teaching your morgan to drive - american morgan horse association

MorganHorse

TEACHING YOUR

TO DRIVE

MorganHorse

TchYrMrgnHseToDrive 10/25/10 11:20 AM Page 3

TABLE OF CONTENTS:2 . . . . . . . . . Introduction3 . . . . . . . . .Your Horse4 . . . . . . . . .Your Equipment8 . . . . . . . . . Ground Work

10 . . . . . . . . . Lungeing11 . . . . . . . . . Ground Driving14 . . . . . . . . . Pulling a Drag15 . . . . . . . . . Hooking Your Horse17 . . . . . . . . . Driving18 . . . . . . . . . Finishing

Yes, you can start your driving horse athome. It makes little difference whetheryour horse will ultimately be a park horse,carriage horse, pleasure show horse, or ahorse for you to simply enjoy driving athome. The basic approach is the sameregardless of the discipline.There are a fewcaveats for starting your own horse, how-ever.

One careless mistake can forever affectyour horse’s attitude about learning and hisability to learn well. While training yourhorse should be a fun and rewardingprocess, you must be willing to take theeducational process seriously to be fair toyour horse. He did not ask you to trainhim. Heike Bean, in her valuable book,Carriage Driving, put it this way:

“What does it feel like to be this animalof flight, who must submit to beingstrapped to a carriage and controlledthrough a piece of metal in his mouth, doingthings and going places he would neverdream of doing on his own?”

Obviously, the handling a young horsereceives from birth can play a significantrole in how well the learning process isaccepted in the future.

Professional trainers have facilities andequipment specifically designed for the pur-pose of training horses which minimizesthe risks involved.That does not mean youwill need specialized equipment to trainyour horse at home. Training equipmentneed not be expensive, but it must be wellmade, of proper fit and design, and in goodcondition. There may even be ways to use

or modify the equipment you already have.Equipment failure can put you in harm’s waywithout warning and in an instant can ruinyour horse for driving.

Training your horse to safely pull a vehi-cle rarely can be done single-handedly.Professional trainers have qualified assis-tants to help them.This does not mean theamateur horseman cannot start his or herown driving horse, but safety for yourhorse, yourself, and your assistants alwaysmust be the prime consideration.There willbe steps along the way that will require youto have assistance from at least one otherperson, sometimes two. These peopleshould be familiar with handling horses, andpreferably, with the process.

You should seriously consider paying forprofessional help at some of these criticaljunctures if you have the slightest hesitationor concern about how to proceed. It doestake a certain temperament to train horseswell. People who are calm, deliberate, andattentive usually are more successful thanthose who are excited, unfocused, etc.Some people lack the patience and confi-dence necessary to train horses well. Someare simply scared. Carefully assess whetheryou have the qualities necessary to increasethe chances of a good outcome.

Preparing horses for driving must bedone in a safe environment. If your quartersare cramped, cluttered, full of noise andother distractions, your outcome will prob-ably suffer.

Perhaps the best method of starting yourdriving horse at home is to work with aprofessional trainer. This may sound oddconsidering the topic at hand, but a profes-sional can be invaluable at guiding youthrough the steps involved. It is not advis-able to start your driving horse by yourselfif you have never driven.Take some lessonsto gain an understanding of what is involved.There is a lot of involved preparationrequired to produce a result which, whenfinished, looks fairly simple and straightfor-ward. Locate a trainer who will bring youalong through the training process beforeyou try it on your own.Attending appropri-ate clinics given by professional trainers isanother excellent way to learn how to edu-

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cate your horse. The American MorganHorse Association maintains a ProfessionalCommittee that provides a list of cliniciansacross the country. Books and articles, whilequite helpful, pale in comparison to real lifeexperiences.This article is only meant to bea guide. It is by no means a definitive manu-al on the subject.

YOUR HORSEAge will be a factor. Most Morgans are not trained to drive before they are at least twoyears old. Some preparatory work is usual-ly done before they reach two and someare even hooked earlier, but serious drivingmileage should not be asked of a Morganunder two or even three years old.You canaccomplish many elementary lessons withyour horse when he is very young.Weanlings can be taught to lead. Many sixmonth olds can start to learn basic verbalcommands on a leadline. During the earlygrooming lessons, your horse can have histail handled in preparation for a crupper.On the other hand, much damage can bedone by doing strenuous exercises tooearly or too often. Great care is necessarywith these young horses because not onlyare you introducing physical stresses onyoung, developing bodies, you also areintroducing them to issues of trust for thevery first time.

Making the transition from turning aschooled riding horse into a driving horseis generally easier and quicker than startingfrom scratch with a youngster. A trainedriding horse has some understanding of thetraining process; that is, he knows the dif-ference between the classroom and recess.One caveat: Be extremely mindful of thefact that you may not fully know whatmishaps might have occurred in the earlyyears of older horses.They may be perfect-ly wonderful riding horses, but could havehad poor experiences with driving. Thesehorses can be dangerous for even a profes-sional trainer and they always are danger-ous for the unprepared.

Never hook any horse to a vehicle unlessyou are certain he has a good history as adriving horse. If you are unsure, start with areview of the basics in order to make an

assessment of the level of training and hisanxiety level.

Size will not be much of a factor until thetime comes to more precisely determineyour horse’s job. There are some jobswhere size does matter. Pulling larger vehi-cles, for instance, is easier for large horsesor pairs.One of the best-kept secrets in thedriving world is the use of smaller Morgans(14.2 hands and under) in the pony divi-sions of carriage driving competitions, bothCombined Driving Events and PleasureCompetitions. The driving heritage of theMorgan breed serves them quite well incompetition against the pony breeds. Sizealso may matter if your equipment does notmatch your horse well. Some vehicles sim-ply may be too heavy for younger, unfit, orsmaller horses.

The harness is set up to accustom the horseto wearing a harness. Note the connectionfrom the breastplate to the breeching, using astraight side rein. This set up would be usedwhile leading, lungeing, or ground driving yourhorse.

Mentality, maturity, and mental aptitudeplay a part in how you proceed with yourhorse. Horses, like people, learn at differentrates and sometimes in different ways. Ifyour horse’s mind is immature, the lessonsmay have to be quite brief. This enablesyour horse to stay focused. Longer lessonsmay be counterproductive. If your horse ishigh strung, the process may take great tactto accomplish and may in fact be better leftfor someone with more experience.Sometimes high-strung horses are not somuch the product of genetics as environ-ment. A change in your horse’s feed orturnout time may make a huge difference inhis energy and anxiety levels and thus his

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trainability. There is plenty of time to con-centrate and focus your horse’s physicalenergy after he is trained. For starting yourhorse in harness, however, you need asmuch mental cooperation as your horsecan give you. Anything that takes away fromthat should be examined and changed ifpossible.Are there Morgans who just don’thave the aptitude to be driving horses?Probably, but in our breed it has been myexperience these horses are few and farbetween and almost always poor previoushandling has been the real cause for thisshortcoming.

YOUR EQUIPMENTThe harness used to start your drivinghorse does not need to be a special train-ing harness, although there are some fea-tures with specialized equipment that canmake the job easier and safer. The “quick-hitch” style training harness is ideal forstarting driving horses since it can be puton and removed quickly with a minimum ofeffort. It also is easily adapted for the dif-ferent stages of the training process, fromaccustoming your horse to the feel of aharness, to lungeing, to ground driving, toactually being hooked and driven. Mostquick-hitch style harnesses also are quitesuitable for pleasure driving at home. Ofparticular note is the safety feature of usingtraces that snap on in a single, quick, easymotion to the breastplate at your horse’sshoulder. This allows you to remain nearyour horse’s head for more control and isespecially handy when you find yourselfworking your horse alone or with horseswho are a little nervous.

Harness fit and adjustment are critical tothe comfort of your horse. Poorly adjustedharnesses and bridles are a major cause ofpoor results. Any pain or discomfortcaused in the training process may beremembered by your horse for years tocome, even after the pain and physicalinjury are gone. Of particular importance isthe width of the harness saddle, its overallconstruction, and its placement on yourhorse. Narrow saddles are fine for thebrief workouts in a well conditioned, levelshow ring, but are unsuitable for work on

the varied terrain found on longer cross-country drives. For use outside the showring, the harness saddle should be a mini-mum of three inches wide. It is imperativethat there be no pressure from the saddledirectly on the top of the horse’s spine.Most saddles have a tree and care shouldbe taken to make sure the tree does notinterfere with the spine or cause unduepressure on the muscle groups behind thewithers.This pressure is a common fault ofmany Amish-made harnesses coming rightfrom the manufacturer and usually can beremedied by taking the saddle apart andreforming the tree.The stuffing or paddingof the saddle should be wide.Too often thispadding is narrow and hard, causing dis-comfort or pain. Supplemental padding canbe useful as long as it is well fitted and wellconstructed. A well-made harness shouldnot require additional padding.

The saddle should be placed well behindthe withers.This is probably the most com-mon misadjustment seen on harness hors-es. As a general rule of thumb, place theforward edge of the saddle behind the lasthairs of the mane by the width of yourhand. It may look too far back when yourhorse is first harnessed, but the saddle willreposition itself forward a bit once yourhorse is being worked.

The bridle used in the initial phases forstarting horses can be an open bridle orone with blinders. Professional trainershave their preference on that score. Someuse an open bridle up to the hooking stageand then use a blinker hood or switch to ablindered bridle. Some start right awaywith a closed bridle and some use an openbridle for the entire process, even whiledriving. To some extent you will have toassess how your horse reacts to differenttypes of bridling and how it reacts in gen-eral to the process and the environmentaround him. Some horses are too distract-ed by the wide view of an open bridle.Others feel anxious and claustrophobic ina closed bridle. Personally, I start the basicswith an open bridle and drive hooked to avehicle with a blindered bridle. I’ve nevergotten in trouble with a horse using ablindered bridle.

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Examples of simple bits useful for startingdriving horses.A — Half-Cheek SnaffleB — Large Ring Tube Cheek SnaffleC — Half-Cheek MullenD — French Link Snaffle

CHECK REINSCheck reins have been a great source ofcontroversy since they were introduced inthe 1800s. Whether you use them or notwill largely depend on the final job yourhorse will be asked to do. Overchecks andside checks are considered proper equip-ment in park and pleasure driving classes inthe show ring. Roadster classes require acheck rein. Check reins of any kind aregenerally not used in carriage driving com-petitions (in some competitions they areillegal). For starting your harness horse, Irecommend not using a check at all. Onceyour horse is ground driving well, a checkrein can be introduced if the job you willbe asking your horse to do requires one.

Some consider a check rein a safetydevice on the theory that if your horsecannot lower his head, he cannot buck orkick. There are two problems with thattheory. In practice, when a horse is scaredenough to buck or kick, the very first pieceof equipment that will break is the check

rein. Second, many accidents actually arecaused by the discomfort and subsequentanxiety created by the use of poorlyadjusted check reins.

RUNNING MARTINGALESRunning martingales are used sometimesfor driving horses. They are used on showhorses in the Morgan breed, but rarely areused on carriage horses.They are not nec-essary for starting your driving horse. Themartingale is a specialized device thatshould be introduced later in the processand only if required for the job your horsewill be asked to do. Some feel martingalesare a safety device on the theory they willsupply the leverage and rein direction nec-essary to help prevent your horse fromraising up above the bit. This is true, butthere will be another approach explainedlater to deal with this. If your horse istaught to carry himself properly, he will findit terribly inefficient to raise above the bit,thus making his job more difficult. Muchdamage can be done with the improper useof the running martingale. It can take quitea long time to re-school a horse to performin self carriage once he has learned to relyon the running martingale for balance. Aswith the check rein, the running martingalecan be gradually introduced as your horseprogresses toward the use for which youare training.

The bits used with harness horses in theearly stages need not be particularly differ-ent in design than riding bits. It is a myththat a “driving” bit must be used for driving(except as required by certain competitionspecifications). First and foremost is alwaysthe consideration of comfort for yourhorse. Use the bits that are comfortable foryour horse and which he responds to well.Then worry about whether they are tradi-tional driving bits. Ultimately, you may wantto use a design considered proper for thetype of driving you will do, but in the begin-ning that is not your concern. Rememberthat we are first looking for cooperationfrom your horse and that mouth discom-fort is a primary source of poor coopera-tion.The mouth is of particular importanceto the harness horse since it is your princi-

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pal connection to your horse.You have noseat or legs with which to influence hisbehavior or performance.

Many people mistakenly feel that drivingmeans using a stronger bit since the driverdoes not have as much control of his horseas a rider. It would help to remember thathorses do not stop with their mouth.Theystop with their brain. If your horse isscared enough to consider running awaywith you, it is unlikely that the metal in hismouth will stop him regardless of itsmechanical power.The increased pain in hismouth from such mechanics may in factmake matters far worse. Driving horsescan and should be just as light and respon-sive in the hand as any riding horse.Respect the power of training them to beresponsive and do not abuse their mouthout of the misguided notion that strongerbits are somehow safer.

KICKING STRAPSKicking straps are the driving equivalent ofthe riding helmet. I use one at home withevery horse on every drive, no matter howexperienced or inexperienced the horse is.They have saved my life several times. Akicking strap can limit the potential damagefrom your horse if he thinks that kicking upor bucking will solve his problems. It canprevent a kicking fit from becoming a seri-ous accident by not allowing your horse toget one leg over the shaft. Usually when ahorse engages the limitation of the kickingstrap, he stops trying the evasive escaperoute of kicking or bucking and will moveforward.The action of the kicking strap canbuy you enough time to settle your horse.

The strap runs from one shaft, up overthe rump of the horse, just in front of thebase of the tail, and then down to the shafton the other side. It should be adjustedloosely enough not to engage at all whenyour horse is walking, trotting, or canteringnormally. It should be tight enough to limitthe raising of the hind end should yourhorse begin to lift it to kick out or up.Thestrap can be made of stout leather ornylon, or even a heavy lead rope can bepressed into service. Harness makers canmake one for a few dollars. It could be the

best insurance your money can buy.

LEADLINESLeadlines will be part of your trainingequipment at times.They should be longerrather than shorter. They should havesecure, sturdy snaps that are easy to workwith one hand. Nylon should be avoidedbecause if your horse should suddenly pullaway, severe injuries to hand and skin canresult. Cotton leads work very well and areeasy to grip securely. It also is wise for youand your assistants to wear gloves to pro-tect your skin. Make sure they are thinenough to enable you to easily work withyour buckles and snaps.

LONG LINESLong lines are used to drive your horsefrom the ground. Regular driving reins aretoo short and usually too heavy to makegood ground driving lines. Professionaltrainers have their preferences for longlines. Some prefer leather, nylon, or cottonrope, cotton or synthetic webbing, or acombination of webbing and rope. Theyshould be long enough to allow you towork your horse in at least a 50 foot diam-eter circle and light enough to allow you tocarry them coiled up for close work withyour horse from the side or behind withoutbecoming too bulky.

BREECHINGBreeching is used on carriage horses as themechanism by which the horse can holdback the weight of the vehicle on slopesand in downward transitions. Some horsesinitially object to the pressure of breechingor even to its feel on their rump, but mostadapt to it readily if properly introduced. Itis advisable that breeching pressure beintroduced early in the training process andcertainly before your horse is hooked to avehicle. Breeching is not used in the Morganshow ring for park or pleasure driving, butit is necessary equipment if you will be driv-ing your horse outside of the ring over var-ied terrain or in carriage competition. Donot expect any horse to automaticallyknow what breeching is or to readily acceptit without some training.

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DRAGSDrags are useful, if not necessary, equip-ment for starting your driving horse.A dragis merely something your horse can pullbehind him on the ground with the traceswhile you drive him from the ground withlong lines. A drag helps accustom yourhorse to the feel of pulling something withhis chest, the feel of the traces on his sidesand legs, and the sounds coming frombehind him.

There are many set ups one can use fora drag. Using anything that is too heavy runsthe risk of over facing and frustrating yourhorse. It also is not advisable to use any-thing that bounces too easily. Some consid-eration should be given to the sound thedrag makes. Steady, lower frequency noiseis better than a high frequency, excitablenoise. Some use an old tire or a piece oflumber. Care should be taken when using atire that you attach it in a way which limitsits ability to bounce up on edge and beginto roll. Two U-bolts placed about 90degrees apart on a tire work well as attach-ments for your traces. I use a section ofsturdy metal wire grating which lies flat allthe time, is not too heavy nor too light, andis safe for my horses if they should act upand get tangled in the traces.They will notget hurt stepping on it.The screen arrange-ment spreads the traces wider than thewidth of the horse and helps keep thehorse from stepping on or over the traces.It has the added benefit of grooming mywork area!

Set up a breastplate with traces longenough to reach the ground several feetbehind your horse. Regular driving traceswill be too short.You can easily add lengthto regular traces using stout cord of somekind. Make sure it is strong enough not tobreak too easily while you are working.Baling twine is not sufficient.Attach sturdysnaps of a design that will not easily comeundone by themselves to the end of yourtrace extensions so that you can quicklyattach and detach your drag. Some trainersattach the end of their traces to a singletree and then attach their drag to the sin-gle tree.You can make your own single treeout of a solid 2 x 4 and a few eye bolts: one

on each end facing the same direction foryour traces and one in the middle facingthe opposite direction to hook up yourdrag. Eye bolts are much more secure thanscrew eyes.The advantage of this arrange-ment is that the traces remain spread thewidth of the single tree rather than comingto a single point behind your horse. Thishelps to prevent your horse from becom-ing tangled in the traces while working,especially in a circle.

With this type of drag, you can set upyour traces to remain attached to the dragand to snap on the breastplate when youhook up your horse. This allows you toremain in proximity of the head of yourhorse, which will give you more controlthan if you move out behind him.

Some trainers will make up a drag thathas shafts and a single tree. It is, in essence,a cart with no wheels.The shafts are placedthrough the tugs and your horse is hitchedas if it were hooked to a vehicle while oneend of the drag simply is dragged acrossthe ground.There are disadvantages to thisarrangement. It is relatively easy for anexcited horse to get a leg over one of theshafts since they are quite low relative tohis hind legs.A horse cannot back up withthis drag set up.That may cause some con-sternation for your horse and it may causesome difficulty for you if you find yourhorse in a position where backing up couldget him out of trouble. Of course, the ben-efit is your horse can get the feel of theshafts and become accustomed to theprocess of being hooked and unhookedwithout putting a more expensive vehicleat risk.

Some drags are designed to have addi-tional weight attached once your horseunderstands the basics.This may accustomhim to having more pull on his breastplateprior to actually pulling the load of a vehi-cle.This may be a valid concern if the firstvehicle to which you hook your horse willbe somewhat heavy.There are trainers whouse heavier drag to work with fully trainedhorses as a strengthening exercise.You maywant to consider that possibility as youconstruct your drag; however, mostMorgans are willing pullers and the extra

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weight issue is not usually important whenstarting your harness horse.

The vehicle to which your horse is ini-tially hooked must first of all be safe. Itabsolutely must be structurally sound. Itshould be well lubricated so it rolls freelyand does not squeak as you work. It shouldbe easy for you to get in and out of for yourown safety should your horse suddenlydecide to move off while you are climbingin.You should have good vision while seat-ed, meaning you should be seated highenough to see well in front of your horsewithout contorting your body. The vehicleshould fit your horse.The shaft tips shouldcome to the point of the shoulder whilethe rear end of your horse is at least 18inches from the front of the basket. Somebreaking carts have longer shafts that willplace your horse well away from the basketand seat. This design will usually prevent agreen horse from reaching any part of thevehicle should he decide to kick backwards.When your horse is able to strike some-thing, he often will kick immediately a sec-ond, third, or fourth time. He will be morelikely to stop if, when he kicks, he does notconnect with anything. The disadvantage isthat it places you farther away from yourhorse when climbing into the vehicle. Theextra step can make a difference if yourhorse acts up and you have to reach hishead for control.

Your horse should not be hooked to afour-wheeled vehicle until he is wellschooled at the halt and the rein back.These vehicles are easily jack knifed inreverse and could cause serious problemsfor an unschooled horse.

The ubiquitous pneumatic tired, light-metal pipe cart is also a poor choice forstarting your horse to drive. They are toolight and generally of poor structuralstrength and design. The seating is usuallytoo low.The metal construction is also veryunforgiving should you have an accident.

A wooden, two-wheeled, pneumatic tiredjog cart works well as long as the terrain ofyour work area is in good condition and rel-atively level. The seating is generally a littlelow, but is acceptable or it can be raised ifyou are handy.Wooden wheeled road carts

also work well with the one disadvantagethat some can be a little difficult to get inand out of. Generally, Meadowbrooks areon the heavy side for starting a horse thesize of most Morgans. However, once yourhorse is accustomed to pulling and is fit, aheavier vehicle can be introduced. It’s prob-ably wise not to use your best show vehi-cles for starting your horse.

GROUND WORKLeading your horse is the first step in theprocess of training your youngster to drive.Do not underestimate the effect of simplyleading your horse around your propertyor taking him for walks in the countryside.This is the beginning of your schooling rela-tionship with your horse. Much of the basisfor all the education to follow begins at thispoint. It can be easily spoiled.This processshould begin in a confined space until yourhorse understands basic commands. Ofparticular importance is the command tohalt and stand still. Practice the command“Whoa” until your horse is absolutely reli-able. It will help you immensely throughoutyour entire relationship with your drivinghorse.You cannot physically make a drivinghorse stand while hooked to a vehicle. Hehas to want to do it and the process beginsin these first few lessons on the leadline.Once you can lead your horse anywherereliably, you can introduce the harness.

Introduce the bit to your horse by usinga simple, well-designed, well-fitting bit. Amullen mouth or a two-or three-piecemouth of simple snaffle design is just fine.Aplain headstall will hold the bit and allowfor a halter to be used over the top whenleading. You can, of course, allow him towear the headstall and bit in his stall forshort periods to accustom him to the bit inhis mouth. Cues from the bit will comelater. For now, you should lead him from thehalter, not the bit.

Introduce the saddle by placing it onyour horse in his stall without a back strap(turnback) and crupper. Keep the girthloose. Allow him to walk around his stallwearing the saddle for short periods.Whenyou put the saddle on, slide it on calmly andquietly from the side. Do not slap it down

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on his back.When you remove it, go slow-ly. Be especially careful not to yank on thegirth. Let him know there is nothing aboutthe saddle that should excite him.After oneor two sessions you can tighten the girthslowly and carefully and lead him outsidewith it on. Horses who move around a lotwhile being harnessed are unpleasant todeal with and that bad habit usually has itsorigins with the first few attempts to putsomething on his back. Be mindful howunnatural this is for your horse.

A breastplate can be introduced at thispoint. Horses usually are unconcerned withbreastplates. Use one that is made for snapon or buckle on traces. Sewn on traces willjust get in the way at this point. I fasten eachend of the breastplate to the saddle. Quick-hitch training saddles usually have rings onthe sides. I connect the rings on the saddleto the breastplate with double ended snaps.This does two things: It adds some stabilityto the saddle while lungeing and grounddriving, and it accustoms the horse to a feelof the breastplate across his chest as hemoves his shoulders.

Introducing the crupper should be donecarefully.You should prepare your horse forthe crupper by making sure he is relativelyunconcerned with having his tail handled.Scratching him on his rump around his tailusually will help him become accustomedto your handling. Lift his tail slowly and gen-tly let it down. Do this regularly as anextension of his normal grooming process.Slow down the instant he becomes tenseand allow him time to relax before pro-ceeding. Your goal is to have your horseabsolutely unconcerned about anythingunder his tail. If you scare him at this pointin his training, you may have to live with“crupper anxiety” for a long time. Horsesare quite sensitive under their tail. Somehorses are naturally concerned with thisprocess and will reflexively clamp their tailevery time you go near it or touch it.Youmay have to live with some crupper anxiety,although there are tail exercises you can doto accustom your horse to having his tailhandled. Some horses can benefit by mas-sage or even chiropractic adjustment oftheir tail and hind end. Some never seem to

get over it. A slightly over stuffed crupperseems to help “tail clampers” as it stretch-es the muscles around the tail and it ismuch more difficult to clamp their tailaround something a little fatter. A fattercrupper also will help prevent a rein fromgetting caught tightly under the tail and willhelp minimize the reaction of your horsewhen it does happen.

The horse is set up for lungeing. He hasbecome accustomed to wearing a bit in hismouth, but has not yet had reins attached.Thelunge line runs from the trainer’s hand angledforward in the direction the horse will be mov-ing and is connected to the halter, not the bit.Although somewhat difficult to see in thisphoto, he is wearing a sliding side rein which hehas become accustomed to in previous lessons.He is wearing breeching which is attached tothe breastplate with leather straps on eachside. As his shoulders and hind legs move, hequickly will become accustomed to the feel ofthe breeching.The trainer can also move closerto the horse and pull on the leather straps tohelp simulate the feel of the breeching whenthe horse is attached to a vehicle.The horse iswearing an open bridle and has not yet beenintroduced to blinders.

Introduce the crupper in your horse’s stallwith an assistant holding your horse with alead.The crupper should have a buckle onat least one side, which you can undo tomake placement under the tail fairly easyand comfortable for your horse. Stand tothe side up against the flank, not directlybehind your horse, when you put the crup-per under the tail for the first time and bevery careful to let the tail down gently. Becareful to not get tail hairs between thecrupper and the underside of the tail.Theywill cause rubs and make your horse quiteuncomfortable. If you have never put a

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crupper on a horse, it might be wise topractice on a well trained driving horseuntil you can do it smoothly and deliber-ately with a minimum of fuss.

The turnback strap need not be tight. Itsfunction is to prevent the saddle from rid-ing forward up onto the withers and tosupport the breeching if it is used. Keep ita little on the long side when you first putthe crupper on. Shorten it once the crup-per is on only to the point where the crup-per is just positioned in place, not pulledtight against the tail nor with any largeamount of space between the crupper andthe tail. Recheck the crupper placementonce your horse relaxes in his stall or atwork and reposition if necessary.

Let your horse walk about in his stallwith the crupper on for a session or twobefore you take him outside. Some horsesdo not fully realize they are wearing acrupper until they are outside and begin totrot. At that point they may kick up orwring their tail and may actually get thecrupper off. If that happens, just stop yourhorse and settle him.With your assistant athis head, put the crupper back in place andstart over. Once your horse realizes thecrupper isn’t going to hurt him and it isn’tgoing away, he should soon forget about it.

Introduce the breeching once yourhorse is wearing the crupper without con-cern. This can be done by putting on thesaddle and crupper, then attaching thebreeching. This will include all the breech-ing parts: the breeching hanger straps,breeching itself, and breeching straps.Againproceed with some care so you do notupset your horse with all these new straps.The breeching straps can be brought for-ward and attached to the sides of the sad-dle, to the tugs, or to a breastplate on eachside in some fashion. I remove the breech-ing straps altogether and use a straightadjustable side rein to hook the breechingthrough the tug and then to the breast-plate. This setup connects the breastplateto the breeching and quickly accustomsyour horse to pressures on his chest,flanks, and rump as he moves. As I workwith the horse from the ground, I can eas-ily pull on the side rein from the side to

simulate the sudden pressures your horsewill feel once hooked to a vehicle.

LUNGEINGBy now you have prepared your horse withlessons while grooming, and leading, andhave introduced the bit, the breastplate, thesaddle, and the crupper.Your horse shouldunderstand and obey the elementary verbalcommands walk, trot, halt, back, and stand.Whether you teach your horse to lunge orto ground drive first will depend on factorssuch as age, learning aptitude, and his gen-eral nature. Professional trainers have per-sonal preferences on how to proceed andthere is no hard and fast rule aboutwhether lungeing or ground driving is bet-ter to teach first. Generally, it is fairly sim-ple for a horse who already knows how tolunge to readily accept ground driving.Lungeing, on the other hand, can be a littlemore physically stressful on the younghorse than ground driving.

Lungeing techniques are well covered inseveral good books on the subject and anin-depth discussion of them is beyond thescope of this article. Use lungeing to refineand reinforce the verbal communicationyou have established previously with yourhorse. Lungeing should be used to improveyour horse’s balance and rhythm at thewalk and trot.The canter can be introducedif your horse gives you an indication that hemight be physically and mentally ready.Thismeans that your horse may simply breakinto the canter from the trot at times andnot become overly excited or unbalancedwhile doing so. Racing, swinging thehindquarters away from you, and pulling thelunge line are indications that your horsemay not be ready for canter work, butthere is adequate time for that and it neednot be asked for at this stage.

Lungeing is not used for simply exercis-ing your horse, lungeing is for training yourhorse. All lungeing should be done withyour horse wearing a bit attached to someform of side rein. Without side reins, yourhorse is not learning anything about bal-ance and self carriage. Important lessonsyour harness horse can learn and you canrefine on the lunge are to halt and stand,

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back up, walk, trot, and canter (although notessential at this point) with ease, comfort,and relaxation.

SIDE REINIntroducing the side rein is done whilelungeing or ground driving.There are manykinds of side reins, each with their particu-lar strengths and weaknesses. The slidingside rein (also known as a German siderein) is particularly suited to starting theharness horse. The sliding side rein runsfrom one side of the saddle through the biton the same side, then down between thelegs of the horse, through a ring on thegirth, back up through the bit on the oppo-site side, then to the saddle on that side.The rein can slide at every point except atthe attachments to the saddle, where it isfixed and where its length is adjusted.Thisarrangement allows the horse a wide rangeof motion of its head and neck—up anddown and side to side. It effectively helpsyour horse find his balance, stretch throughthe topline, and to accept mild pressures onthe bit in preparation for actual reininstructions. It allows your horse to accom-plish this without being overly interferedwith through the bit by less educated orless skillful hands. The sliding side reinshould not pull or force your horse into aposition; it should simply remind and guideyour horse to a position that is efficient forwork. Efficiency carries a built-in reward:Asyour horse realizes that his job becomesphysically easier to perform, he naturallywill more readily assume the most efficientposition to perform it on his own.

Sliding side reins are easily made out ofcotton cord (clothesline works fairly well).A few well chosen snaps make it handy toput it on the horse.A further modificationis to make the rein entirely out of elasticshock cord.This works particularly well asit has the consistent “give and take” that isvery similar to the gentle hands of an edu-cated rider or driver.

Warning: Some horses resent being over-ly constricted by side reins of any design, sogreat care should be taken to adjust themproperly, very loose at first, shorter only asyour horse becomes accustomed to what

the side rein is asking. A side rein shouldonly be used on any kind of leverage (curb,Liverpool) bit by an experienced horseman.An elastic rein, instead of a fixed lengthrein, considerably lowers the risk of theoccasional bad reaction. Never hook ahorse wearing any kind of side rein for thefirst time to a vehicle.Always ground driveyour horse for a few minutes whenever youadd a side rein or change any part of yourharness set-up to make sure he is accus-tomed to the new feel.

The sliding side rein is particularly usefulfor re-schooling driving horses who havebeen driven originally in a check rein and arunning martingale. Some horses becomeso reliant on those devices for balance thatthey have to completely re-learn how tocarry themselves when working withoutthem. The sliding side rein, used correctly,can help that process dramatically. Horsesoriginally introduced to the sliding side reincan readily move to a running martingale ifit is required by a particular discipline.Theside rein should not become a permanentarticle of working or training equipment. Itis worth repeating: the sliding side rein issimply for showing your horse the way to amore efficient approach to his work. Oncethe horse realizes the benefit of this effi-ciency, the side rein can be dispensed.

GROUND DRIVINGGround driving or long lining is an essentialstep in training your horse to drive.Frequently, older horses already have beentaught to ground drive and ground drivingcan be used to refresh their training or tosafely work on areas in their training thatmay be lacking, like balance, fear issues, sup-pleness, bit acceptance, etc. Ground drivingis done with two lines or reins attached tothe bit. Since you have not been using reincontact to the bit up to this point, begin byattaching the reins to the side rings of thehalter or cavesson.Your horse may need afew sessions to become accustomed to thefeel of lines over his back or on his rump orto the sound of them slapping together ashe works. Attaching the lines to the halteror cavesson will prevent your horse fromjerking himself in the mouth. Once your

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horse accepts the lines, attach them to thebit. For the first few lessons, you may wishto have an assistant lead your horse with aleadline attached to the halter.

Every trainer has preferences for how heor she sets up the reins and there is nohard and fast rule. Usually the lines are runfrom the bit rings through the terrets onthe harness saddle to your hands. Sometrainers prefer to run the lines through alower position on the side of the saddle inan effort to encourage the horse to travelwith a lower head and neck carriage at first.This position asks your horse to carry him-self and work in an efficient position andmakes it a little less likely that your horsewill evade the action of the bit by raising upabove it. If you do not have training ringsattached on the side of your saddle, you canrun the lines through the tugs. If you areusing the sliding side rein attachment, youcan run the reins from the bit through theterrets since the side rein will be remindingyour horse to carry himself in an efficientposition with his head and neck lowered.

Draw rein arrangements are not usefulat this time.Their increased leverage may infact be quite counterproductive to produc-ing a supple, cooperative driving horse witha light and responsive mouth. Some horseswith specific problems may benefit fromthe use of draw reins, but that is beyond thescope of this article. If your ultimate goal isfor the raised-up carriage of the head andneck of the Morgan show horse, how youwill work with your horse to attain thatfirst depends on whether his conformationwill allow it and second depends on yourhorse being slowly conditioned to carryhimself comfortably in that manner. Resistthe temptation to ask your horse for thisbefore he has been adequately prepared.There is plenty of time.

If your horse already has done somelungeing, he is by now used to working in acircle.Your first ground driving lessons willuse the same circle. Round pens make thiswork simple since your horse’s work areais so well defined by the pen. It may bemore difficult to do this work in an openarea, but if you have done your lungeingwork well it should not be a big problem.

Repeat your verbal command lessons thatyour horse learned on the lunge and beginto add some signals through the bit fromyour hands.This can be difficult for peopleto do well who are not experienced atground driving. You must be able to main-tain a light, constant connection throughthe rein to your horse’s mouth while mov-ing yourself across the ground. The secretto this is to be willing and able to freelymove your entire body toward and awayfrom the horse, depending on where hemoves in relation to you. This will takesome practice. Hold your elbows by yourside, bent at 90 degrees, with your handslevel in front of you.This position will allowyour elbow to act like a hinge, opening tostretch your arms forward or closing tomove your elbows behind your back. Thiswill help you maintain a responsive connec-tion to your horse’s mouth.You may find itbeneficial to practice ground driving on awell-trained horse with the help of anexperienced instructor before you try it ona young horse or an older horse who hassome training issues.

You can work your horse from severalpositions while ground driving. At first youwill probably find that staying in the posi-tion your horse was taught to lunge fromwill work the best: from the side, away fromyour horse, just behind the girth. Thisworks well for circle work.You will want tobegin to teach your horse to steer and forthis you should move closer to the horseand a little further behind but still to theside where he can see you, not directlybehind out of his vision. If you are using ahood or blinders, this will not matter toyour horse since he cannot see you.

You can introduce steering in severalways.The choice you make will depend onthe nature of your horse and the workingspace available to you. It is easy to begin toadd a few straight strides in your circlework by giving a signal with the rein in youroutside hand followed by another signalfrom your inside rein asking the horse toreturn to the circle. Some trainers will sim-ply walk the horse along a fence in astraight line and ask for a turn when com-ing to a corner in the fence.The horse will

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quickly associate the instruction in hismouth with turning. After a few tries atthis, you can ask for a turn slightly beforethe corner and gradually increase the dis-tance from the corner in successive tries.You always can return to waiting untilrather deep in the corner if your horse hasdifficulty. Once this introductory work islearned at the walk, you can move on tothe trot.

The instruction from your hand to yourhorse’s mouth will be rather coarse incomparison to the refined, subtle reinmovements that come with lots of practiceand experience.You likely will find yourselfoverexaggerating your rein instructions soyour horse can realize you are trying to tellhim something. Take advantage of goodopportunities to reward correct behaviorwhen your horse delivers the desired resultalmost by accident from quieter cues. Inspite of all your efforts to make the rightchoices easy for your horse to understand,a certain amount of his efforts will be justhis best guesses.You can think of your reininstructions as similar in quality to the lan-guage you used when first learning to read.It was basic, simple, and easy to compre-hend. It was no more complicated than “seeSpot run.” This is a similar elementary levelof understanding your horse will have whenyou first introduce the signals through hisbit. It is OK that your instruction is not asquiet and subtle as that you would use witha fully schooled horse. Your new drivinghorse has not yet been prepared to under-stand the subtleties of a more refined lan-guage.There is time for that later.

Life comes at you and your horse a lotfaster at the trot! That means two things:You will have to be quite fit to run alongwith your trotting horse and second, yourhorse may find it more difficult to stay calmand relaxed as his blood pumps a littlefaster and as his brain has to process life alittle faster. For those reasons, ground driv-ing at the trot is best done in a circle atfirst. Once again, you can begin to add a fewstraight strides in your circle, which willnecessitate you moving quickly along withthose few strides. If you are up to it physi-cally, you can make other simple figures

while running along side your horse.Keep your lessons brief (15-20 minutes)

and be happy with small, but positiveresults. Always begin with things youalready know your horse understands.Yourhorse is trying to assimilate a lot of infor-mation that is foreign to his inherentnature. Give him plenty of time to processit.At many junctures along the way, you willhave to carefully gauge when to move on tothe next step. Some horses seem to beborn trained and some of the more inde-pendently minded just want to choose thehard way every time. Be patient. Go slow,repeat, and review. Your horse will be agood driving horse for years if you take thetime to make his life in school as pleasant asit can.

Once your horse has the basic elementsof steering under control, you can take himfor walks outside of your work area. Mosthorses really enjoy this, so if your horseseems to be bored, inattentive, or tired ofring work, perhaps you can refresh his mindby taking him to explore the outside world.It’s a good idea to ground drive your horsewhere you will be driving once you get himhooked. A familiar environment is one lessthing for your horse to worry about onthose first few drives.

At some point, you will have to make adecision about whether to use blinders ornot; good arguments are on both sides ofthis issue. Those who use blinders will tellyou they never have gotten in trouble usingthem. Most horses in competitions,whether in the show ring (where they areconsidered appropriate) or in carriagecompetitions, will be driven in blinders.Others will tell you that teaching yourhorse not to be afraid of all kinds of thingsbehind and around him while he is driving isa good thing. Nevertheless, once yourhorse is being ground driven well, you canintroduce the blindered bridle.

Introducing the blinders can be done byswitching to a blindered bridle or by addinga blinker hood over an open bridle. Blinkerhoods can be helpful with horses whoignore your verbal commands and reactinappropriately when you attempt to rein-force your instructions with a tap of a whip.

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When they can no longer see you whenyour verbal instruction is reinforced withthe touch of the whip, suddenly theybecome quite obedient! In any event,repeat your lessons using blinders untilyour horse is relaxed and comfortable withhis newly limited vision.

Introducing noises is especially impor-tant to the making of a reliable drivinghorse. Once your horse has the basicknowledge of commands and can be drivenfrom the ground relatively confidently, youcan begin to expose him more and more tothe noises and commotion that you willinevitably encounter while driving.The timeto find out how he will react to a suddennoise and movement is before he is hookedto a vehicle.Tap the bushes or the groundwith your whip while ground driving. Pickup a stick and drag it on the ground. Haveyour assistant tactfully drag things on theground in front, beside, and behind yourhorse while you drive him from the ground.The object is not to frighten your horse,but to accustom him to sudden and chang-ing noises around him. Some horses will beunconcerned with this. Count yourselflucky if this is your horse! Some are quitebothered by these noises.You will have towork a little harder and longer to desensi-tize your horse, but it must be done beforeyou hook him to a vehicle.

PULLING A DRAGPulling a drag is the next natural progres-sion to this process. The initial work withthe drag is best done in an enclosed area.Drags make noise. This is a good thing. Itwill help to desensitize your horse to sud-den noises around him. In making this step,it is wise to use an assistant.Your assistantcan pull your drag out in front of yourhorse where he can see it and get used tothe sounds it makes while it is in his view.Once he is settled at that, your assistantcan move to various positions around yourhorse. Work at this until your horse isunconcerned with the noises made by thedrag. Remember that the drag will makedifferent noises on different surfaces. Itmay even be almost silent on grass. Makesure you work with your drag going from

one type of surface to another aroundyour horse.

Once your horse is unconcerned withthe drag being pulled around him, it is timeto hook him to it. Before you hook up yourdrag, have your assistant hold the tracesout behind your horse while you grounddrive him for a brief walk. Have your assis-tant pull on the traces from directly behindyour horse, then from each side. This willalert you to any issues the horse may havewith the feeling of the traces on his rumpand legs and with the feel of the pressureagainst his chest from the breastplate. Onceyou are convinced those things do notbother him, proceed to the next step.

Place your assistant on the end of a leadattached to your horse’s halter that isplaced over the bridle, making sure the bitand reins have room to function properly.You can also attach a lead to the cavessonif it is sturdy enough. Do not attach the leadto the bit. You will need the bit unencum-bered to communicate to your horse.

Run the traces through the breechinghanger straps and above the breechingstrap itself and then down to the drag,rather than directly from the breastplate tothe drag. This keeps the traces well abovethe hocks. The additional benefit to thisarrangement is that some pull and tug isapplied to the breeching as your horse pullsthe drag, which will help accustom him tothe feel of the breeching when finallyhooked to a vehicle. If you are not usingbreeching, you can fashion a hanger strapusing stout cord from the turnback strap tohold the traces up above the hocks.

With your assistant at your horse’s headand your horse positioned so the tracescan reach the drag, attach your tracesquickly to the drag. Better yet, with thetraces already attached to the drag, bringthem up as described above and attachthem to the breastplate with snaps orbuckles depending on the design. Keep thereins in one hand or at least within easyreach at all times so that if your horsemoves off you can instantly assume control.

You are in the most vulnerable positionwhen just one trace is attached to the drag.Should your horse move off at this point, he

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is apt to be easily frightened by the unevendrag on the breastplate and events canquickly escalate out of control.

Once your drag is hooked, move to theside with your reins and ask your horse towalk off. Plan in advance to walk only a fewstrides and then to ask for a halt. If all goeswell through that first halt, walk off againfor a longer distance and then halt. Thepoint is to make sure your horse is con-firmed in the halt command before thingscan escalate out of control should yourhorse become a little leery of the drag.Thefirst lesson with the drag is best endedbefore your horse has a chance to make amistake. If he walks off and halts a few timeswith the drag in the first lesson, you areprobably smart to quit.

Begin the next lesson just like the first.Make the lesson longer each time and beginto add some figures and turning. If he isunconcerned with the drag, you may pro-ceed without your assistant and ask for atrot in a circle. Again, ask for just a fewstrides at the trot that first time.The dragwill make a different noise and life willcome at your horse faster than at the walk.Give him a chance to assimilate the newsensations before asking for longer andfaster trot work. Do several halt-walk-trot-walk-halt transitions in each lesson.Gradually increase the duration of the halt.It is vitally important that harness horsesbe obedient at performing the halt and beable to remain standing still for as long asyou ask.Your safety and that of other driv-ers and their horses depends on it. At thesame time, remember that you cannotmake your horse stand still. He has to wantto do it.Too much repetition or repetitionwhen your horse is non-receptive may pro-duce a horse who resents standing still.Vary the routine slightly each time so thatyour horse does not anticipate what youwill ask for next and eagerly looks forwardto your next instruction.

The key to good driving is not so muchwith the quality of the forward movementas it is with the quality of the transitionsbetween the movements. The most com-mon mistake drivers make is not allowingenough time and space for their horse to

execute their instructions.This is especiallyimportant early in your horse’s educationwhen he lacks the physical strength andcoordination, as well as the mental disci-pline, to execute precise, controlled move-ments.All athletes need practice and exer-cise to perfect their performance. Horsesare no different.

Once your horse is doing well with thedrag in the ring, take him for lessons out ofthe ring.Go wherever you plan to drive himfor his first few lessons. Don’t forget thestanding lessons!

False shafts are a good way to introducethe feel of a vehicle to the horse. If you havebeen using a drag that has shafts, you obvi-ously can skip the next step. False shafts canbe a simple piece of light lumber, adebarked sapling, or a piece of plastic pipeabout 12 feet long. Slip one end of the falseshaft through the tug on one side of thehorse and have your assistant on the otherend holding it up about waist high. Yourassistant can make sure the pole rubsagainst the body of your horse as youground drive him. Most horses do not mindthis, but it is best to find out before youproceed with actually hooking to a cart. Ahorse who is afraid of the touch of theshafts will have a hard time bending prop-erly while hooked to a vehicle.This lessoncan be brief and usually, unless youencounter trouble, does not need to berepeated more than once or twice beforeproceeding.

HOOKING YOUR HORSEHooking the horse for the first time is oneof the most critical junctures in the drivinghorse’s life.Your horse can be ruined in sec-onds if things do not go well.All the carefulwork you have done to this point shouldhave prepared your horse well, so thatbeing hooked will be a non-issue. But therealways is that slim chance that his naturalinstincts will overpower all your training ifhe becomes scared.

You will need at least one assistant, buttwo are better. Provide each with a stoutlead shank. Put a halter on over the bridleof your horse. For a few minutes, pull thedrag you have been using up until now so

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you can assess your horse’s mood andobedience level. If there is any question,proceed with your regular drag lessonrather than hooking him that day. It canwait until he is ready. It’s probably not agood idea to try to hook your horse forthe first time after he has been cooped upin his stall for a couple of days. Do whatyou can to have him in a relaxed frame ofmind for this lesson.

If all goes well, you are ready to hook.Unhook your drag and have your assis-tant(s) pull the vehicle in front of the horsejust like you did when first training yourhorse with the drag. Drive your horse fromthe ground behind, beside, and in front ofthe vehicle that is being pulled at the sametime by your assistants. If your horse isunconcerned, proceed with the next stepright away or wait until the next lesson andrepeat the above.

Attach the leads to the halter on eachside with an assistant on the end of eachlead. There is some debate about whetherto attach the leads directly to the bit or thehalter. Attaching them to the bit removessome level of control from the driver.Attaching to the halter may not give theassistants as much control.As a trainer anddriver, I prefer to have as much control aspossible, so I attach the leads to the halter,perhaps even running a chain lead over thehorse’s nose.This gives me control throughthe horse’s mouth and the assistants haveadditional control with the halter. That’susually sufficient.

Stand your horse in front of your vehicle.Keeping the reins in one hand and coiledcarefully for instant use, slide the shaftsthrough the tugs with an assistant doing thesame on the other side. Some trainers willnot tie the horse into the vehicle at firstand ask the horse to walk forward whileyour assistants pull the vehicle. If the horserushes forward, the vehicle can simply beslid out of the tugs and the horse can justcontinue on unharmed. Other trainers tiethem in the first time as described below.

If your horse has been prepared correct-ly, you probably can safely tie your horse inas follows: With your assistant(s) holdingyour horse at his head, attach the trace and

breeching on one side, then the trace andbreeching on the other side.This keeps youfrom crossing back and forth several timesto get your horse hooked. Better yet, if youhave enough assistance, hook both traces atthe same time, then both breeching straps.Quick-hitch style harnesses make thisprocess quick. The greatest risk is havingthe horse move off while only partiallyhooked. Hook quickly, quietly, and calmlywithout any wasted motion. Don’t rush oryou will make a mistake, but do not wastea lot of time either. This is where snap-ontraces and breeching can help a lot. Theyare much faster than fussing with bucklesand straps.You can reduce a lot of fussingwith harness adjustments if you have every-thing pre-adjusted to fit your size horse toyour vehicle. If possible, use a good drivingharness of the same size to make sureeverything will fit with minimum adjust-ment.

Some trainers feel the safest place to beonce your horse is hooked is seated in thecart. Generally speaking, that is true.However, for these first lessons, as long asyou have your assistants to help you, youmay find it preferable to drive from theground. From there you usually can make aquicker assessment of your horse’s mentalstate and thereby be able to prevent esca-lation of his anxieties sooner.The disadvan-tage is that if he breaks into a trot, you’llhave to move quickly to keep up. If the sit-uation begins to unravel, generally it is saferfor you to be on the ground.

Once hooked, ask your horse to quietlywalk off while you drive from the ground.As with the drag, plan on halting after onlya few strides. Be mindful that when yourhorse halts, the breeching along with thevehicle’s weight will push your horse for-ward. That bothers some horses. Yourhorse may try to halt only to be shovedforward by the breeching, causing him totake another step or two.Your horse maytry to halt again and be shoved once more.Some tactful rein management may berequired to keep your horse from becom-ing confused by these apparently conflict-ing signals.You can have one of your assis-tants help to manage the shoving of the

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breeching by keeping a hand on the shaftand pushing backwards when you ask forthe halt. It should not take long for yourhorse to learn how to manage the breech-ing for himself.

If all goes well, walk off again.Your assis-tants should be instructed to leave thehorse completely alone unless he actsupset.They should remain behind the blind-ers, out of sight, unless your horse needssome extra encouragement to walk for-ward.At that point, one assistant can actu-ally lead the horse forward with the leadshank.The assistants should be careful thatthey are not inadvertently poked by theends of the shafts or even knocked to theground if things go wrong. They may beinstructed to talk to the horse and strokehim carefully on the neck to reassure himand to praise him for being such a well-behaved and brave horse.This first sessionshould be short and sweet.Walk, halt, walka little more, and halt. Then stand and beunhooked. Take your horse back to thebarn and lavish much praise on him. Itsometimes helps to end this lesson rightabout feeding time; nothing compares tothe positive reinforcement of food.

The next lesson proceeds much as theprevious one. Each time, you should befocused on building your horse’s confidencein the process of learning and the routineshould become more solidified in yourhorse’s mind with each repetition. If youhave no problems after the first few les-sons, you can climb into the vehicle and askyour horse to walk off. Once he can walk,halt, and stand with you in the vehicle, youare ready to ask for a brief trot. Most hors-es will let you know they are ready for thisstep.They naturally will want to break fromthe walk into a trot because pulling at thetrot is easier than pulling at the walk. Bealert to when that happens.The first time ithappens, calmly ask to return to the walkright away. Walk for a short distance andthen ask for the trot. Make trotting youridea. Plan on only a few strides at the trotbefore asking for a return to the walk. If allgoes well, ask your horse for another brieftrot. Return to the walk. Then halt andstand. End of lesson.

In these early lessons, your horse is assim-ilating a lot of information. Give him the timeand space to do so. Insisting that your horsegive you the desired response instantly bybeing forceful with your aids (voice, reins,whip) will only make him resentful and fear-ful of the entire experience. Your horse isnot physically strong enough nor is he bal-anced or coordinated enough to deliver per-fect transitions.At this stage of the process,your horse does not even have a clear ideaof what the finished result should be. He willmake a few mistakes, but with repetitionyour horse will improve, provided you areconsistent. For now, be satisfied with small,simple successes.

In your next lesson, proceed much thesame and ask for a trot, increasing the dis-tance a little bit each time. Do not worrytoo much about making sure you go in bothdirections.There is plenty of time for that.Right now you just want the experience tobe uneventful, unexciting, and untroublingto your horse. Your horse needs to knowthere is nothing to become excited aboutand part of the success in these early les-sons is to quit before you give him thechance to make a big mistake.

DRIVINGYou are well on your way to having a safedriving horse. Work a few more lessonsincluding a trot with at least one assistanton a lead. Once you are sure your horse isunperturbed at trotting while hooked to avehicle, you can ask your assistant tounhook the lead while you continue withyour lesson, making sure he or she standsby to come to your aid should you needanother pair of hands.

Once you can trot both directions ofyour ring, halt, stand quietly, etc., you areready to take your horse out into theworld. Drive him at the walk on yourplanned route where you already havetaken him on your walks with the drag.Thefirst lesson out there is all at the walk andis short.Try to make this work on more orless level ground.Your horse is not ready toface going up or down steep, long hills.Introduce the hills gradually. Don’t be over-ly concerned if your horse wants to travel

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crooked or wander a bit on the hills. It isunnatural for horses to travel straight up orstraight down a hill. Given a choice at liber-ty, he will traverse hills. However, to effi-ciently pull a vehicle, they must be keptstraight from the head to the tail while trav-eling in a straight line. It is your job as a driv-er to show them how to do that.Again, bemindful of when they tell you they are readyto trot outside of the ring, especially goingup hill. Do as you did in the ring: ask for areturn to the walk, and then ask for thetrot. Make it your idea. Gradually increasethe length of your drives. Gradually exposeyour horse to more sights and sounds.Keepan eye out for things your horse has neverseen or heard before. During these first fewlessons outside your ring, try to work whenyou know the environment will be quietand predictable.

You’ll note I have not focused much onthe rein back up to this point.That does notmean you should not work on it as you gothrough the ground driving and hookingprocess. However, it is a fairly complicatedmovement for a horse to perform correct-ly while hooked to a vehicle. It is quiteunnatural for him to push backwards withthe breeching without being able to see inthat direction. Since the rein back is notused nearly as often as the halt or the for-ward movements, you can teach the reinback while ground driving and then waituntil your horse is driving well whilehooked before picking up the rein back les-son again. When asking your horse for arein back while hooked, it is helpful to haltupward on a slight incline.This will make iteasy for him to rein back without becomingoverly concerned with pushing a lot ofweight with the breeching. As he makesprogress, halt on more level ground andeventually on downward slopes.

FINISHINGFinally, your horse has become a well-start-ed driving horse. He has undergone inten-sive work that has been a lot for his mindand his body to accept. It’s probably a goodtime to give him some time off.Your horsewill not forget his lessons.Two weeks off ormore at this point will work wonders on

your horse’s mental outlook and he will beready and more willing than ever to takeyou wherever you wish to drive him. Onceback to work, you can begin to fine-tune hiseducation by working on the quality of yourtransitions, bending, speed, etc. It can takeyears of work to fine-tune and finish yourdriving horse.There seems to be no end tothe polish you can apply, but there also is noend to the fun and satisfaction of doing ityourself!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:The author, Jeff Morse, learned to ride onAbbington Of Shady Lawn, the 1949National Champion Morgan Mare. Hespent 12 summers as a youth at GreenMeads Farm riding Morgans and attendingthe New England Morgan Shows. Hereturned to Green Meads Farm as manag-er in 1974. He has served as vice presidentof the New England Morgan Horse Associ-ation and president and treasurer of theMassachusetts Morgan Horse Association.He has been the chairman of theMassachusetts Morgan Horse Show since1989. He currently is training Morgan hors-es with an emphasis on carriage driving atGreen Meads Farm in Richmond,Massachusetts.

AUTHOR’S NOTE:Thanks to Barbara Irvine Stables and RumBrook Galahad for help with the photo-graphs.

DISCLAIMER:The practices and exercises described are not theonly way to produce a safe driving horse at home, butare generally accepted as legitimate approaches totraining a horse to drive.The process is not withoutsome risk to horses and handlers. The instructionscontained in this article are to be used only as aguideline. Neither AMHA nor the author can be heldliable for the actions of a horse beyond his control orfor the actions or injuries of anyone using theseguidelines to start a driving horse.The author does,however, encourage readers to contact him shouldthere be any questions about any information in thisbooklet: Jeff Morse, Green Meads Farm, P.O. Box 158,Richmond, MA 01254, e-mail: [email protected],telephone: (413) 698-3804.

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