Your Drive Day

[Marsha Cassada]

You could try the tug loops one higher and see how the seat of the cart looks. It looks level to me right now...

Nice looking horse she's got there. Glad he did well for her. New driving horses are fun!

As for your wooly Rowdy, I'm driving what looks like a tiny ugly yak right now. If you weren't clear across the country we could drive together and you'd think your guy was the most sleek and handsome animal on the planet. I was looking at pics of Clem after she came back from training and being worked every day for a month. She was sleek, slim, and beautiful. Totally different beastie from what she looks like now. Maybe I'll put a trunk and tusks on her and enter her as a baby wooly mammoth for the Halloween Costume contest..... actually.... that's not a bad idea.... I'll post pics!!!

Ha! Ha! Looking forward to seeing the miniature wooly mammoth.

In the driving photo, Fred is going slightly uphill, so the shafts look pretty level. Standing on level ground, I thought they needed to go up one hole. Better to tilt a hair uphill, IMO.

 

[Cayuse]

I am happy for your sister! He looks like a lovely driving mini and I wish her many years of fun with Fred!

 

[Strangeaddiction]

You should really contact the company who made the harness...if I get something custom made, it better fit custom made.....no excuses for it not fitting. Even if you just order a harness online not custom made, you usually can return it if it doesn't fit.

 

[Cayuse]

I have contacted them three times and have heard nothing. Well, just that they wanted pictures, which I did send and that's it. And in that one email requesting the pictures she did say she would send the holdbacks which she forgot to include. I do believe it is the harness makers fault and not the way I measured it but I ordered it through someone, not directly from the maker himself and I have no idea who he is. I get the feeling this is going to turn into a real battle and if it does I'll just sell the darn thing.

My other option is to buy another bridle, but it won't match and the entire point of this was to get a harness that matches as mine right now is peiced together. Chimacum Tack has one that would be the closest match.

I'm glad I can vent here, I feel less grumpy now!

 

[MajorClementine]

If you ordered through a middle man they also need to be the middle man in helping you get the custom fit you ordered. It may take a little bit of a battle but as stated above, if you order a custom harness it needs to fit like a custom harness.

I am jealous of anyone getting out to drive right now. Our weather has turned really nasty and cold and I'm a wimp. I grew up in the desert so these cold mountain temps keep me locked inside with a book and a cup of tea. I have decided, however, to keep a log book of my hours and miles. I was inspired by my husbands flight hours log book. I want to put down date, time driving, distance, type of drive (trail, cones, etc), and which vehicle. I think it will motivate me to drive more so I can add another entry to my driving log. I'm a visual person and love lists

 

[jeanniecogan]

Majorclementine, we were trying to start a group, if you look at "ADS hours to Drive".. are you interested?

 

[Marsha Cassada]

If you ordered through a middle man they also need to be the middle man in helping you get the custom fit you ordered. It may take a little bit of a battle but as stated above, if you order a custom harness it needs to fit like a custom harness.

I am jealous of anyone getting out to drive right now. Our weather has turned really nasty and cold and I'm a wimp. I grew up in the desert so these cold mountain temps keep me locked inside with a book and a cup of tea. I have decided, however, to keep a log book of my hours and miles. I was inspired by my husbands flight hours log book. I want to put down date, time driving, distance, type of drive (trail, cones, etc), and which vehicle. I think it will motivate me to drive more so I can add another entry to my driving log. I'm a visual person and love lists

I wish I were more into journaling. I even have a calendar in my tack barn so it would be easy to write down everything. Perhaps it is the same gene that keeps me from the discipline of doing cones!

Our weather is perfect now for driving. It's also good for hiking and biking and gardening! Unfortunately the days are getting SHORTER--not enough time to do everything.

 

[Cayuse]

The days ARE so much shorter. I find myself wanting to go to bed so early! I have been lunging the minis but no driving. I'm having Cappy do trotting poles to strengthen his hindquarters and it's helping. We had a new paddock fence installed and the guys worked until sun down so I could not drive or I would be in their way. The fence is nice though and we really needed to get it done so I did not mind missing a few drives. I was going to go to a clinic at the end of the month but I've decided to wait until next year. Not fair to the boys to take them when I have not really driven in a month. Hope to get out and drive this weekend if hurricane Matthew goes out to sea.

Marsha, how is Dapper Dan's bite doing?

 

[Marsha Cassada]

The days ARE so much shorter. I find myself wanting to go to bed so early! I have been lunging the minis but no driving. I'm having Cappy do trotting poles to strengthen his hindquarters and it's helping. We had a new paddock fence installed and the guys worked until sun down so I could not drive or I would be in their way. The fence is nice though and we really needed to get it done so I did not mind missing a few drives. I was going to go to a clinic at the end of the month but I've decided to wait until next year. Not fair to the boys to take them when I have not really driven in a month. Hope to get out and drive this weekend if hurricane Matthew goes out to sea.

Marsha, how is Dapper Dan's bite doing?

The neosporin with pain relief helped a lot, I think. It reduced the itch so he stopped rubbing it. I also kept the fly sheet on him and he couldn't rub. You can still see the area but it is hairing over well. I did notice that the breast strap hook of the sulky harness laid on that area. I will need to pad it somehow if we go out again.

 

[MajorClementine]

Majorclementine, we were trying to start a group, if you look at "ADS hours to Drive".. are you interested?

I did see this thread and I'm very interested. In fact, I would volunteered to keep track of hours except I have no idea how to use a spreadsheet. I guess I could learn....

If it would ever warm up around here I could get back to driving....

 

[Cayuse]

I drove Cappy today and worked on being a little more straight, or a better way of putting it would be "a little less crooked." He's a crooked little man, but trying very hard to learn to straighten up. Going very slow still as he is out of shape. His halts are a little better, more together and less lurchy.

Still no news on the harness and no holdbacks in the mail. I am trying to do what everyone suggested (contact them and have them make it right) but they will not respond.

MajorClem, you need to get some long underwear! I do hope that you get some warmer days so that you can get back out there before winter!

 

[Marsha Cassada]

Took Rowdy out today. He passed by two fields of cows alright. Then a dog came up out of the tall grass by the road and he bolted up over the road grader edge, through a steep ditch, and into rough pasture. If I had been in the cart I would probably have been tossed out, but I was in the sulky and managed to ride it out. He is 100% calm with dogs so this is weird. BUT this morning a wild ram trotted through our yard-- from the pasture, down the driveway and out the gate onto the road. Several years ago someone released some exotic African sheep-type creatures in the area. I think this must have been one of them. He was about the size of my horses with great curled horns. We've never seen them on our side of the mountain before, though. I am wondering what all creatures are out and about in the pasture and Rowdy is naturally keeping his eye out for predators.

 

[Cayuse]

Well that sounded hair raising. Are you both OK? I bet he did think the dog was a sheep. I wonder if the wild

ram has been aggressive to your horses at all and that made him extra reactive.

Poor Rowdy.

 

[jeanniecogan]

I did see this thread and I'm very interested. In fact, I would volunteered to keep track of hours except I have no idea how to use a spreadsheet. I guess I could learn....

If it would ever warm up around here I could get back to driving....

i will revive that thread and bring it up here. we can talk about it with anyone else that is interested.

 

[MajorClementine]

Long underwear, heated gloves, mad bomber fur hat, battery powered socks.... I'll need all of that to drive once winter sets in. I'm a cold weather wimp.

Today was beautiful so the whole family went out. Hubby drove the foxtrotter and son and I drove Clementine. We did 4 miles then I got out again while my son did cones. He did tight figure eights and I was so proud of him and Clem.

4.5 miles in one hour. We are quicker when we have to keep up with the trotter

 

[Marsha Cassada]

Sounds like a perfect drive!

 

[Cayuse]

Today Cappy trotted.

 

[Marsha Cassada]

I took Rowdy to my trainer friend's today. Told her what had been going on, and I have some things to work on. First of all, we are going back to ground driving. We will ground drive the route that had the startles. A little mental exercise also for me: visualizing the cows as benign and even prey creatures. Theoretically, this will project to Rowdy my leadership about the cows. Did I explain that to make sense?? Second, my husband is going to shred a large grass area for us to work on circles. Instead of cones, I need to work him in circles until he is straight. Circle size does not matter, direction does not matter. Just getting straight in the turns. He turns his head in the turn as an evasion, so we are going to just work on being straight.

He is always so much better after she works him. I know it is her confident leadership and he responds to it. I get a little annoyed driving with her as she is always a teacher--sometimes I just want to go and enjoy myself. But today, I needed training reminders, such as going straight; I don't know why I forgot that essential lately.

She reminded me that this is rutting season and that the feral ram that came through the yard could possibly have been harassing the horses in the pasture. We discussed which was safer: horses in the corral at night, or out in the pasture where they could escape a threat if necessary. As my farrier said: whatever you do will be wrong.

 

[Marsha Cassada]

Today Cappy trotted.

What a good boy! How are you feeling??

 

[Marsha Cassada]

The wild sheep that was on our property is called an Auodad. My horses have settled down and we haven't seen the ram again. Hopefully he went back over the mountain.