Newbie taking driving lessons

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Renolizzie

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Joined
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Location
Northern Nevada
I thought I would say hi. I am taking driving lessons from a trainer and loving it. I may be getting my first mini soon. I have a lead on one.

Any advice for someone new to mini driving? Any other ldaies out there crazy enough to get their first horse in their fifties?

We are on five acres in the desert and I have been busy making sure there are no toxic plants in where the horse is going and I have the materials for a three sided shelter and non-climb horse wire that we are going to install in the next couple of weeks.
 
Also make sure that the horse is not eating off sand - they can get colic if they eat sand. So either lay down a rubber mat where you put the feed, or put it in some type of feeder to keep it off the ground. I am a newbie to minis as well - always had regular size - and I really want to take some lessons too! Good luck!
 
Thanks Charlottein - My friend down the street has horses and she was telling me to be careful about the sand. I haven't purchsed a feeder yet. What do you think about those tire feeders where they cut out the tire on the top and bolt a board to the hole underneath?

I am taking lessons from a very qualified trainer since this would be my first horse and I know they are their own species. I also have a couple of friends that I can get some help from.

What made yoy think about getting a mini?

Liz
 
I got my first one when I was almost 50 and I've been driving ever since. I've had 29" and 35" to drive and I like the 34-35" best. The 29 had no trouble with the job, but I think a few more inches makes it more fun. Temperament is very important. Be sure he is not a kicker. I don't know a kicking horse can ever be cured and you can never trust him.

Looking forward to hearing of your adventures!
 
I think a tire feeder should work just fine! Better than just a rubber mat since the horse won't shove the feed into the sand while eating. Another thing to think about is snakes - make sure you don't have any places in your pen that they would like to live in, as I know minis have been killed by snake bites before. Not sure about snake habits though, so I don't know what best to avoid - but your friends in the area with horses should be able to tell you.

I decided on a mini, as my property is too small to give enough room to my standards for a full sized horse, and I always thought driving would be a blast! I loved my full sized horses and intend to get one again someday and board but I want a mini as well!
 
I got my first one when I was almost 50 and I've been driving ever since. I've had 29" and 35" to drive and I like the 34-35" best. The 29 had no trouble with the job, but I think a few more inches makes it more fun. Temperament is very important. Be sure he is not a kicker. I don't know a kicking horse can ever be cured and you can never trust him.

Looking forward to hearing of your adventures!
Thanks for the info on your experiences with two different sizes of minis. My goal is to be able to cruise the dirt roads around here and go over by the lake so I am looking for a larger sized mini that can handle our tougher conditions and maybe take two of us for short rides around the house on the smoother roads. Several of my friends and my hubby would like that.

I am working on finding a horse with a good temperament. One horse sounded nice, he was a bigger size min gelding but it turned out he wanted to bite people so I said that I didn't think he would work out for me. I was talking to someone that said that was a dangerous problem and hard to break. I am looking for a horse that is already driving since I think only one of us should be a beginner and I do have a good trainer available to help me sort out it all out when I do get a horse.
 
I think a tire feeder should work just fine! Better than just a rubber mat since the horse won't shove the feed into the sand while eating. Another thing to think about is snakes - make sure you don't have any places in your pen that they would like to live in, as I know minis have been killed by snake bites before. Not sure about snake habits though, so I don't know what best to avoid - but your friends in the area with horses should be able to tell you.

I decided on a mini, as my property is too small to give enough room to my standards for a full sized horse, and I always thought driving would be a blast! I loved my full sized horses and intend to get one again someday and board but I want a mini as well!
I have always thought about a horse but I am getting older and don't think I want to ride. We moved out to the country 6 years ago. I saw some mini horses pulling a little wagon a number of years back. I saw something that reminded me of that and started researching. I thought "Hey, I could do this!" Cart driving really is as much fun as I thought it would be and I am looking forward to learning more.

As for snakes, we have small rattlers in the area but our yard has only had bull or gopher snakes which are not poisonous. Fortunately, we don't have a lot of them. Since I like gardening I have been trapping out the rodents and we have a great cat that really hunts so I think that helps keep the snake population from setting up housekeeping in our yard. There just isn't much for them to snack on.

Hubby can build me the tire feeder so that is a money saver:) He's pretty handy.
 
Marsha Cassada said:
Temperament is very important. Be sure he is not a kicker. I don't know a kicking horse can ever be cured and you can never trust him.
Renolizzie said:
One horse sounded nice, he was a bigger size min gelding but it turned out he wanted to bite people so I said that I didn't think he would work out for me. I was talking to someone that said that was a dangerous problem and hard to break.
Well, one of my horses kicks and the other bites AND bucks, but they're both pretty darn good driving horses!
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Kicking and nipping are both basic horse behavior in a herd, the trick is teaching them that those behaviors are not acceptable towards people. Since those behaviors are about dominance and personal space they rarely have anything to do with driving, where what you're worried about is a reactive horse who responds to their own fear rather than your commands as a driver.

Nevertheless, as a first-time horse owner and driver Marsha and your friend are right that you don't need to be dealing with those behaviors. You're doing absolutely everything right taking lessons first and looking for an experienced driving horse to get you started, so all I'd advise is to make sure your new friend is free of medical problems (get a vet check before purchasing) and has good conformation as well as that all-important good temperament. Also, buy quality equipment to start with rather than something cheap off ebay- you'll end up spending far less money buying good stuff the first time rather than trying to cheap out and ending up replacing the entire thing one piece at a time! Trust me, we've all learned that lesson from experience.
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There's nothing wrong with getting starter equipment but make sure it's good quality leather, the cart is well-balanced and light, and buy both from reputable vendors who will let you send in measurements and exchange parts that don't fit.

Welcome to the world of driving!

Leia
 
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Well, one of my horses kicks and the other bites AND bucks, but they're both pretty darn good driving horses!
default_biggrin.png
Kicking and nipping are both basic horse behavior in a herd, the trick is teaching them that those behaviors are not acceptable towards people. Since those behaviors are about dominance and personal space they rarely have anything to do with driving, where what you're worried about is a reactive horse who responds to their own fear rather than your commands as a driver.

Nevertheless, as a first-time horse owner and driver Marsha and your friend are right that you don't need to be dealing with those behaviors. You're doing absolutely everything right taking lessons first and looking for an experienced driving horse to get you started, so all I'd advise is to make sure your new friend is free of medical problems (get a vet check before purchasing) and has good conformation as well as that all-important good temperament. Also, buy quality equipment to start with rather than something cheap off ebay- you'll end up spending far less money buying good stuff the first time rather than trying to cheap out and ending up replacing the entire thing one piece at a time! Trust me, we've all learned that lesson from experience.
default_wink.png
There's nothing wrong with getting starter equipment but make sure it's good quality leather, the cart is well-balanced and light, and buy both from reputable vendors who will let you send in measurements and exchange parts that don't fit.

Welcome to the world of driving!

Leia
Thanks for some words of wisdom, Lela.

I'll be making a list and checking it twice before I make a purchase. I'll make sure vet check is on there in bold. Conformation is a toughie. I am hoping to get an experienced horse person to come with me and look the critter over when I find one to go look at.
 

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