Accidents you lived to tell about...

[BiologyBrain]

Hopefully this isn't scary or verbotten here, but I was replying to another thread and thought of my accident with my QH cart horse. I thought it'd be interesting to read other people's experiences. Heck, we can even learn from each other's mistakes.

I bred my QH mare & raised and trained the resulting foal on my own. The dam and I were 15 when she foaled. A knee injury from the past winter forced me to rethink riding the filly, so I decided to train her to drive. Poor filly had a Wintec saddle on at 1 week old (just to see if she'd take it - she did). I did crazy things to her since I was 16 and determined she would be the best ever trained horse... Her drive training went great except for the one time I had my dad help me hitch her. He is large (6'4" & well over 275lbs) and has more of a "do as I say this instant or I'll make you" way with horses. She got to fidgeting immediately after I'd hitched & got in the cart. He kind of shanked her with the reins. Up & over she went, thrashing to get up a few times. Finally she realized she was stuck (thank God I was 16 when she was born & had done all kinds of crazy desensitization things to her) she just laid on the ground with one shaft under her, another poking her (she bent them all to heck) while I climbed all over her trying to find all the straps I needed to unhook to get the cart off her. I even had to get one of her legs out of the bracing on the shafts where they met the basket. After I unfastened everything my dad pulled the cart out from under her (thank God he was strong enough) after a few false starts because of random tangles & such. She stayed on the ground as I checked again for any harness tangles preventing her from standing. When she finally stood she gave a big shake and we regrouped. Then I checked my harness - re fastening straps that had tangled and twisted. I walked her out a little, then had my dad handle the cart while I stood at her head. She shivered a bit when she felt the shafts rub against her (the cart was a subprime fit at the time & I was using a show harness with breeching made in India), but held steady. I coached my dad through hitching and then had him stand at her withers as an emergency rein grabber should she bolt. I got in the cart. She walked off with my dad staying at her withers or further back. We had 4 years of awesome driving after that with absolutely NO repeat or even similar issues. I ended up selling her because although she and I were an awesome driving team, in halter and under saddle she HATED me. Her hate for me is a whole other story! ;-)

Edited to add: I waited until she was 3 to really begin her driving training as far as dragging things. By that time she'd been ponied on countless trail rides, desensitized to everything I could dream up, hand walked on countless trails, etc. (at one point I was tying her feet together (but not with hobbles) to teach her that a stuck foot meant STOP & STAND). When she was 4 she was reliably pulling the cart and dragging pretty good sized logs. B the time she was 5 I figured out she was a much better driving horse than riding horse, although I continued to ride her. At 8, she was approximately 15 HH and 1100 lbs of dun-factored bulldog QH. Height wise she didn't grow much between 3 and 8, but man did she bulk up!!

 

[paintponylvr]

There are several from myself and others on the "training" thread. I'll see if I can find them...

If you go to the end of the threads, you can work your way forward. Some interesting points from different viewpoints in ".... shafts training device?" page 76, posted in 2009.

 

[Riverrose28]

I once had a welsh arab mare, had her till she passed at age 23 from EPM. Loved her, we bought her at age 6 months as a weanling, and boy was she small. I just thought she is never going to be big enough for me to ride, as I wanted a smallish trail horse. From the time I brought her home I worked with her every day, sometimes twice a day even while raising a family for five kids and having a full time job. I loved doing ground work with her, so around the age of two I thought I would train her to drive. I worked her for three months, in harness on the ground. At the time we didn't have a round pen, but did have a riding arena with corners. So anyhow, we finally, hubby and I hooked her to indian poles with a bale of straw and I drive her around and around she did great. The next week we decided to hook her to a pony cart that we bought at auction for a whole $125. we got the harness on, I was holding her and her proceded to hook her up. It didn't go well at all. I can only quess she wasn't ready yet, but she spooked and ran off with the cart, tore off the barn doors, both of them her thinking was I'll be safe in my barn. Then she ran around till the monster overturned, knocking me off myfeet cause I was chasing her, and she fell. WE got the cart off and I never did drive her. She did grow some more and was one heck of a trail horse, and a riding horse for my grandchildren. I was just thinking this morning of all the stupid stuff I did when I was younger. Seems we have no fear, and sometimes no sense at all, wisdom does come with age, but I still make some stupid mistakes.

 

[susanne]

I posted this story on Facebook, and I'll repeat it here. It's not any wild story -- rather, the lesson lies in its simplicity. This i why ADS is so adamant that someone must always be in the cart:

True confession time here -- I was taught an important lesson at a driving outing, when Keith climbed out of the easy entry cart and I decided to move Mingus away from the too rich, too green grass. A few feet was all I wanted, so I decided to lead him. Mingus was really enjoying that too rich, too green grass and pushed against me to stay at this delicious buffet. If I had been leading him unhitched and he pushed into me with his shoulder, I would have remained in control, but his strength was reinforced by the solid metal pipe shaft and down I went. I was fine...the only bruises were to my pride, but I was truly shocked by that irresistible, implacable force. I had always thought of the strict rule of always having someone in the cart as being primarily for big horses, but Mingus could have taken out a football player or a sumo wrestler with that shaft as a battering ram. Lesson learned.

 

[Max's Mom]

When I was a much younger person... My friend was driving a draft team with a hay wagon, and I was next to her. We worked at a camp, and had just let off a load of special needs campers so thankfully the wagon was empty (I think there was one other staff person on it). It was getting dark and my friend wasn't wearing her glasses, and we were kind of goofing around, so she didn't see a large upright pipe in our path! The wagon hit it hard, she went off the front of the wagon and was run over! The horses galloped wildly up the road and didn't stop until they ran through a fence, with one horse on either side of the fence. I jumped down and somehow managed to unhitch them safely while all the while wondering if my best friend was dead. She was badly bruised but otherwise fine. I learned first hand how powerful panicky horses can be and how things that seem under control can turn to deadly in an instant. I am a super cautious driver now. It makes my daughter crazy.

 

[Marsha Cassada]

Yikes! Some scary stuff here.

I, too, had an accident when I got out of the cart. I dropped one of the reins and got out of the cart to retrieve it. Old faithful Dapper Dan took off across the pasture. I grabbed the back of the cart, thinking I could stop him. NOT. He is as strong as a rhinocerous. Unfortunatley, I was ponying a yearling behind the cart. He went along, too. They raced across the pasture, around the pond, and stopped at the fence to chat with my neighbor's hroses. As soon as I came panting up, Dapper Dan was off again. He ran through their yard and tried to go around the house. The cart caught on a big boulder and jammed there. I ran up and captured the little monster. The harness has torn up. I got the cart off, which was hard because it was all twisted in the leather. The yearling was fine! I had to leave him tied to the cart while I took DD home. I was able to ground drive Dapper Dan home. The accident never bothered him with driving, thank goodness. Had to order a new floorboard for the cart, but I was lucky it wasn't worse.

I had just sold one of DD's pasture mates a few days earlier, and I think he was upset about that. I haven't dropped a rein since (sort of like running out of gas one time). But I should have kept a stronger grip on the one rein, turning his head so he couldn't run straight. Luckily I lived to learn from it.

 

[maggiemae]

Thanks so much for taking the time to post these stories. It just might save one of us newbies. I read them with the mindset of oh, that's why you don't do that. Or, oh that's why we do that. In other words I try to learn some safety tips from them.

 

[paintponylvr]

I found one of my responses to another thread. This was written on 23 October 2011. I only copied the "relevant part" to this thread. Neither I nor the pony was injured and she has gone on to be a little dream of a driving pony - for working single, as a pair, 3 abreast and 4 abreast...

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On training with a chain link gate - if you now drive with a cart, you will notice that different tires on different ground sound different (I have one pony that is terrified driving on any gravel w/ the metal ez entry but hook her to the mostly wooden sulky style jog cart and she's fine - on any surface. It's just so much quieter and non-rattley). I use chain link as a drag in our fields. YES, it does sound different on different types of ground.

So does a tire - and the first time one of my mares heard the changes in sound and feel (tire) - WOW! She became a red eyed, fire breathing little dragon and I was very glad that I wasn't doing the traditional style ground driving but was driving w/ the left line out of the rein turrets. I quickly stepped forward and to the center and just let her lounge herself out - w/ 25' lines she was doing an almost 50' circle running hard, squalling and kicking. The tire flipped up, bounced and rode around swinging wildly at that point - and the single strands of haystring holding the single tree to the tire and the traces to the single tree held at first - for several circuits. When the twine finally broke - the tire became a missile, bounced and landed on top of my barn roof 18' above my head. I was shaken, shaking and rather discombobulated but she wasn't ready to listen to "whoa" or even "slow, easy" at that point... A couple more circuits and she did "slow, easy" and then "whoa", stand. After approaching her and giving her a rub/pet and letting both of us suck air for a bit, I sent her right back out to lounge, then using the outside line into play I moved into ground driving some straight lines, then finally did some figure 8's where I stepped around to her right side as well but still had that left line out of the turret. When she quieted down - we quit for a bit and she stood tied up while I got the tire down and fixed it to be able to drag again... then again lounged w/ 2 driving lines to the left only w/ some straight aways bringing in the outside driving line and moving into a more traditional driving position. When she was going well/quiet we halted and re-hooked the tire. This time she just froze... took some time to get her to step out, but when she got going it wasn't too bad this time. Tense but walking. No bucking. halted. walked. OK - trot. Leaped forward into two strides, then whoa.

Continued this way until she was "driving" quietly (my draft horse driving instructor insists on choosing a side to start with and keeping the line out of the rein turret on that side when first hooking up). Then, I disconnected the tire - switched sides and lines and did the same thing on the other side. While it wasn't as bad as the first time, it was a running, squalling fit. The tire didn't get as much air time, but the hay strings did break again (as they are meant to). Again, I continued lounging until she remembered everything again and started responding quietly, then she got tied up to rest/think and I re-fixed the tire. Then once again - to the right - re-hooked... to say we were tired after this is an understatement. What a day. What a break-thru. Not saying i did everything correctly or that the way I did it is the only way...

Next day - same thing - just quieted down and started relaxing and responding quicker. NOW - this is after 60 days straight of ground driving (after training her to lounge and she had spent 6 months as a riding pony), having been introduced to pulling a singletree w/o anything attached, having 1" pvc pole attached first on one side, then the other (some tensing, but no explosions and was working quietly BEFORE I moved to the next step...). We did this for several days - each day at first was tense, upset and unhappy to start - working towards relaxation until finally the day arrived when I hooked up the tire and she stayed quiet and relaxed and then stepped right off when asked at a walk, moved into a trot, back to walk... removed, switched sides - did great. So ran both lines thru terrets and moved right into ground driving "correctly" and more from the rear. This is all on grass, in one of my paddocks I don't graze regularly. When I moved out of that paddock - we started al lover again because as soon as sound/feel changed - she was upset all over again... OMG - when we finally graduated to crossing my "bridge" between barn area and the driveway - first wood then the gravel... She's darned good at lounging now - let me tell you. She's also the one that still doesn't do well when hooked to the metal ez entry cart - but is fine with the wooden sulky. She's now good, w/ lots of work and time, with farm equipment and the red wagon... as a pair. But at first - I really didn't think she'd ever make a driving pony!

The other 5 ponies we've started did not respond this way - to either the pvc poles, the tire or the chain link drags. One other one did - and to this day if you leave her alone in the pasture for more than 3 or 4 days, she's like having to start all over again... dratted pony and not mine. She's getting more driving time and maybe she'll become easier eventually as her owner insists on not giving up on her.

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[DJF Miniature Show Horses]

My wreck was with my first miniature horse I broke to drive. He was driving wonderful for a year. Just for fun in arena's and pastures. A person I used to be friends with kept telling me I should show him. I started training him for show driving. One day this person told me my overcheck was to loose. I tightned it to where they said it should be. My mini got 3/4 way around the arena and then panicked! He took off in a dead run! I was a novice and knew how to circle a riding horse but didnt know how to stop a cart horse! The wall was coming up fast. I tried to keep him straight towards it but he swerved. The cart flipped and I bailed but hung onto my lines. He stopped..whew! Then he flipped over backwards and got his leg over a shaft getting up. I got his leg back over. Was trying to readjust that overcheck when he took off again and knocked me down with the cart. Hanging onto the lines he drug me along like a water skier! Finally he stopped and I managed to get that overcheck off! He was shaking and I cried. After we both calmed each other down I got back in the cart and he drove like the little champ he was

Believe me I was scared!!

What I learned from this was:

1. Be very careful taking other peoples advice

2. Afjust overchecks one notch at a time

3. Invest in a well made harness (mine is amish and you cant tell its been in a wreck!)

4. Wear a helmet ALWAYS when I drive.

5.Dont be afraid of a runaway. Stay calm and drive em down until they quit.

I have gone on to train several minis to drive. Never have had another wreck like the one above. Drove one on an outside road that I was loping and he bucked and tried to run off..but..I stayed calm

I popped him on the butt and said "You wanna run? Lets go!" He lasted 6 strides and went into a trot. Just like riding. Make the vice unpleasant. I didnt train that horse. First trained by someone else to drive mini for me. Least he doesnt run off anymore

Im amazed I didnt quit after my wreck. I love driving and training. Finishing my sweet gelding as I write

I lived to tell! Yay

 

[jeanniecogan]

Good advice, about people's advice. caused me many accidents while i was still riding.

I got a new mini. i have a good deal of experience driving. we were in the arena ( just a fenced field), it was about our 6th time out there. he had been wonderful on all other drives. we were driving accross the field and my dog cam running up next to him, he was definitely frightened and started to run, did a 90degree turn to the right . the cart went over on it's side and I came out of the cart. he ran back to the catch pen in front of the barn where he stopped. my husband Mike came running. Charlie was all tangled up and he grabbed him and looked at me. i was just getting up and looked over at him and shouted, "boy nothing like falling off a horse, hehe. " We were both fine though Charlie was pretty shook up, me too.

I wanted to get back in, but Mike had him detatched from the cart by the time i got ther. I hooked him up the next day and he was fine, if anything he was more careful with me. his ears go back a lot, not mean, but worrying about me. I think i have a very special guy. i feel more safe than ever.