Driving Me Buggy 2019 Hours!!!

Yes, it's been quiet. You have been very active! We had a bad bout of weather, then I've been on a trip. I'll probably have to start over with ground driving with Midnight now. And how about lazy???

 

Good job, @Cayuse ! We have not been driving in a while. Have put cart down cellar in order to strip and repaint it. Snow is coming, so expect there won't be much driving here. All depends on how the winter goes.

 

Phew! It's been a few weeks since we have been able to drive here at home. Between myself being away for a week and the weather being cold and windy and blizzarding, I haven't been logging any cart or ground driving time. BUT today Zorro and I got to head out for a short 3 mile drive. It was also a FAST three mile drive because Zorro was quite fresh... LOL! I would always tell people to do a little ground driving before hitching but I have always just hitched Zorro, even with time off. Sometimes I should take my own advice But it was fun and he was never out of control. We did lots of cantering, some galloping and some trotting. He probably walked about a mile so that's not too bad considering. And when he walked it was on a loose rein, long and relaxed. We were out actually driving for about 35 minutes. I love this time of year, the sun was shining and he is SO fuzzy that it looks like I'm driving a teddy bear. He is so cute!!

 

With this cold, wet weather the horses are a muddy mess. Got home from a trip and Midnight has become quite uppity. We will have to go back a step when we get a chance to work again. My horsey neighbor was taking care of my animals. They didn't seem to care if I was home again; I told her she must have sweet-talked them while I was away! She did a fun thing: she sent me a picture of the horses and chickens while I was gone, to let me know all was well.

 

56 minutes today for Dapper Dan. We went 3.25 miles. Ponied Midnight. I've done a little ground work with her but no driving in a while. She does not like to put her boots on.

 

Peanut doesn't like getting his boots put on either. Stamps his feet just as I am trying to do up the velcro. It looks like he is tap dancing.
On the other hand (or hoof) Cappy couldn't care less about his boots.

 

Zorro doesn't like to put his boots on either. LOL! But he really doesn't like to be out on the road without them... So he will surrender. Surprisingly Sky is perfect to have her shoes on. Everything else makes her have a melt down, including getting her feet trimmed. LOL!

I drove Zorro and ponied Sky this evening. We went 3 miles in 60 minutes because we walked the entire way. It was so nice and relaxing and there were several long spots in the road that were sheer ice. So we played it very safe. It appeared to be warm-ish but even though the sun was shining and it was a beautiful day it was FREEZING and I was under dressed. The ponies were totally happy as was my silly dog. LOL!

We met a brand new neighbor on our drive. They are still building their house and I was glad to get to visit with someone. I'm always so nosey about the people that move in up here. Samson, my dog, is super friendly and thinks every new person is his brand new BEST friend. Zorro also made a beeline for the lady and Sky walked up beside him to say hi as well. All my animals are so friendly and sweet. I love that. It's heart warming!

 

I drove Zorro this evening... isn't it funny how 4:00 become evening the closer we get to winter solstice? LOL! We ponied Sky again and they both did beautifully! 3 miles in 40 minutes with lots of trotting.

 

I forgot to record 20 very cold and snowy ground driving minutes on Tuesday for Coady. Let’s just say ‘fresh’ was an understatement....it was like driving an over caffeinated coiled spring.

Marsha, Coady did not like having his boots put on at first, but he’s a good boy for them now. Hopefully Midnight will adjust to having them put on

 

Yes, getting started on a drive in the afternoon can get risky running to the day being shorter. Seems like about the time I have time to drive and it's warming up a little, the day is almost over!
Midnight likes her boots once they are on; she just fusses a little while I'm holding her feet and adjusting them.

 

I ground drove both Sky and Zorro out on the road this evening. We did the 3 miles. I like to ground drive them with their halters and one lead rope each. This makes it so they have to listen to my voice more than they listen to the lead ropes. Zorro is a pro at this. Sky likes to argue about EVERYTHING. LOL! So I will use Zorro's body to push Sky where I need her to go.

We had a neighbor drive up nicely and give a little toot on his horn. This did not bother Zorro at all but Sky was quite upset by it. Less so in the moment but it showed up later when other cars were passing us. I did put her on the outside, closest to the ditch after that happened anticipating that she was going to have a problem. Sigh. It's amazing to me to remember back to all the things she did as a young driving mare. We did HUGE parades with fire trucks blowing their horns RIGHT BEHIND US and she never batted an eyelash! Now a little horn toot has her melting down. For a short part of the drive home she was having such a hissy fit I had to bring her behind me and have her walk right behind me on a short lead. Finally she started to need some slack in the lead rope and was calm so I sent her back up with Zorro and she was a champ the rest of the way home! I have to wonder how I'll manage to do that when she is hitched to Zorro and pulling a vehicle... LOL!

Soooo this drive took us 90 minutes

 

I might try that with my two, though I am not sure it would work. Their gaits are not the same and Dapper Dan is too bossy.

 

40 minutes ground driving Midnight today. It's been awhile since we were out, so I stepped back to ground driving. She did very well. Much more responsive; the butterfly arch bit with the reins on the bottom ring are working well. She is also tolerating whip cues better; we've been working on that with our ground work.

 

Sky and Zorro do not match in gait at all. Sky likes to trot because she doesn't have a fast walk and Zorro has a fast walk and a looooong legged trot. So getting them to move together, in the same direction, at the same speed is something we work on the entire time we are walking It's great for me to improve my skill and for them to mirror each other a bit better.

And I don't allow any bossing when I'm out there. LOL! Everyone knows when I'm around there is no ear pinning or snarky faces. Even the naughty Mikey would NOT boss anyone when I was out there... He picked on Zorro horribly when I was not out there however.

 

80 minutes of driving Zorro in the bike today. We did one mile on our home track, walking, as a warm up so we could leave the driveway trotting. My rule is we can go home however fast we LEFT home. So far no one is barn sour so I think it must be working! LOL!

He is such a spooky goof now when we drive out alone, without Sky. It's as though he knows he has to keep it together when she is with us because SHE is freaking out so often. But when she's not there then he figures there must be something to freak out about. But luckily he can only expend the energy to do that for about a mile or so. Then he just settles down and behaves beautifully. Thank goodness for ponies that like to conserve energy!

 

Got the spreadsheet for the 4th quarter set up finally and got everyone's hours caught up! My horses have all moved south for the winter so any driving I do will be down there. We are going down for Thanksgiving for 4 days and I'll get some driving in then. I want to try ground driving a couple different team sets now that I've got 4 that drive well. I also want to try pairing up Major with Candace. He has driven a little but lacks confidence. She has confidence in spades so maybe it'll help steady him... We'll see. I'm also planning on starting Perry with light ground driving this winter.

My baby is also due in January so I may be behind in logging hours at the first of the year but I'll start a 2020 driving hours thread and if you want to play this year just start logging those hours! I'll get caught up eventually. It'll give me something to do while I'm snowed in with a baby this winter.

Also I know that Cayuse has a little surprised lined up for everyone who's stayed active on this thread and I'm going to figure out how to make everyone a certificate to mail/email with their logged hours on it so we can hang the up in the barn/garage/wherever.

Happy Fall driving! I hope you guys have good weather for a while!

 

Thank you so much for all you are doing even though you are so busy! I can't wait to see pictures of your teams. I am having a blast playing around with mine