What a wonderful site to see, two littles pulling a cart, all decorated. I love it.
Wheee! Driving hours 2023
- Thread starter MajorClementine
- Start date
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A good driving friend of mine has a little who is the same. Especially if he hasn't been driven in a while, the first steps (and several subsequent ones) will be big and fast. If you're not prepared and aren't a confident driver, you might feel a run away, but I drove him and didn't feel that I couldn't direct the energy in a safe manner. It's interesting that some of them just seem to need to power out for a little bit right off the hop but then settle into a nice drive. Glad you guys had a good time, even if it wasn't very relaxing.
MajorClementine
Well-Known Member
I'm here I swear! We just passed our final inspection and can finally move into the new house (in the dead of winter). I will update hours and have totals for everyone for the end of the year! You are all so inspiring and I've loved hearing about your adventures. Merry Christmas my driving family!
How exciting! Just in time for Christmas.
Attachments
Yay. I'm very happyfor you. Merry Christmas
Congratulations @MajorClementine!! That's a beautiful gift, your home!!! Thank you for all the time you take to track this. It's been so much fun for me to look back at what all we've accomplished and experienced this last year. It's been a huge growth for me. I've been invited to go for a boxing day drive with a friend and I'm sure I'll get a few more driving hours in before the end of the year on my days off. I just took Ali to the airport to spend Christmas with her dad and their family. Peace for me! And Christmas blessings to you, and to all, a wonderful 2024!
December 23, Phillippe 1 hour
December 24, Phillippe 30 minutes with my mom, Jasmine 30 minutes with me
December 26, Phillippe 90 minutes!
El Nino is so odd. Despite the concerning lack of snow on the ground, the weather has been absolutely spectacular! I got to spend loads of time driving. Unfortunately, the days are very short, less than 8 hours of daylight currently, but I made the most of it. Ali's away in Ontario with her dad and family for the rest of the week so I've had a lot more time just to myself. Phillippe and I had a good tour all by ourselves on the 23rd, although he was not interested in being caught. That looks like him just walking away from me, not meeting me at the gate when I come in. I guess driving around the neighborhood really insulted him the previous week when we decked out his and Jazzy's carts... Oh well.
Christmas eve I asked my mom if she wanted to come drive with me. She questioned which animal she would drive as her hands are not strong and Jasmine is very forward and pulls. So I drove the pony and she took my trusty donk - and she was thrilled with how good he was, responding to voice commands and light rein pressure. Made me very proud!
Christmas we didn't do anything outside of family stuff but I got an invite to a friend in the area to come out for a boxing-day drive with her and another member of our club. Phillippe needs the exercise the most so he packed into the trailer and away we went! My friend drove her young halflinger and our other friend borrowed her mini gelding and away we went! Halflinger is a bigger boy and naturally has a good pace. The mini is a worker! Goodness, he's got a job to do and places to go! Even more so than Jazzy! But Phillippe put on his very best brave pants and kept up! We went down the road, along a hay field and then through a path to another barley field with big hills! It was fantastic for him to work and he seemed very merry to do it. It was a great day!
I hope everyone had a merry Christmas, if you celebrate, or whatever the event is for you and your family. We really didn't celebrate it. My mom's family is Ukranian heritage and, since we didn't have kids, we've decided to have Christmas in two weeks for Ukranian Christmas.
December 24, Phillippe 30 minutes with my mom, Jasmine 30 minutes with me
December 26, Phillippe 90 minutes!
El Nino is so odd. Despite the concerning lack of snow on the ground, the weather has been absolutely spectacular! I got to spend loads of time driving. Unfortunately, the days are very short, less than 8 hours of daylight currently, but I made the most of it. Ali's away in Ontario with her dad and family for the rest of the week so I've had a lot more time just to myself. Phillippe and I had a good tour all by ourselves on the 23rd, although he was not interested in being caught. That looks like him just walking away from me, not meeting me at the gate when I come in. I guess driving around the neighborhood really insulted him the previous week when we decked out his and Jazzy's carts... Oh well.
Christmas eve I asked my mom if she wanted to come drive with me. She questioned which animal she would drive as her hands are not strong and Jasmine is very forward and pulls. So I drove the pony and she took my trusty donk - and she was thrilled with how good he was, responding to voice commands and light rein pressure. Made me very proud!
Christmas we didn't do anything outside of family stuff but I got an invite to a friend in the area to come out for a boxing-day drive with her and another member of our club. Phillippe needs the exercise the most so he packed into the trailer and away we went! My friend drove her young halflinger and our other friend borrowed her mini gelding and away we went! Halflinger is a bigger boy and naturally has a good pace. The mini is a worker! Goodness, he's got a job to do and places to go! Even more so than Jazzy! But Phillippe put on his very best brave pants and kept up! We went down the road, along a hay field and then through a path to another barley field with big hills! It was fantastic for him to work and he seemed very merry to do it. It was a great day!
I hope everyone had a merry Christmas, if you celebrate, or whatever the event is for you and your family. We really didn't celebrate it. My mom's family is Ukranian heritage and, since we didn't have kids, we've decided to have Christmas in two weeks for Ukranian Christmas.
Sounds so nice to get out and drive. That Halflinger is a big boy but he has nothing on Phillippe! 
He's a lovely boy too! My friend breeds Haffies up here. I think one would be my retirement animal. Be able to ride and drive the pony. And they're quite sporty little horses too. That one is fairly tall, well above 15 hh. And yes, Phillippe is dwarfed at his whopping 35.5" lol!Sounds so nice to get out and drive. That Halflinger is a big boy but he has nothing on Phillippe!
Last night Jasmine and Phillippe both went out for 30 minutes of driving.
I've had the pleasure of meeting a lovely family from the area. The daughter, who is just a lovely young lady of 12, I believe, is unable to ride for a while because of a growth-plate issue. Currently, she has a mini she is working on training to drive. My daughter Ali was the same age when she got Jasmine and started training her. This young lady already has her mini ground driving without any formal instruction on how to do it! Her mom reached out looking for a starter harness. Well, since we've upgraded Jasmine's to that nice teal set, I had the nylon one ready to let go. So I made them a deal and invited the family out to learn how to put it on an animal and have a quick driving lesson. Since the days are so darn short, we did as much as we could as fast as we could! I pulled both the animals out, quickly harnessed up Phillippe and put him to his bike, and then went over the nylon harness on Jasmine while mom took loads of pictures and videos - clever idea! I had them sit in different vehicles so they could get a feel of the "mini easy entry" carts and why they're not ideal. I sent dad and kiddo out with Jasmine and the mom took the lines on Phillippe. She told me she wasn't a rider but I wasn't concerned. Phillippe isn't going to put anyone in a dangerous situation. Truly he was a good boy and everyone got a taste of driving all of the animals. Even the dad finished the ride out with Phillippe! Kiddo took the opportunity to canter each of the animals on the flat driveway and there was a huge grin on her face at the end. Ah, that was just great! The family was very appreciative and the harness has a new home with a kiddo and a pony motivated to get driving. I anticipate they'll be joining our driving club in the new year as well.
I just love sharing my animals with new people. It's a great feeling introducing new people to sports and activities that I just adore.
I've had the pleasure of meeting a lovely family from the area. The daughter, who is just a lovely young lady of 12, I believe, is unable to ride for a while because of a growth-plate issue. Currently, she has a mini she is working on training to drive. My daughter Ali was the same age when she got Jasmine and started training her. This young lady already has her mini ground driving without any formal instruction on how to do it! Her mom reached out looking for a starter harness. Well, since we've upgraded Jasmine's to that nice teal set, I had the nylon one ready to let go. So I made them a deal and invited the family out to learn how to put it on an animal and have a quick driving lesson. Since the days are so darn short, we did as much as we could as fast as we could! I pulled both the animals out, quickly harnessed up Phillippe and put him to his bike, and then went over the nylon harness on Jasmine while mom took loads of pictures and videos - clever idea! I had them sit in different vehicles so they could get a feel of the "mini easy entry" carts and why they're not ideal. I sent dad and kiddo out with Jasmine and the mom took the lines on Phillippe. She told me she wasn't a rider but I wasn't concerned. Phillippe isn't going to put anyone in a dangerous situation. Truly he was a good boy and everyone got a taste of driving all of the animals. Even the dad finished the ride out with Phillippe! Kiddo took the opportunity to canter each of the animals on the flat driveway and there was a huge grin on her face at the end. Ah, that was just great! The family was very appreciative and the harness has a new home with a kiddo and a pony motivated to get driving. I anticipate they'll be joining our driving club in the new year as well.
I just love sharing my animals with new people. It's a great feeling introducing new people to sports and activities that I just adore.
What a wonderful experience for your new friends. I can still see you smiling
loved reading your driving journal!
Since it's almost New Years I thought I should let everyone know that I have ordered the ribbons for the top 10 participants in the activities (walking/driving) threads. They won't be here until mid Jan or so as they are coming from Wales and the woman who makes them says the postal system over there gets dicey until after New Years. I'll keep everyone posted and let you all know when they arrive 
.
Hope you all have a Happy New Year
!
.Hope you all have a Happy New Year
!
I learned to ride as a kid at a farm that bred Haflingers. I just love them. The older I get the less interested I am in riding tall horses, and the ones we rode as kids were quite fun to ride - used to jump them all around the hunt field there.
Should I be fortunate enough to qualify, would you kindly let me know the cost of shipping, etc involved? I'd be glad to pay for it. The fact that you tally all the hours is amazing! Thank you again for all you do!Since it's almost New Years I thought I should let everyone know that I have ordered the ribbons for the top 10 participants in the activities (walking/driving) threads. They won't be here until mid Jan or so as they are coming from Wales and the woman who makes them says the postal system over there gets dicey until after New Years. I'll keep everyone posted and let you all know when they arrive
Hope you all have a Happy New Year
OMG! This was me and Stormy‘s first time sledding and I couldn’t stop squealing like a 10 year old school girl!
I did finally figure out I could sit all the way back in my sled for a much more comfy drive.
View attachment 49242
I didn’t get Stormy use to the sled or anything. I just jumped right in and away we went! He handled it like a champ
Loved your video! I'm going to buy a sled like yours and was hoping you could tell me how wide and long it is?
I got it from Amazon:
Shappell JSR Jet Sled Jr Upsable, 21 x 43 x 8-Inch
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002RWBPRQ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
hopefully the link will work!
December 31, I finished my year with an hour driving Phillippe and half hour driving Jasmine.
What an awesome way to send out the new year! Happy New year to all!
What an awesome way to send out the new year! Happy New year to all!
Thank you for the info!
MajorClementine
Well-Known Member
All finished up for the year. We had less drivers participating so less total hours BUT I think our driving community has become really close this year. It's been so fun to follow everyone's experiences and growth this year. My goal in 2024 is to drive all of my horses at least 5 hours each. I know that is a tiny goal to those of you who drive regularly but it'll be the most hours I've had for years and years. Here's to a great 2024!
Thank you to everyone who keeps participating with us year after year. And to you new drivers who have made our group even better.
Thank you to everyone who keeps participating with us year after year. And to you new drivers who have made our group even better.
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