they were very light to the touch, much more so than many horses used just for riding in inexperienced hands. After all, a driver relies upon having a good mouth on his/her horse as that's the main source of physical contact and the voice is often the first way of communicating when driving.
As for the driving horse using it's forehand for pulling power, I would say that they put their shoulders into the collar but should push themselves along using their quarters. You only have to see a driving horse in full stride, on the bit and tracking up to see that they can work from behind and use their topline correctly.
 
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