[drivingpairs] New to pairs

Hi Carol and Sue,
Speaking as one who's only been driving a pair only for a couple of years, it's 
a blast!  The one thing neither of you mentioned is whether you are experienced 
single drivers.  If you aren't, I sure would start there first.  But assuming 
that you are, I had the same problem of finding basic information on the pairs 
when I started.  If I were you, I'd contact your local driving club and get 
someone to help you.  Or go to a show and ask people there if they know someone 
to help you.  There is more than one way to hook the pair to the pole, for 
example, depending on the design of your harness and your pole.  My pairs 
harness came in lots of little pieces, with some sketchy drawings of how the 
finished harness would look, so I first separated all the pieces into two 
piles, 
and then brought a sawhorse into the living room to try to assemble one of the 
harnesses.  But without some help I'd probably still be trying.  I find driving 
the pair much, much more complex and much more fun than driving my guys singly. 
  Just getting the reins right is a big challenge!  I've seen diagrams in books 
where the crossing rein goes first from the saddle turret on the left horse to 
the neck turret on the right horse before going to the mouth of the right 
horse. 
  Then I've seen others (more common) where the rein goes directly from the 
saddle turret on the left to the mouth of the right hand horse.  And there are 
lots of differences between a heavy horse setup and one for carriage horses.  
We 
have some very experienced people on this list who can help you (and I thank 
them), but there's nothing like someone who is looking at your horses, 
carriage, 
and harness as they give you advice.
Stephanie
Blasted Rock Farm

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