Blinders !!

[casilda]

Hi I am currently breaking my miniature mare to harness , I think she is going to be a natural driver , as nothing bothers her ..I have been long reining her in the harness without the blinders so that she could get used to her surroundings and see everything around her . I have got her to pull a tyre and she was 100% even when we went on gravel with lots of noise !

I hope to hitch her up to the cart in the next few weeks as I have been long reining her for about a month now so think she is ready .

I just wondered do you all drive them for the first few times without blinders first and then put the blinders on ? I wanted her to get used to the cart behind her first .. What do you do ?

 

[disneyhorse]

Absolutely give equal training time for long lining with blinders on so they can learn to trust you with reduced vision before hitching.

 

[Marsha Cassada]

Good reminder! I'm working with a new one, too. Sometimes it seems so long ago when I started one, that I forget the steps.

 

[hobbyhorse23]

I do both. I take the horse all the way to the cart and start driving them open, then I go back (while still driving them open on alternating days) and do all the ground-work over again with the blinders on. It really is a very different experience for the horse to drive with blinkers! Horses who are started with them may panic when they first see something following them, but it's just as true that a horse who is used to seeing what's following them may panic when they can't see that it's something "okay" and can only hear that scary noise. Don't skip any steps, go back and do it all again with the closed bridle! It probably won't take as long as the first time since the horse understands what you're asking, but you want to make sure they're okay with hearing things drag, feeling shafts come out of nowhere on their sides, feeling the touch of the whip without seeing it first, etc.

Leia