Opinions needed

[Nuzzle]

I have had my gelding for 5 years now and had acquired him with the intention to drive. When he was given to me I was told that he had been with a trainer and had been harnessed but nobody knows if he had ever been hitched. The person I got him from had him because he was given to them since he wasn't working out for their kids. He was a real rank horse when I got him and we had many a go rounds to get him to realize I was boss. He lead you, he bit, he shoved, he was completely disrespectful and extremely flighty. I spent a good 6 months gaining his respect and since then he has been a gentleman. He doesn't have a disrespectful bone in his body as long as it's me handling him. He will however revert to his old behaviors with others if given the chance. So flash forward to this year. I am finally in the position to have him trained for driving but now I am questioning if this is right. I am new to driving and was wondering if it would be a good idea to proceed with having him trained since I don't know a lot about driving. I want to drive for pleasure only and I want to be able to do it with my kids. I am new to driving , he may be new to it or maybe not, we don't know yet. What if he had been driven and was in an accident? So many variables. Should I keep him and proceed or sell him and get one broke already and take lessons? I would love any and all opinions you have to offer. This past summer I did ground drive him all over the neighborhood and he was so light and responsive to the bit, was flexing nicely and he was responsive to verbal cues as well. I have exposed him to everything I can think of and he doesn't ever bat an eye at it. But I realize this doesn't mean he will be that way in front of a cart. So please share your idea on this. Thanks in advance for any advice. He's 14 in case your wondering.

 

[Reignmaker Miniatures]

Has he done something to make you believe he will not make a driving horse? How do you feel about him? Do you enjoy dealing with him? It sounds like you have put some time into him and he has responded positively to that, however you know this horse far better than we do. Do you like him enough to make him worth the time and cost? I think only you can really answer your question and perhaps you are looking to have a gut feeling supported by an outside opinion. If he is the horse in your avatar he is a nice looking fellow...is it a poor match? Do you want to drive him? If the answer to the last question is yes then why not try him out (you did say you could afford a trainer at this point) and see how things progress.If it is 'no, not really' there is no shame in looking elsewhere for a better match IMO. Good luck with whatever your choice is.

 

[shorthorsemom]

I have been working on training my geldings to drive. I never got past the ground driving stage. It was frustrating being green myself with a green horse and my inexperience was holding us all back from getting to the hooking and driving stage. I was given a gelding this summer that was trained to drive and had experience in CDE. I now have an experienced trainer helping me and am getting lessons and progressing quickly with my new boy. Oh what a difference! I am learning at such a faster speed and am learning how to do everything from the ground up as my new boy and my trainer show me what to do. I cannot comment on whether you should keep your boy, but I can tell you that learning to drive with an experienced horse is great and I highly recommend. best wishes.

 

[Nuzzle]

Thank you Reignmaker. My boy has not done anything to make me feel as if he would not be a good driving horse. My concern is I don't have experience enough to know what is good enough for driving since I have no experience to base it off of. I love dealing with him, we get along beautifully, he is very willing and he has always been very sane. I really like him and I am willing to put the time and cost into him because he has been very willing to do anything I have thrown at him. I will proceed with getting a trainer to work with us and see what happens.

Shorthorsemom thank you for your input. That's what I was thinking......having an experienced horse would help me advance quicker. But Reingmaker made a good point. I love my boy and I really do want to give him a chance and I can't make that decision until I give him that chance. With a trainer guiding me I should know soon enough if I need to move him on.

 

[shorthorsemom]

I also still love my boys that I was ground driving and plan to move on with their training once I get some training myself. I was lucky that I could take on a third mini to learn on. If you don't want to add horses and still want to get experience how about going somewhere and taking lessons with an experienced driving horse and getting a trainer to help with your green boy at home? I was looking into this option before my new boy landed here this summer.

 

[hobbyhorse23]

That's what I was thinking......having an experienced horse would help me advance quicker. But Reingmaker made a good point. I love my boy and I really do want to give him a chance and I can't make that decision until I give him that chance. With a trainer guiding me I should know soon enough if I need to move him on.

I was thinking the same thing as Shorthorsemom- take lessons with (and maybe lease) an experienced driving horse to help bring your own training along, then take your guy for some lessons and get him going under supervision. Best of both worlds!

I learned on my green horse and we survived but I was an experienced horsewoman and used to riding with contact and doing dressage so it wasn't so bad. Still, I kept thinking we were doing so well and that he was bending and powerful and all that until I drove a REALLY finished driving horse- then I realized how far we still had to go!

There really is no way to know what it should feel like except to drive one who already knows. THEN you can try to bring that same feeling into your own work.

Leia