His first day harnessed!

[_minihorses4ever_]

I am extatic right now!! He was perfect today with his first time being harnessed/ground driven with a bit. He has never had a bit in his mouth or anything before this, only ground driven by me with a halter and two lead ropes for a few months. Well, all that work has payed off! My barn owner was very impressed, he said, "He looks and acts like an old pro!" Needless to say, I am a very proud mommy! :bgrin

And now the pictures!!

Modeling his new look.

A very proud momma.

My favorite picture!

Us working hard.

:

My view. :lol:

None of the pictures turned out good with the ones of him walking. Thanks for looking!

 

[appypintolady]

Looks like he is taking to it very well!!!!

 

[walter]

:aktion033: :aktion033: :aktion033: Good for you...and you very well should be proud !! I know how good you feel...its a great feeling to see your accomplishment.! Keep it up...you'll be driving that guy in a few more times.

Clara

 

[Joyce]

He looks great and very pro in his harness. Is he a true black? My favorite color and you will have loads of fun with him. I'm a new driver with a 30 1/4" driving mini myself.

Joyce L

 

[Feather1414]

LOOKING GOOD BRE!

 

[_minihorses4ever_]

He looks great and very pro in his harness. Is he a true black? My favorite color and you will have loads of fun with him. I'm a new driver with a 30 1/4" driving mini myself.

Joyce L

I don't think so. He changes from a dark black to a bayish color throughout the year. Silly horsie. :lol:

Thanks everyone!

 

[Soggy Bottom Ranch]

He looks BEAUTIFUL...........you should be very proud of all the hard work you've done! What a sweet boy!

:

 

[_minihorses4ever_]

:aktion033: :aktion033: :aktion033: You have so much to be proud of! :aktion033: :aktion033:

Here's a ? for you--when you worked him with 2 lead ropes, were you walking beside him, or behind him? I walked beside Jazz for 3 days with leads to halter. The first one was the best.

: When the surcingle and reins came, I tried him in those, with my daughter on his lead rope, and he did pretty good, but I know he needs more work with just me beside him to get the "walk-on" move down. Turning and stopping were great.

Can you tell me more about how you started?

I am about to leave for school, so I will finish this later.

:

I first started him with walking behind him with the two lead ropes while my little brother walked beside him and gave him the aids up their also. I did this for about two weeks, and them I weaned him off my brother. By that time he had started learning the aids, but wasn't going to learn to be dependent on my brother being there by his side. Then for the next couple months I just worked on all the basics.

Willie sometimes wouldn't go forward, so I carried a crop with me. He learned reeeal quick what "walk on" meant.

: I also reccomend lunging him and teaching him voice commands since when your back their driving him, he can't see you, so you will need to rely on your voice. I make lunging/voice commands a daily thing with Willie.

:

Like I said, I need to go now, but I will get into depth later!

:

Thanks so much everyone!

 

[_minihorses4ever_]

Okay--

I want to say that as a personal opinion, you should start horses ground driving in a halter. That way you aren't pulling on their mouths while they are learning. Remember, no horse comes with a hard mouth, it is the hands of the rider/driver that make it that way.

And when I was talking about using the crop, I want to make it clear I did NOT whack him or anything with it. I tapped his butt until I got a response.

:

Basically, I just moved steadily at HIS pace. If one day he wasn't turning well, I would work on bending his neck. If he wasn't trotting, I would work on walk/trot transitions. I wanted to get him going under cart after a month of this, but I knew I would have a better finished horse if I waited. I am SO glad I made that decision because he took to the harness and bit wondefully.

In jazz's case, I think you might want to go back to the halter where HE was comfortable. I would work with the halter and the lead ropes until he looked like he was getting bored of it, then I would move on slowly. Iwish you the best of luck!

 

[thegrandzapper]

thanks for sharing :saludando: :saludando:

 

[Mini Lover]

Congrats! I know that feeling and it sure is great! Keep up the good work.

:

-Nicole