Your Drive Day

[Willow Flats]

I had Annie all to myself today. I normally don't drive her when I am here alone because she is still somewhat green. I think I mentioned a while back that a neighbor fired up his motorcycle suddenly and Annie didn't react at all and I was so proud of her. Well now I know that is because it wasn't moving until we were out of sight. We have a long gravel drive (parallel to my Neighbors drive) that leads to the main road which we don't travel on. Annie and I had just headed down the drive when my neighbor came ripping up on his motorcycle coming in our direction, but on his side and she spooked big time! There is a section of trees between our two roads where I didn't see him turn in, so lets just say we both got surprised!

I should probably take her in hand and lead her to the end of the drive and stand there with her and wait as traffic goes by to get her used to it. I have only done that once. She was o.k. with cars, but it is anything with a loud engine that moves. We have a loud ride on mower she is afraid of. Maybe I should start that up at a distance while my husband is in the cart. Better him than me Anyone have any advise for me?

 

[Marsha Cassada]

It's so hard to create situations for desensitizing. Maybe your neighbor could give you a quick call when he plans to leave on his bike so you could take her down your drive on a lead.
Some bikes pass me on the road that are pretty quiet. Most bikers are very considerate, and slow down so they are not so alarming. Maybe ask your neighbor to go slow down the drive? I'll bet he would; he just wasn't thinking about scaring your horse.
The thing that spooks mine the most is a pickup pulling a long rattly trailer. There is something about that trailer...
Yesterday the County passsed us with two big 10 wheel gravel trucks. I didn't know what to expect from Midnight, but she did fine. As long as they didn't use the air brakes! Not sure what honking would have done to her.
When you say she spooked big time--was it a bolt, or did she take a big leap?

 

[Cayuse]

Mow Annie's field while she's out grazing if you can. That should help her get used to the mower on her own time. Don't even have to mow, just drive the mower around until she's bored with it.
Motorcycles always make me tense up when I hear them coming. My guys live on a busy rode and hear alot of them during the summer, but I just can't get used to them!

 

[Willow Flats]

It's so hard to create situations for desensitizing. Maybe your neighbor could give you a quick call when he plans to leave on his bike so you could take her down your drive on a lead.
Some bikes pass me on the road that are pretty quiet. Most bikers are very considerate, and slow down so they are not so alarming. Maybe ask your neighbor to go slow down the drive? I'll bet he would; he just wasn't thinking about scaring your horse.
The thing that spooks mine the most is a pickup pulling a long rattly trailer. There is something about that trailer...
Yesterday the County passsed us with two big 10 wheel gravel trucks. I didn't know what to expect from Midnight, but she did fine. As long as they didn't use the air brakes! Not sure what honking would have done to her.
When you say she spooked big time--was it a bolt, or did she take a big leap?

I'd say it was a bolt, but she actually turned us around so we didn't go too far. I got her under control and made her go back the way we were headed just to show her that there was nothing to worry about and she is not going to be making the decisions for us. By that time he had cut the motor and she settled down.

The neighbor is older, so he doesn't ride his bike very much. He restores vintage tractors so there are lots of sounds coming from their way. Annie used to tense up and rush past their place, but is becoming more relaxed as we travel past. They have a dog that periodically rushes the fence and goes crazy, but I think she has learned to anticipate that so those spooks are just a surprise leap. I don't have to drive by there and can stay on my driveway on this side of the trees but I want her to get used to things.

 

[Willow Flats]

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[Marsha Cassada]

I'd say it was a bolt, but she actually turned us around so we didn't go too far. I got her under control and made her go back the way we were headed just to show her that there was nothing to worry about and she is not going to be making the decisions for us. By that time he had cut the motor and she settled down.


When I horse goes into bolt, his muscles do not allow him to go anywhere but straight. I had a bolting horse one time and did some research. I suggest you wear driving gloves every time you take her out. Sometimes being able to hold onto the reins securely is a life saver. And a skin saver. I think working her on a confined area is better, too, as she can feel the security of the enclosure. Road work can be too much pressure for them to handle. I did not keep my bolter, but he did pretty well after that when I just worked him in the confines of our property. I never took him back on the road after the second bolt. And he zapped my confidence severely.

 

[Willow Flats]

Mow Annie's field while she's out grazing if you can. That should help her get used to the mower on her own time. Don't even have to mow, just drive the mower around until she's bored with it.
Motorcycles always make me tense up when I hear them coming. My guys live on a busy rode and hear alot of them during the summer, but I just can't get used to them!

Thank you Cayuse. Yesterday I trimmed some trees and had the little trailer attached to the mower and remembered your suggestion. I drove around and Annie was worried at first but then decided it was no big deal. So simple!
Then last night I saw Emma Massingale posted a video of a training session where she had 3 horses in her large arena standing and was weaving around them in her quad. Well, one was standing on a platform, one standing ground tied and one lying down not budging an inch as she flew around!

 

[Cayuse]

I'm on the fence about driving this year because of the pandemic. I live in an area that has quite a few cases because of our proximity to Boston which has been hit very hard. I don't want to do anything risky that might cause a trip to the hospital. A part of me thinks I'm being paranoid but the sensible side seems to be over ruling. So I don't know what I'll do. I have been ground driving Peanut frequently because he loves it and doing agility things with both. I may just take the summer and ground drive both he and Cappy. I could take the opportunity to re start Cappy.
Life is very different.

 

[MajorClementine]

Do whatever makes you feel safe and happy. I am staying home since I have a newborn even though my area isn't hit very hard and we are "yellow" now. That means gatherings of up to 50 and in restaurant dining. I feel better just keeping my family here where I know they are safe. Well...barring any broken arms from the trampoline I suppose. But I know what you mean about wanting to stay out of the hospital. No one wants an ER trip on a good day, but now with the pandemic.... no thanks!

Nothing wrong with a year of ground driving. You'll have an awesome driver. I think it's easier to fine tune things with ground driving. You could get creative and set up poles and things for him to work over and around. Your creative and resourceful and I can't wait to see what you come up with.

I'm looking at a lot of ground driving this year too. I feel safe putting my son in his carrier and ground driving the horses that way but I don't feel safe strapping him to me in a cart. Too much can go wrong too quickly. At least with ground driving I can always drop the lines if things get too ugly. That's also why I set up my round pen. A controlled environment seems best right now.

 

[Cayuse]

Thanks MajorClem, I needed a pep talk. It's just so weird right now and uncertain, too. We can only have gatherings of 10 or less and everything non essential has been shut for two months. The state started a "partial reopening" last week but that may or may not last depending on the numbers.
I ground drove Cappy today, he was a good boy and remembered all his lessons from last year. No foolishness.

 

[Marsha Cassada]

I drove Dapper Dan today and ponied Midnight. Total miles on the sulky since I got the Cat's Eye is 87 miles. (No mileage count on the cart)
I haven't driven Midnight lately, but she's been working. Walking with me and going with the golf cart. She is side passing pretty well now; not perfectly, but she is getting the idea. We are working on giving to pressure, figuring out what her hind end is supposed to be doing, "stand", and learning the word "lift" for her feet. The farrier always says this, but my horses have no idea what he's talking about! So I thought I would try to teach it, to make things easier for him.
Last Sunday I allowed an inexperienced young woman to drive Dapper Dan. I swore I would never do that again, but she was so thrilled and seemed so confident, so I let her. She was confident, all right, but had no idea what she was doing. Poor Dapper Dan headed down the road and she had no control. Finally the girl's mom and I got in the Gator and went to rescue her. Dapper Dan was very upset. I tried to show her about giving the correct signals with the reins; I didn't want to discourage her from owning a little horse. We got him headed back and I walked with her part of the way till I could see she was doing all right.
When I got back in the cart to drive home, he was so excited/distraught he took off running away from them! I hope this has--finally-- taught me a lesson. He is so good, it makes me take advantage of him.

 

[Willow Flats]

I drove Dapper Dan today and ponied Midnight. Total miles on the sulky since I got the Cat's Eye is 87 miles. (No mileage count on the cart)
I haven't driven Midnight lately, but she's been working. Walking with me and going with the golf cart. She is side passing pretty well now; not perfectly, but she is getting the idea. We are working on giving to pressure, figuring out what her hind end is supposed to be doing, "stand", and learning the word "lift" for her feet. The farrier always says this, but my horses have no idea what he's talking about! So I thought I would try to teach it, to make things easier for him.
Last Sunday I allowed an inexperienced young woman to drive Dapper Dan. I swore I would never do that again, but she was so thrilled and seemed so confident, so I let her. She was confident, all right, but had no idea what she was doing. Poor Dapper Dan headed down the road and she had no control. Finally the girl's mom and I got in the Gator and went to rescue her. Dapper Dan was very upset. I tried to show her about giving the correct signals with the reins; I didn't want to discourage her from owning a little horse. We got him headed back and I walked with her part of the way till I could see she was doing all right.
When I got back in the cart to drive home, he was so excited/distraught he took off running away from them! I hope this has--finally-- taught me a lesson. He is so good, it makes me take advantage of him.

Glad it all worked out! You might have noticed I have not had the percheron girl driving my horse. (didn't want to say things on-line) I learned I have to be careful who I let drive my horses too.

 

[Minidreamz0581]

I had an amazing 40 minute ground drive with Coady today. He’s naturally very high strung, and since the accident last year all of that nervous energy has turned my confident, happy boy into a spook monster. I’ve done a lot of desensitizing work with him but he’s still been spooky. He doesn’t spook at as much after the desensitizing work, but he is still nervous and when he spooks it’s big. He had several signs of a magnesium deficiency, so I’ve had him on Quiessence for months with little to no results. Then a saw that some folks were talking about MagRestore on here and decided to give it a try. I’ve only had him on it for a few days and I’m already seeing a difference! I think that today’s success was partially because of all of the work that I’ve done with him and partially because of his new supplement. I was thrilled almost to tears at my boy today. He was my Coady again; my confident, happy boy who loves his job. He was still as enthusiastic let’s say as he always was, but he relaxed and enjoyed his walk like he used to. He gave a few scary objects the stink eye, but no big spooking issues. I’m overjoyed and hopeful that I’ll be able to actually hitch and drive my boy like I used to. His breathing is a little more controlled on SmartBreathe and I plan on taking him to a very good vet that’s about an hour from here once this corona madness (hopefully) calms down a bit to see if there’s anything else that I can do to help his breathing. Hopefully my precious boy and I will be a driving team again before we know it!

Cayuse—I wouldn’t blame you at all if you decide to just ground drive this year! You do what you and your little dudes are comfortable with. I’ve looked into horse agility and I’d love to try it with my two someday!

Marsha—I’m glad that DD is ok after all that. I think that people think that driving is easy, but there’s a touch and a finesse to it. Glad everything worked out ok without any accidents!


Here’s me and my boy today...ignore me and just look at Coady lol. Messy quarantine hair!

 

[Cayuse]

Nice picture of you and Coady. Your hair looks pretty good to me!
It's nice to hear that he is settling down. I bet alot of it is from all your hard work with him. A reactive horse can be so difficult to deal with sometimes. On one hand, they are usually very responsive to give you what you want but oh boy, on the other hand they can be their own worst enemy. Cappy is reactive and he gets MagRestore. It helps along with consistant work. I never really believed in the magnesium hype until I tried it and saw the benefits in my guys. I give it to Peanut too, for his muscle tension.
Does Coady have allergies or is it a mechanical (for lack of better terms) thing with his trachea?

 

[Marsha Cassada]

I was interested in the discussion about magnesium. My horses get oat groats, which are high in magnesium, and also a little alfalfa, which is high in calcium. Calcium needs magnesium to be utilized. Without a professional evaluation, it would be difficult to assess whether the combo I use is correct for maximum nutrition, however. The groats can be measured precisely, but alfalfa is so unpredictable. Even weighed, some is more stemmy/leafy. Is the calcium in the whole plant or only in the leaves?
An article I read about spring grass mentioned that magnesium is less then as the grass is growing so quickly. So complicated!
Need to also check my supplement to see what the trace minerals are.

 

[MajorClementine]

I have been reading up on magnesium as well. I thought it was interesting that calcium needs magnesium but magnesium doesn't need calcium. I've had Clementine and Blue on it just over a week. Did the "loading dose" the first week and now just once a day. I haven't worked with Blue yet but I have to say that Clementine is not as sensitive as she usually is. For the last year and a half she's laid her ears back, kicked, or swung her head at me (bit me once) if I touched her flank area. She used to love being groomed but has barely tolerated it lately. I clipped her yesterday and she stood quiet the whole time. And you'd better believe I was keeping a close eye on her. Getting bit once was all I needed to not trust her. I'm getting some footing in my round pen this week so I'll see how she moves. She's usually tight on her right side so we'll see if that is working out too or if the attitude change is just a fluke.

Candace is my go-to horse for inexperienced drivers. Poor thing would put up with just about anything I think. I have a neighbor who really wants to buy her (he has a little guy that matches her and they go great guns as a team) but, even though I need to thin the herd, she's my steady Eddie.... I use her to train my green horses to drive in a team hitch and she's the only one I feel comfortable driving while ponying another horse with us. She's also one of my only registered horses that I can show in AMHA/R shows.

 

[Cayuse]

You don't want to sell Candace, she's a gem.
I have been thinking for about a year now of getting a new mini or pony to drive, almost bought one last summer, but with all the uncertainty lately I keep talking myself out of it. I still wish I had one I could drive by myself so I don't have to rely on Dan for help hitching.

I went ahead and drove Peanut yesterday. I stayed in the small enclosed area. For now I think I might continue with that, it seems like a good compromise and Peanut is sensible. Cappy will wait until times are better.

 

[Marsha Cassada]

120 minutes for Midnight today. I took her to town and drove with my sister today. We went through the neighborhood and to the city park. There is a walking trail around the dam, and we went on that. She didn't like the Canada geese, but was sensible. A couple of noisy trailers went by and she was startled, but didn't lose her mind. At the end, I was pretty warm and thirsty so we went through the drive-up of a local hamburger joint for a cold drink. Midnight liked being fed crushed ice.
Also went to the elevator and had her weighed on the public scale. A year ago she was 260. This time she was 280. Not good.
My sister's little horse had to go to the vet this morning. She had a 2" splinter in her neck. Likely from rubbing on the fence boards. Vet removed it without a problem. It wasn't where the breast collar lays, so she was fine to drive. I did not take my phone, so no photos.
So, that's our horsey drive news.

 

[Cayuse]

Sounds like a nice day Marsha! Midnight has come such a long way with you.
Where do you go to weigh her, is it a feed dealer? Do they weigh a lot of animals and do you weigh her hitched and subtract the weight of the cart and harness or do you unhitch her?
We have no place to weight them locally here.

 

[Marsha Cassada]

The scale is at the grain elevator where wheat trucks are weighed. the trucks drive onto the scale. I led Midnight onto the scale bare, not hitched. I don't think it is totally accurate for light things; the weight can be off 10% either way. I thought of weighing my cart separately, but that was after I had already reloaded it into the trailer. There used to be a public scale by the cotton gin, but that is closed now and no one mans the scale. I should ask my vet to let me take her into his office and use the pet scale