Would you buy a horse broken to drive, as a riding horse?

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LucyLou63

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Hi everyone,

I have been on here in the past a few years ago when I had my horse. Due to personal circumstances at couple of years ago I sadly had to let him go :(
I have regretted every minute even though I know he had a fantastic home to go to.

I am now in a position to get another horse and have seen one for sale but the ad says he has been used as a driving horse but has been schooled for ridden work for a few months.

I don't know a thing about driving (sorry driving people!) So all I want to know for now is would this be a viable horse to buy? He is the sort I am looking for and the right age and height, other thing is he is being sold via a dealer so am I just opening up a can of worms here?

Thanks in advance for any help or advice you can give me.
 
Wouldn't put me off at all. Obviously his ridden work might be a bit green if not done much but will have more knowledge than one that's just green. Plus good driving horses are pretty bombproof.
 
A friend of mine always has her youngsters broken to drive before backing them as she feels it calms them down and teaches them the basic lessons. Also a horse that is ride and drive generally sells easier as it will do either. as littlelegs says, driving horses are supposed to be bombproof, the only thing would be how green it was, and how much experience you had. I certainly wouldn't let it put me off totally, I would go and try it if it was everything else I was looking for.
 
As littlelegs said, he will probably have more life experience than a horse with the same amount of ridden work without a driving history. If you like him and he has had some experience I'd go for it.
 
Thanks everyone, the horse is 8 it says in the ad that he's green, riding, I have not ridden in 3 years since my horse went so I am a little nervous about trying out at the moment so maybe not the one for me???
 
Depends on what level you rode at previously & how much back up you have. But I would recommend getting some riding in before starting viewing if its been 3 years.
 
All three of my previous horses have been ride and drive, though two of them were driven more than ridden. My mare had a go at everything, though have to say she wasn't the most eager driver. Didn't affect the riding at all.:)

So no, I'd love a driver now.
 
Just my thoughts: I knew one that was broken to drive before being broken to ride. I suspect the success of the ridden work depends on the type of driving training it has had. The one I knew never found its balance as a ridden horse as it had basically only gone in straight lines, at top speed down the road :eek: As a ridden horse that is all she wanted to do and was very on the forehand :(

Not saying that's the case for all R&D horses ;) Only that you probably need to find out more about its driven history :)
 
It's from a dealer so I am having a few doubts!!

I am looking for a nice cob my last horse was a show cob, quality type I did quite a lot of showing with him and did well at local level but was always held back by lack of transport, I'd ideally like the same again, something that maybe has county quality.

He was certainly not a novice ride, when I said I had a cob people would look down their noses at me until they saw him! But I would like something with a bit less 'spark' about it now (that's an understatement!), I had him from a 4 year old till 10 so he did a lot of growing up with me, so I suppose I have a bit of experience, but when I say I want a cob everyone thinks I want a hairy plodder.

I will do another post asking the best places to look as I am a bit out of touch with horse hunting, have done the usual looking on horse quest, VERY expensive, looking at horse deals, ad horse etc, but I am beginning to think I am looking for the impossible unless I have an 8-12k budget!! Horses have really gone up since I bought mine all those years ago!
 
I bought a nice little Welsh D a few years back who'd been driven professionally and in fact competed at high level. He was a little gem but just that bit too sharp for me. When I had him he was nine but had only been backed for six months.

Some horses can transfer well from driving to riding; but you may often find them very on the forehand and its a helluva job to get them to go in a decent outline. Its important to know they've been backed properly too; so I'd ask who did it. Coz you can (sorry, obvious!) still get the same problems you'd get if it was a youngster not backed and/or brought on properly if someone has just bunged a saddle on it rather than do the job properly and also you need to know whether its had any schooling or not.

Some driven horses - simply because of the bits used in driving - are actually quite hard-mouthed as well, so you need to bear that in mind.

The plus point with a driven horse is that it should be confident to go forward on its own without having to folllow the bum ahead; a great plus if you want to hack solo. But beware: as some carriage horses are so used to going along with blinkers on that if you take them off they'll spook at everything!!

Also, with a driven horse, it should be 100% confident with anything it'll meet on the roads (I say "should"........ you can't always guarantee this tho'!!!!).

The horse I've got now was apparently driven in his younger days. He wasn't backed properly and never had any schooling till I had him.

I think you need to ask some questions of your dealer and try to establish a bit more history, i.e. WHERE was the horse driven, by whom, and WHO and WHEN was it backed? And has it been schooled and ridden on by someone competent?? These are questions I'd want to know.

Again on the plus side, if you do have a ride 'n drive you've got something really precious and can have a lot of fun!!! These horses tend to be snapped up pretty quick, so if you like the horse I wouldn't hang around.
 
But beware: as some carriage horses are so used to going along with blinkers on that if you take them off they'll spook at everything!!

that was the first thing that came to my mind, although they are bombproof in blinkers, taking them off can reveal a whole new world to the horse!!
I would want to know how much ridden work the horse had done and not just in the school:)
 
How old is the horse OP???

Methinks you need to take a knowledgeable friend along with you to view it: and see what they feel??

Personally, for me, I;m a happy hacker/TRECie and so temperament is the main issue, and whether its OK in traffic, but appreciate you may have other priorities and may want to do different stuff, so IMO you need someone with a good eye for a horse who knows you well & how you ride and can look at the whole thing objectively. This is invaluable in any case if going to view anything IMO.
 
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