Even when we have the best of intentions to work our horses through the winter season, sometimes mother nature has instead forces us to appreciate the rest and relaxation portion of the year that winter is meant for. I know what you're thinking... rest?! relaxation?! What are you talking about? Winter can be a brutal …
Continue reading Preparing your Horse for the Carriage after a Winter Hiatus
This winter has been a really nasty one for us in Bucks County, PA. We've had some serious cold days and way too much ice. It has put training some what on hold from January through February so far. Now, this isn't always a bad thing. Rest is always needed throughout the training process. But, …
Continue reading How to Continue Learning Outside of the Carriage
Many of the people I teach carriage driving lessons to come from some sort of background in riding. So, often times I am able to relate some of the things that transfer over from riding to help explain and have a better understanding of. However, there are also a lot of concepts students are very …
Continue reading Communicating with Your Driving Horse: The Three Aids
One of the key ingredients to a good driving horse that is not often talked about, but is incredibly important, is TRUST. Trust goes both ways. That means building a relationship between both horse and driver where each party can trust in each other. The driver can trust the horse out in front to take …
People often ask me if they can drive their horse and how to go about doing so. Next, they ask how long will it take to get them driving. The answer to these questions are not simply answered. This depends on so many factors. But, I thought I could provide a road map to help …
Starting a horse to drive from the beginning is something that takes tons of time and patience. It is easy to overlook and skip steps during the rush of excitement you might have when setting goals for you and your horse. It is often that I get asked about starting a horse or donkey to …
Continue reading 7 Things to Work on With Your Driving Horse Prospect Before the Harness
If you've been paying attention to our Instagram lately, you will have seen that Jasper has taken another step towards officially becoming a driving horse. We are now ground driving with a travois! So let me answer what is probably your first question - what the heck is a travois? The travois originates from the …
Big things are happening over here!! This week we took a new step in our driving training journey. I introduced Jasper to the cart in harness! We did NOT actually hitch yet, and still have a little ways to go until we do... but he was SO GOOD about the cart while ground driving! Now, …
Last month, I asked my followers over on Instagram for some blog topic ideas, and here I am finally getting to them! (Sorry guys!!) This idea came from @r.e.m25 and since Jasper is almost ready to hitch to the cart, I thought it would be a fun one to reflect on! Expectation #1: Purchasing a …
Continue reading 5 Expectations I Had When I Decided to Train my Horse How to Drive
The Pony Bunch 