[drivingpairs] Question
- From: Hzlax@xxxxxxx
- To: drivingpairs@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Fri, 20 Jan 2006 13:58:44 EST
In a message dated 1/19/2006 11:03:02 PM Pacific Standard Time,
ecartis@xxxxxxxxxxxxx writes:
> From: "Debbie Buick" <found1farm@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Subject: [drivingpairs] Question
> Date: Thu, 19 Jan 2006 18:33:23 -0500
>
>
> A pair question for those in the know. I drive two Morgans,
> mother/daughter, about the same height, but the mother is about 4 inches or
> more longer in the body. I have their pole straps adjusted the same length.
>
> The pole always seems to slant toward the shorter bodied horse on the right,
>
> so it points crooked, and is messing me up in cones. Their traces are the
> same length. If you were looking at them from above, I would think the
> longer horse is a little ahead of the shorter bodied horse, as their butts
> look pretty even from where I sit on the box. Also the longer bodied
> horse's saddle is ahead of the shorter bodied horses.
>
> Should I shorten the traces on the longer horse? At a clinic the clinician
> lengthened the pole strap on the longer horse, but that made the pole look
> more crooked towards the shorter horse. However it gave the longer horse
> more room to bend.
> What do you think, pair people?
>
> Debbie
>
Welcome to driving the pair in your first CDE. Congratulations on a good
event at Black Prong. Now to your question: Don Hayes has given already a good
answer (also for Rachel's question: Try to have the heads even) But let me
answer more to Debbie: Reading your post, I don't think your problem is due to
the
different length of the horses. I bet your problem comes from the mother, the
longer horse, that you have on the left, being more eager and going more
forward and with that pulling the carriage more. When one horse pulls more,
that
will bring the pole over to the other horse. So your answer would be to get
after the lazier horse, which here happens to be the shorter one on the right.
Try that! Under no circumstances should you shorten the traces of the left
horse. That would make it worse, as then mother would be pulling even more.
What
you could do, is taking the left horse back in the reins one or two holes, to
keep mother back a little - which has the same effect as letting out the right
horse one or two holes, so giving the right horse more room to go forward and
pull. So the coupling rein going to the left horse (which is on the back of
the right horse) will be moved back one or two holes (so it gets shorter and at
the same time the draft rein on the right horse gets longer by the same
amount), and the coupling rein going to the right horse (which is on the back
of the
left horse) is moved forward one or two holes, so it gets longer, and at the
same time the draft rein to the left horse gets shorter. Do the same number of
holes on both. So if you do one hole on one, then you also do one hole on the
other, only in the opposite direction, ok? Or you can also do two holes on
each. Clear as mud? And then use the whip on the right horse to always make
her go forward and let daughter do her share of the work. I think that's
probably your problem and will solve it hopefully.
Good luck, and let us know, if it worked.
Hardy
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