[drivingpairs] Re: tandem

  • From: "Debra Halsted" <debrah@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: <drivingpairs@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Tue, 24 Jan 2006 15:51:26 -0600

From a lurking fellow Tandemaniac - - AMEN!

I started my pair as a tandem after a conversation with Gene Brown and
watching his video of riding a tandem.  Tried that once and decided driving
might be better.  You REALLY have to be coordinated to work the lines, keep
track of your whip, stirrups not to mention posting.  And coordinated I am
not.

So we ground drove a bit to help the boys understand the concept of in-line.
After years of side-by-side being the way to go it was quite a brain
adjustment for them but once they caught on we were set.

I used lunge lines as the leader lines and they just happened to be red -
for danger?  Used my show cart (bicycle wheeled) and even have pics of those
first few outings.  Sterling helped me learn how to hold the lines one
handed style but not being coordinated I found the two-handed method worked
best for me.

Traces were an old pair of English stirrup leathers and bailing string.

I had a set of brass overcheck loops from a vintage buggy bridle and tried
them on the wheeler's bridle.  As these loops fastened to the throatlatch
strap with just a conway buckle I found they would twist and stay twisted
with any major rein move.  We're still experimenting but seem to like those
welded rings the best.  Sorry Hardy!!

I LOVE tandem and have shown a bit and done a few CDEs with the boys.

You hit the nail on the head Dave - - "There is not much practical value to
it, but
when you have the balance right, it inspires some kind of chemical inside
that makes us feel good."

Fellow Tandemaniac who's also interested in the revival of the Tandem Club -

Debra Halsted
Just Because Farm
Wheatfield IN  - - where today Mother Nature is trying to blow us off the
map a la Oz and Kansas style!!



----- Original Message -----
From: David McWethy <dave@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <drivingpairs@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Tuesday, January 24, 2006 12:33 PM
Subject: [drivingpairs] tandem


> I'd like to develop a bit on what Hardy wrote, that "tandem is not all
that
> easy...".  I guess you could say, like all driving, it is easy until it
> isn't, and the difference between tandem and pairs or singles is that the
> horses can tie themselves in knots, figuratively.  There is potential for
> things to go very wrong.
>
> I have widely mentioned what I will now start calling the Four Horserisks
of
> the Apocalypse:
>
> Green horse
> Green driver
> Dangerous harness
> Dangerous vehicle
>
> And that once you get beyond these risks, you and the horse and everyone
> else is way safer.
> So, for tandem:  Green horse - make sure the horses are steady and well
> trained.
> Green driver - the transition from two lines to four makes everyone green.
> Have some sort of practice or training before risking your undeveloped
> talents on a tandem.  Get help from someone who knows what they are doing.
> Even if this is by email it can be very helpful.  For instance - how close
> to have your leader to wheeler?  Too close and you invite the possibility
of
> discord between the two horses.
> Harness.  This may seem self-serving, but in fact, to go tandem, I suggest
> you need very little additional harness, if you have two pair harnesses.
> Worse than that, I recommend cobbing things together.  Hitching the leader
> traces to wheeler with twine or rope may even be a good idea until you can
> get good measurements for the real traces and decide how to attach them.
> You can fake up roger rings.  Eventually, if you are surviving, you can
get
> all this sorted out.  In my case, I have the harness making resources, so
I
> developed what I thought worked best for me, including a leader trace
> carrier that was inspired by Sterling, which is not commonly seen, but
works
> terrifically.
> Vehicle.  This is the easy one for tandem.  Unlike a switch to pair, you
can
> use the same single vehicle.  A cart is likely best, any old cart that is
> safe.  Don't worry if you are not high in the air - that is not the
biggest
> issue at this point.
>
> Or you can ignore any or some of the four Risks.  It is possible to
survive
> anyway.  However, any one of the Risks can do you in.  I can't speak for
> anyone else, but I don't want to be on a first name basis with the folks
in
> the emergency room.
>
> Driving tandem is not for wimps.  But of course not many of us who drive
> horses are wimps anyway, so not to worry.  The impulse to tandem may be
> similar to tightrope walking.  There is not much practical value to it,
but
> when you have the balance right, it inspires some kind of chemical inside
> that makes us feel good.
>
> Camptown Dave
>
>
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