You have survived raising the horse through birth to this point, you walk all over creation, you have done your best to create a mannered, calm, well behaved youngster- now what?
Well, depending on your circumstances, or desires you can actually begin to train that critter to DO SOMETHING! Not saddle work, but harness work. Or even more advanced work on the ground. A two year old is still too young to do advanced lateral ground work, but not too young to do actually harness work, provided it’s mind is settled enough of course. Work in harness or ground work is excellent for building up muscle, acquiring a good work ethic and channeling excess energy.
If you are going to do the harness routine all the way to actually hooking and driving that is great, but you will need access to another person, or have enough money to find and pay a good trainer. This can be both very spendy, and very disastrous- or very spendy and very good. Too many pro trainers tend to treat horses in ‘cookie cutter’ fashion, they do things one way and do not take into account individual horse temperaments or personalities. This can lead to great fears, confusion, resentments on the horse’s part- not to mention actual damage to the body or mind. Don’t forget a two year old is still a baby!
Say you are going to do it with the help of a friend at home- you will need a breaking cart, proper harness, a large enclosed area, a driving whip, and lots of time. It can take more than two folk to actually hook a horse to the cart, so be aware of the need for helpers and the need to proceed slowly. Do not rush into doing this by any means. Driving is much more dangerous than riding and you want to be very sure you have the basics firmly instilled. I am not trying to put anybody off from doing this, merely passing on some cautions. If you are fortunate enough to have an experienced “Whip ” ( somebody who has driven and trained even) on hand to help so much the better. A total novice person and a total green horse do not a good combination make!
A few more words of advice- do not acquire a total metal cart as a breaking cart- may be stronger, but metal is more unforgiving than wood and too many potential driving horses are killed by metal shafts driven into the ribs! A wooden cart , with a brake is most desirable- they can be found. If such is not easily found- check out harness tracks for older jog carts- they are light, and don’t allow as easy in and out access as a heavier wooden braking cart, but they are available and inexpensive. You do need a smoothish surface to use them on- forget going cross country in one! A quick release Harness is a real joy to use – consider that. Even starting with the nylon harness is o.k., provided you get fleece padding for the harness saddle, breastplate, and crupper . Fleece for the harness saddle is very important! That piece of harness carries ALL the weight of the cart and therefore to protect the young back wearing it, it must be padded- and widely! I never did like the lines that come with the nylon harness, but cotton lines are available- do not get the ones with the hand loops! They can be deadly to you if your hands get caught in a bail-out situation.
I won’t dwell on technique of harness training, there is a great deal of information available on the subject, not so much on ground work, but it to is available. I will say a bit about getting ready to do this deed!
In order to start any of this, I am assuming your horse has already been introduced to wearing harness- if not, you should start slowly to introduce it. Take your time. Not only is it new to the horse , likely it is new to you and there are miles of it to get used to handling! I suggest practicing in your house with several chairs as a ‘horse’- lay it out, learn each part by name, put it on the chairs, just as you would put it on the horse- get used to handling the sheer amount of material involved. If you develop some finesse with it, it will go easier and take less time when you actually are faced with harnessing a live animal. If you have inherited or acquired an older leather harness, check all the stitching, clean with saddle soap, and apply Lexol or another good leather conditioner. You want that equipment to be as supple as possible. When putting on Lexol ( or what-ever) use frequent small amounts rather than one heavy application. Leather dries better with the smaller, more frequent applications. Check all the buckles and connectors- make very, very sure the leather is still ‘live’ and has no dry rot at all!{mospagebreak}
Biting is very important in harness as it is under saddle. Less is more with a youngster. A simple snaffle bit – not a thin one- will do initially. If you have not bitted the horse before, then do so and lead/walk the horse around wearing the bridle with a bit. Spend some time on this step, don’t just place a bit in the horse’s mouth and attempt to hook the same session!!!! The key to harness work is taking the time to make sure the horse is comfortable with all the equipment and with the activity. If you have an older driving horse around, have someone drive it while you and the youngster watch from the rail! No kidding – horses can learn from watching!!! Some folk like to start a harness horse in an open bridle- if you are among them have helpers move that cart all around the horse you are ground-driving- in front, in back, to either side, gently bump with shafts – in other words get the horse totally used to that strange device! To it’s noise and it’s smell as well as it’s feel! You need to do this regardless of type of bridle you are going to use!
An open bridle is great, but some horses simply can’t or won’t tolerate the cart behind them when wearing one. If that is the case go to a blinker bridle – or get a blinker hood to use with your regular bridle. That works. Even if your youngster can handle the sight of a cart behind him or her, many are freaked out by it’s noise- you may even have to use ear-plugs at first! What-ever it takes to keep that horse from becoming frightened! A frightened horse in harness is very dangerous. Indeed! You can’t simply reach out and re-assure the animal, so it is worth your time to progress very slowly till the horse understands and accepts all the newness’.
Once you have actually gotten through all the beginning and critical stuff as described above it is time to ENJOY! Keep your first drives on the short side, and on familiar territory. The inviting open dirt road or lane will be there when you and the horse are ready! It isn’t going anywhere– but you are! Big pastures are fine, you don’t want to get yourself into any tight spots, and that is literal! You do want to build up muscle on the horse and install a sense of accomplishment- you want the animal to enjoy it’s work! So keep the drives short and pleasant- fun rather than drudgery!
Be lavish with deserved praise , verbal – don’t be tongue tied- when that youngster does a good job let them know it! Keep talking through all the ‘sticky’ points, offer comfort and re-assurance. You should not drive a horse all alone- take a passenger with you! Someone who can jump out and head that horse in needful situations. So someone who is also a horseperson is desired.
They say that God looks after idiots and fools, and I do know I was blessed when I first started to drive. I was in my teens and had gotten my first horse- an old half Belgian mare who was a “ride and drive” horse. In her case it was “drive and ride” she had done parades and pulled every sort of cart you can think of. I had never driven, and had never harnessed a horse- had spent months reviving an old leather harness and with the aid of a guy who had worked with the Clydesdale’s at the brewery in Scotland- we actually got my mare harnessed. Took a huge amount of time since he was used to harness with collars and hames, and this was harness with breastplate. Finally it was done and I asked Johnny what do I do now. His response ” Get in the sleigh and drive!” Duh! So I did! Not knowing any better I got into the sleigh- a NY Cutter by type- picked up the lines and said “Walk on” off the mare went, and that was my introduction to driving- on snow, in a cutter, by myself! All the things one can do wrong I did! But survived By Grace of God and the Powers that be. I soon learned that turning corners was an experience indeed- cutters ‘drift’ just like sports cars! The sparks from the patches of bare pavement are scary as all get out at first, and when they turn over well- I never moved so fast as when a huge snow plow frightened my mare and she began to climb the plowed snow on the road side. And the cutter started to turn over. I simply had to get that cutter caught and stabilized before it went completely over with the mare still hooked! So you see, disaster can happen and it is usually super fast when it does- all the more reason to have a passenger and to know your horse and what it will do in unexpected situations. Don’t drive alone!
Having said that repeatedly, I will leave you all to it, go and enjoy but remember SAFETY FIRST, for you and for your young horse!
Ina M Ish
iish@earthlink.net