shall i start driving my horse again?

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storm123

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recently i found out my horse was actually broken to drive, my horse is a jumper, and he loves it and i compete regularly, but i would love to have a go at driving, but i wouldnt want that to mix with with his jumping or flatwork, its been years though.

id love to know what you think!
 
You need if possible to find out his history many horses who are now being ridden have had a career change for a good reason and that reason may well render them although broken to drive very unsuitable for a beginner to learn with.
 
My driving horse moves between dressage hunting doing driving trials with no issues he loves it, they are very good at adjusting IME.
However I have one horse who I ride now who is broken to drive and he is sharp and unpredictable in harness and although safe to drive he would not be suitable to learn with.
Driving is huge fun so proceed with caution it's expensive so you would need to sure it's what you what to do as to buy harness / carriage for something you are not going to do a lot does not seem worth it to me.
If you are keen I would ask round locally to you and find a driving yard have some lessons then send your horse there where he canbe put to by experianced people and they can get him going again.
 
My old girl used to do everything, dressage, jumping, crosscountry and driving and just enjoyed the variety, so there isn't usually a problem with doing anything you want - in fact the driving made her a much better jumping pony due to the muscles she built up in her back end. But if it is years since yours has driven then you really need to go back to basics and retrain from scratch as if you were training someone who had never driven - and it should really be done by someone who knows what they are doing so can spot if there is anything amiss and make sure they are safe (as has been said, sometimes there is a good reason why they don't drive any more). Having said that, my pony was bought as a riding pony, I took her back to driving at the age of 17 having owned her for 5 years, the only reason she didn't drive before then was because I didn't!! So it is possible for a pony to be sold on as ride and drive but only one part of that is used hence becoming a riding pony again.

The real question in my mind is do you actually want to drive? Or do you just want to have a go because you know your horse has in the past? I got into driving because of my pony, but I had always had a interest in it. If really all you want to do is ride then there's not much point going to the expense of getting him driving again. If you didn't know he had driven would it have occurred to you to drive him?
 
Agree re what dollyana said. Another thing is, if you do decide to drive him, please don't just chuck a harness on him and go. Even if he has driven before, you haven't (afaik), so please do get some tuition and someone to drive him with you. Also, never drive without gloves and a whip and please wear a hard hat.

If you do decide to drive, beware that it will become addictive :D
 
As Goldenstar says, find out why he stopped being driven. I once schooled a carriage pony on for a lady. He was fine with traffic, dogs, bikes etc but would spook slightly at stuff like pheasants & umbrellas. Under saddle he was fine, & went on to be a fab second pony for her 8yr old niece. In a carriage the slight spook made him a liability. And if you do decide to drive, contact a local driving club for advice on how to get started.
 
I sent my 17 h ID x gypsy veneer to carriage driving school for 2 wks, to be broken and test his suitability, once I got the ok I would box him to the place two times a week for my lessons driving him in a loaned carriage, he took to it well and then I bought a carriage and a shed to keep it in. I love it as I can't ride now with arthritic hip. But I can drive, if only this weather would improve cos I won't take him out in the carriage in the wind or rain. He is not a spooky boy and he has been doing it a year now, my sharer does the pony club stuff with him.
 
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