[drivingpairs] Tandem Accident Question
- From: kathy robertson <goodhors@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: drivingpairs@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 22 Jan 2006 21:01:58 -0800 (PST)
<Dutifully made a beautiful cylindrical wrap of the
excess tandem reins - so as not to get tangled up
myself.
the little Welsh (small ears) wheeler decide that he
wasn't going to try to keep his bridle on any longer
when he felt some pressure on it - and dropped his
head and let the reins of the
leader pull his bridle off - of course with the open
gate in front of him :-0.>
Wow! Sounds like you had a terrific ground person,
with how many arms to grab ponies and parts?!?! Sorry
about your head, sounds like everything else was
fairly well controlled.
My main question is what kind of rings were you using
to carry the Leader reins on the Wheeler bridle?
Regular Roger rings on the browband or the big loose
rings on a strap, hanging off the bridle?
We have done Tandem a couple times, Traditional
turnout the first time. Did Pleasure and CDE with
them, extremely reliable, quiet horses. We had BIG
problems with the Roger rings on the browband.
Wheeler was a horse, normal ears, just EXTREMELY
ticklish ears. We shaved out her ears, braided
forelock, had earcovers as possible problem prevention
steps. She still would bob her head up and down, then
shake her head at times. Throatlatch was so tight, we
wondered how she could breathe! Braided in bridle as
well.
Leader was real light mouthed, old Western Pleasure
horse trained to go loose reined. She was difficult
to keep up on the bit, and after getting jerked by the
Wheeler shaking head a few times each drive, could be
a problem to keep straight ahead. We didn't know any
other way to do Tandem at that time, Traditional
methods were not the best for us and these horses.
Second Tandem, larger horses who DID take the bit when
asked. Experienced as Team leader, she went forward
very well as a Tandem Leader. Harness changes
involved using the large rein rings on straps of Team
Wheelers as Roger Rings for Leader Reins. Rings were
loosly tied down so they couldn't flip up over Wheeler
crownpiece. Ring and rein between the Wheeler ears is
an ADVENTURE!! Using big loose rings, any Wheeler
head movement was NOT instantly transferred by rein to
Leader, misdirecting her. All 4 reins worked
independently which was wonderful, with the increased
quickness driver needed to do CDE with this Tandem.
Big, responsive, fast moving horses. We used the
Tandem Leader bars for this Tandem, made it easier to
shorten Leader traces, for safer turns. We were much
happier with loose rings for Leader reins and Leader
bars in our second Tandem.
Lastly, I would suggest that you leave your Leader
reins unbundled, unbuckled in any manner. If you need
to cast the Leader loose, you just drop the reins so
they can run out the front of Wheeler's bridle rings.
He should not be able to drop head and have rein
pressure pull bridle off. With loose rein ends you
have no chance of pulling wheeler bridle off,
accidently, with the buckled ends coming up behind his
head.
We also DO NOT fasten the Leader reins together on
the Team of 4. Same safety factor, let the Leaders
go, keep control of the Wheelers and vehicle.
Sit on extra rein lengths, let them hang into the
rear of vehicle, but enable them to be pulled out of
your hands, without removing Wheeler bridle if you
have a problem.
Make any rein carrying ring VERY LARGE. I would
advise nothing less than 3" on Wheeler head, to allow
rein to run freely forward and back. No chance to
bind up on that Wheeler bridle. Big roller rein
terrets on the backpads, let the reins move fast. No
snagging on splices. Make sure all your rein twists
are out, from the Leader bit to your hands.
Better luck on your next outing, hope your head and
bruises feel better quickly. My admiration to your
groundperson for managing so well!!
Kathy Robertson
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