[drivingpairs] kicking strap for pairs

> "I am wondering if there is a way to attach a kicking
> strap with a pair.  I have one, but of course, have only used it single,
> attached to the shafts.  Is there anyway to attach one with a pair?  My
> colt has not really bucked much in the past, but went through a fairly
> extended bout yesterday while being long lined, and it got me to
> thinking......"

There are kicking strap arrangements for pairs, but naturally they work 
entirely different than for a single, as we don't have the shafts on both 
side of the horse to attach the kicking strap to. But the principle is the 
same, trying to keep the horse from raising his croup when he wants to kick. 
But without the shafts available, the kicking straps for pairs are not nearly 
as efficient as with a single as the way they attach are not as optimal as 
with a single. But here is how they run: You take two straps (not one) and 
run them from the saddle backwards parallel to the back band over the croup 
and then on down to the splinter bar of the carriage (doesn't work with an 
evener, if you do have an evener on your carriage, then set it fixed, which 
you should do for a young pair anyhow, as well as for any proper dressage 
training and hazard driving). Over the croup you need to fix them left and 
right of the back band, so they don't slide down to the sides off the horse. 
You can do so in an arrangement kind of where some single draft horse drivers 
have the additional rings that they run their lines through. In total, as 
with a single, the kicking strap needs to be lose enough not to restrict the 
horse in it's regular work, but be tight enough to come into play and 
restrict him when he wants to lift his croup. So the horse needs to be 
hitched fairly tight, so that he doesn't have too much play between traces 
and pole straps and doesn't move back and forth too much, as otherwise the 
kicking straps would have to be too lose to ever be effective. Nevertheless, 
even with the best adjustment, they still can't be as effective as with a 
single. So, as additional precaution, for training, I would put an overcheck 
on the horse, because when a horse wants to kick, he usually also will want 
to take his head down for the kick,  which the overcheck will prevent. 
Naturally this is just for training to prevent kicking, as with an overcheck 
we can't do proper dressage training. Further: On my carriage I sit on the 
right, so I would put the potential kicker on the left to be out of the reach 
of his hind legs, or even a shoe flying off. In total, of course one should 
avoid to drive a known kicker, but all of the above can be used as a training 
tool for a young horse where one isn't all that sure, similarly as Jeff Morse 
always describes so well, as his habit with any single horse. Only as 
outlined above, it's much less effective and more involved with a pair.  
Those of you who may have been around, the pair kicking strap arrangements 
could be seen very well at the Live Oak CDE in Ocala recently where Ellen 
Epstein drove the left horse (see, also the left!) in her new pair with 
kicking straps.
Hardy


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