[drivingpairs] Re: accidents waiting to happen
- From: "Olive Reichard" <olivereichard@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: <drivingpairs@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 2 Dec 2002 17:38:02 -0600
I would like to respond to your post Hardy. Sorry for the delay as I was
out of town up until Thanksgiving Day and am finally recovered enough to
make a reply.
I appreciate your concern and see that I omitted some information that would
have clarified a few things. Both of my ponies were trained by a
professional pairs driver/trainer. I have taken lessons several times a
week for more than a year. I drive 220 miles to take these lessons. (the
last 10 weeks,I have been in school and have only been out to drive every
other week at best) I would have preferred to drive with my trainer, but as
he lives 110 miles away, and has insisted that I'm doing a great job on my
own,.....etc......I did not feel it was unreasonable to drive them. The
mare had been doing very well for almost a year since her last bolt and has
been more relaxed in the harness. The gelding who had been very steady in
the past bolted this time because he was in unfamiliar territory, this was
his first drive that was not the usual country roads out where the trainer
lives.
Having said that I don't intend to remove the blame from myself. I should
have foregone driving the ponies because I do not have a qualified person to
help me with them. Last year, I did a lot of driving of the pair myself in
that same area (with a friend along - not a horseperson) however, my pair
consisted of my 24 year old mare and her daughter. This did a lot to help
the younger mare. I do treat my ponies with respect and never made the
reference in my first post that they were "just" ponies. I will take the
ponies to the trainer for the next drives, as my confidence has suffered and
I worry about the setback this may have been for the ponies.
It seems as though there are two schools of thought about starting pairs.
One method seems to be that you ground drive them individually, then in a
pair and start them that way. The other method seems to be that you get
each horse going dependably as a single, and then put them in a pair. My
trainer advises me to continue driving the pair. He is willing to help me
out again as long as I can make the journey out there this winter. I wonder
whether the ponies would benefit from some individual work.
So, which of the following would be your choice for what to do to give them
some confidence? (or perhaps none of them)
a. ground drive them individually extensively, and in new situations,
making sure they are light and responsive. or
b. have the trainer take them individually to drive them single for a
while. or
c. continue driving them as a pair in familiar territory.
d. take turns hitching the mare and the gelding to the old mare for a
while.
BTW, I use a mullen mouth glory bit with a curb strap for the ponies. They
seem comfortable in it, although the mare can get strong with it (for
example when heading home). They do have periods of time while in harness
when they are relaxed, tails loose and heads lowered. I have been
encouraging them (especially the mare as she likes to hurry and do all the
pulling) to relax as much as possible.
I did enjoy meeting you at the Indiana CDE in 2001. I had the chestnut pair
of 12 hand Sec. A welsh ponies. I value your advice and the helpful
responses of the others on this list. I do make an effort to learn the
proper way to do things, and admit to making some stupid mistakes. I hope
that my ponies will be able to go on from this. I do love driving a pair.
Olive in Illinois
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