How many driving horses do we have here now?

[mynagah]

Just joined the forum tonight !

We have 5 driving animals ... one off track Standardbred, two Welsh ponies, one Mini, and one Llama.

My husband and I are complete beginners, but taking lessons and practicing !

 

[SMW]

Currently training my horse Flexie to ground drive. Hoping by spring she will be venturing out with a cart!

 

[horsenarounnd]

Counting 1 Morgan 1 Arabian and 1 mini donkey we'll add 15 mini horses to the count for a total at our ranch of 17 that drive and another 8 that are too young or too old. WOW! No wonder my feed bill is so high.

 

[Rhondaalaska]

I'm ground training my little mare. Hope to start driving next summer if all goes well

 

[New mini]

Guess I am the odd woman out. I only have one driving mini, Lance.Who is a great teacher and driving partner I would love to get a Gypsy Vanner and drive that one. Maybe someday

 

[lucky seven]

I have only 1 mini that I hope to have trained to drive next year.

 

[Jill]

I have the same number AS before, but H and I have both been working towards getting a couple of our favorites in front of a cart! Bacardi and Sunny

 

[Reignmaker Miniatures]

Its fun to revisit this thread and think where I was and where I am now with my horses.

I had 4 that I could call trained and one that was sold to me as trained a little over a year ago. I've been down sizing and have sold one of the horses I had then that was trained but have started 2 more and confirmed the new guy's training so now I have 6 horses and they are all trained for driving, from very green to very reliable.

 

[Margo_C-T]

As of today, I have 4 minis, three of which drive and all of which I have trained. My 'newest', a stout 37" gelding, is still green, but I am FINALLY getting going with actually hooking and driving him(He is unreg. in any mini registry, but did get him regis. w/ Pt HA yesterday.)

I have had a number of horses that drove; only one of which I did not train entirely myself. The first one I trained turned 30 yrs. old a couple of Saturdays ago, is still with me and doing quite well, bless her heart!)

Margo

 

[targetsmom]

We have 2 that have been shown (Princess and Ruby) and then our stallion is green broke to drive, so that would be 3.

But I just started one of the broodmares (Sox), who is the same size, color and stride as Princess, so that would make 4.

And then we just bought 3 year old Buckeye WCF Last Dance (see the main forum) and she will be started soon - like next Monday!!!

So that would make 5 of our 9 - oops, now TEN minis (2 of them yearlings)- but I wonder how much attention Sox will get now that Dancer is here??? Stay tuned....

OK, I had to go back and see what I put down last year when this thread started (above) to see how times change:

We still have Princess driving, and our stallion probably could be hooked again and pick up where we left off, but we lost Ruby this past spring. Sox took some time off because she foaled this May, but is back in training again. Dancer is bred for next spring, so her training has stopped for now, but we hope to get her driving someday. And Mira was not bred for next year, so we are trying to fit in her training as time permits.

The two yearlings are now 2 year olds and both have been ground driving and doing VERY well. We expect to have both of them and Sox driving next year, so that will make 4 actual driving horses when you count Princess. And of course, we now have a 4-H Club with 9 members who want to learn to drive. We do have 6 harnesses and 4 carts so that will work fairly well for now as long as they can share.

And then there are the 2012 foals Bunny and Clyde... can't wait to see them driving in a few years...

 

[happy appy]

I have 7 minis here right now with 4 driving and 2 in training. I am loving driving and have all but stopped riding my large horse it seems these days. Of the 4 I'm driving I have trained 2 from the ground up, 1 needed retraining starting at the beginning because things were missed and 1 came trained needing miles.

 

[Lloydyne]

I am a new driver but I have one and he is awesome.

 

[shalakominiatureshowhorses]

I have 2 that drive

Hallmark's Boomer's Bentley-country pleasure

Make a Wish Buck's All That Jazz-still training, about to have a cart behind him next year (hopefully) LOL

 

[ksoomekh]

I purchased by first driving mini, Pepper, a few months ago. He is an experienced 14 year old that is 38". i am having a blast with him driving all around the roads near my home. I also have 4 gaited big horses that I ride regularly.

I could be tempted to get another driving mini if I found one as solid and experienced as Pepper. Did i just wrrte that? I DO NOT NEED ANOTHER HORSE!!!!

Karen

 

[Shari]

I just have one driving Mini.... Maggie, she is 33 1/2" tall...

Trained her when she was 4, have been driving ever since, think 12 years now.

And with my health... one driving mini is enough. ;O)

 

[circlesinthesand]

It's been a long time since I've checked in here, but my two little guys are basically driving now. I mostly just ground drive them because I feel they're still a bit young for any kind of load for any length of time, but I have put them on the cart for a few minutes at a time, on flat hard ground just because I couldn't contain the excitement to see how they'd react and they're awesome, not a single issue, took to it like old pros, don't even seem bothered by the little bit of weight. I'm sure when we're ready to start seriously pulling they'll be little troopers and it will be onwards and upwards from there.

As for our ground driving we've been walking the roads and this weekend we were faced with a lot of different traffic. Trucks loaded down shipping cattle, huge hay loads that took up the entire road, rickety hay rakes being hauled home behind old farm trucks, lawn mowers, barking dogs, people walking on the road, trucks stopping to say hello, etc. Plus while I was working my my spookier horse, we had a parade of ATV's one of which was hauling a hay wagon full of screaming kids. He was awesome, just flicked his ears at them and kept on walking while the convoy passed us. I was totally impressed with my little guys, they're doing awesome.

 

[susanne]

.

Great to see this thread revived -- I love the updates on everyone's horses!

We still have one driving horse, Mingus, but we just had Flash gelded and as part of his daily exercise/recovery regimen, he is now ground driving and doing exceedingly well! He knows all of his voice commands and took the big boy step of willingly moving out away from me. It occurs to me that Flash is a born HyperBike pony, as he is so cuddly and would love to sit on our laps. He has also shown himself to be a high-stepping mover with a lovely head and neck carriage. As a stallion he never felt the need to show off, but as a gelding I guess he needs to make up for missing parts...

Scarlett is still on deck, and is not pleased to be left in the corral when either of her boyfriends go out to work.

.

 

[Lilbit1997]

Streaker (newest horse to her, Thank You Clear Brook) - has been ground driving for 1 week now.

Streaker, now Mo Mo, does drive. He drove 4H last year and we got 5th overall out of all of NH. Competing against riders too.

 

[threeten]

I have two drivers. First one is my show horse, Rockin M Tonys Mene Kooper. He is a 5 year old and really starting to come on strong with his driving. I hope to show him in Western country pleasure next year. He is also a pretty good trail driver. Next one is a shetland, JHK Sir Real aka Mo. He is very green but shows promise as a good driver. He's got a very good calm disposition which I love. I love driving and hope to still be doing it when I am 80!

 

[studiowvw]

One mare 4.5 years old, JEM Caramel Lace, 36 inches. Trained at 3 by Lori Rafter who did a great job with her. Our driving was in fits and starts last year due to cart issues.

This fall we've been developing better confidence together. Thank goodness she has patience while I work on ramping up my driving skills

Next up are a couple of village Santa Claus parades, Nov 24 and the week after. I won't be using the cart because there's so much stopping during the parade, also some fairly steep hills on the route. She's a forward mover so it seems a little unfair to drive her in a parade atmosphere.

Last year I line-drove her in the parade. Might do so again, or might just lead her.