New driving horse--Gabriel is hitched!!(Lot of Pictures)

[hobbyhorse23]

Well...I haven't exactly got that figured out quite yet (I am kind of making it up as I go, in a way). With Fascination, she is advanced enough that I ask for a canter from the walk and get it that way. I ask when the outside hind is starting to lift off/move forward, so that she can plant that one and step the inside leg for the canter transition. It usually works. Because Fascination is sensible enough that we can try out different things, I have been both half halting and using the whip on the inside barrel to get the correct lead. While this also works, I don't like compromising our straightness...but maybe that is a thing you have to do for harness. I have also toyed with the idea of different voice signals for the canter leads, but decided that would get a wee bit confusing. Fascination is getting the idea of flying lead changes, by voice, when I say "Change" and half halt. To initially teach which lead I wanted, we started out with picking up the canter coming out from a corner, so that she was still bent slightly, but we had room. Then we did figure eights, working from canter-trot-canter transitions to flying lead changes (which she does on her own in hazards, so I knew it was possible and easy for her).
This is what I am doing....of course, it will be refined as we work on it more.

Awesome.

: I've never actually asked Kody to pick up a canter from a walk in cart but he does it on the lungeline all the time so now I have to try that. Coming from riding I'm surprised you use the whip on the inside barrel. I was always taught to pick up the reins, half-halt on the outside and as the horse stepped up under themselves you squeezed gently with both calves but the outside calf was a little further back to signal the lead.

I agree with you about not complicating the voice commands. I was thinking I would half-halt with the outside rein and say "canter" to keep it simple. I like the figure eight idea as that seems clearer to me than the corner does. I have this one video of Kody weaving through some trees this spring in a practice hazard and man! For a horse who couldn't canter at all two years ago he was doing some pretty smooth flying lead changes every other stride. Part of me just wants to leave it up to him since he already does it so well, the rest of me wants the challenge of teaching him to do it on command.

:

Isn't the other thing about sidereins versus the sliding version that regular sidereins can teach the horse to overflex instead of reach down?

Leia

 

[MiniHGal]

Coming from riding I'm surprised you use the whip on the inside barrel.

Yes, I know. I am originally a rider myself (and taught that way), but it just seemed right to use the whip on the inside to pick up that lead. I suppose it comes from thinking that whip on side generally means bend to that side or move over, and when cantering on that lead, the horse bends easier to that side. I also half halt to the inside for that lead, just as if in preparation to pick up the whip and do a 'whip yield' out, or to remind them to bend. Part of the reason I do that is that when changing bend in the figure eight, I do a small half halt through the inside rein to alert that I am changing rein. So that way she links change in direction with change in lead.

Well...personally I guess it doesn't really matter what signal you use as long as it is consistent and works properly... :bgrin and you tell the next person to drive the horse that...I know what you mean about teaching them to do it on command...I have much the same kind of video, only doing cones at RamTap and we were doing a serpentine with lead changes for every bend change. Her idea, not mine. So, yep! Know whatcha mean!

About sidereins, that is something I have heard, and also feel that they can teach a green horse to back off the bit and go behind it because there is no give.

 

[rabbitsfizz]

The side reins I have- and I do still occasionally use ordinary ones- have elastic stitched into them so they only come into play as fixed reins after all the play in the elastic has been used up- I have to say I have never had this happen but I only use them very loose anyway.

The Pessoa/Chambon combination engages everything at once, and, IMO, is about as close as you can get to balanced riding, from the ground.

I would never have "invented" it if I had still been able to get on and ride.

It works brilliantly on Minis too, where riding is not an option anyway, even for me.

 

[Bluerocket]

Great pictures! Please keep posting them.

JJay

 

[whitney]

Bump for Mondak for pictures of the pessoa