[drivingpairs] Re: Newbie questions about bits, pole straps, etc.

Hi Milli Ann, from Magnolia,

You have a great source of driving information close to you.   Tom O'Carroll
lives in Navasota and if you'd like his phone number, please write to me
privately.  I strongly suggest you meet him, if you don't already know him.

When I first started driving, and bought my pair my carriage, it came with a
crab.   I never liked it.   I had a swivel put in the end of the pole, with
a metal yoke.   I have recently sold that carriage (after 15 years of
driving it) and have ordered a Puddle Jumper with the same set up.   I also
snap tack shackles directly to the ring on the breast collar.   I've never
had any problem with the pole hitting the horses.   But I buckle the harness
in tighly.

If you have a copy of Heike Bean's Carriage Driving, I think she addresses
the issue of bits very nicely.   I use French Links and for years used
modified fixed cheek Liverpools (I cut off the shanks).   Most recently I
bought and have used the fixed cheek Glory Liverpools (I think that's what
they are called).    I always seem to go back to the French Links, though.

What bit are you using on the horse that bites the rein?   Maybe it's the
wrong bit for him.   I've been known to use a different bit for each of the
pair....

Welcome to pair driving....fun, isn't it?

Helen, between Sadler and Whitesboro, Texas


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