Your Drive Day

[Squeaks]

Always keep looking, Marsha

The last two we have found have been very lucky finds that were just a result of windowshopping. Dakota has the mind of an old soul and Pebbles loves her job. Your little driver is out there, just keep looking! It sounds like you found a lovely home for Rowdy, I imagine it'll be hard for everyone

I love that little plum, Clem! What gorgeous views too! Glad you got to enjoy a Mother's Day ride!

We planned on having a Cook-Out for my Mom so we went over early to enjoy the Mini's. It had rained almost all weekend and Sunday finally cleared up to enjoy them. I hooked up Hubby's new mare up and let him drive again. The two of them get along so well and she's a smart little rugrat. Coal was a little off and wasn't too happy about being driven. I kept it short because he seemed so off about it, technically I'm not supposed to be driving anyway. Wasn't sore or lame, he just wasn't feeling it. I think the asphalt reminds him of his less enjoyable days, his mood is entirely different on the trail.

I dug out the harness I used on Magic Man, it's not my favorite as it allows the shafts to float (for a wagon moreso than a cart) and standing is not something Coal likes to do, but after the Nokesville incident I'm doing my best to work with him every time. No wrap-straps that actually hold the shafts. He backs into cart, cart shafts lift up, he steps forward, cart comes back down. Vicious circle, so that'll be my next investment for him. Excuse his excessively dirty/dull bum, he needs a bath, but it's darn near impossible to keep him clean lol.

Geared Dakota up and worked on our ground driving. He's doing so well, but I am looking forward to gelding him, the boy burns through calories like no one's business and gelding will be so beneficial on many levels. I hooked up to the cart (solo) and he did amazingly well. He is learning to walk out without me at his jaw, but has a hard time going out alone if I'm not there. So we work on starting off at his jaw and I progressively walk back to the cart and command from there. Trying to do a very large circle is confusing for him too. He yields so nicely with his body he's just flabbergasted when I try and turn him in shafts as they create conflicting pressure points. Smart boy though!

 

[Marsha Cassada]

So glad you got to drive on Sunday!

When I take children to drive in my cart they frequently want to go "yee haw!!!". Do not know where modern children are seeing this, but I do know that if I did that and the horse took off they would be scared out of their minds. Now when I see teamsters in old westerns galloping I have a much better concept of how dangerous it is and how skillful they are!

We watched the old "Ben Hur" recently and Charlton Heston was interviewed. He had to learn to drive a chariot for that movie. The man who did all the animal training and actually drove Heston's chariot in some of the stunt scenes in the race--Heston said he was the greatest athlete he had ever seen. In the scene where he was flipped over the chariot, he was supposed to be wearing a safety belt but was not, and by sheer physical ability got back into the chariot.

 

[Marsha Cassada]

Squeaks, look like your had a great Mother's Day also! Enjoyed all the photos.

We were out of town so did not play with animals all day. I even made my chickens stay penned up, as I don't like for them to free range when we will be gone from dawn to dark. Took my two boys out for a 2 mile walk this morning and the girls were glad to get out and visit their favorite bug sites.

 

[MajorClementine]

Squeaks - It makes me so happy to see your hubby behind that mare. How fun to have him enjoy driving the littles with you! My hubby (6'2") feels a little awkward driving the minis with me. However, he does enjoy hitching up our foxtrotter and driving with me. It is more fun sometimes when you have someone to drive with isn't it?

Marsha - The Yee Haw kids drove me nuts. Not because they didn't understand that Yee Haw isn't correct but because after I told the kids that the horse didn't like being chased on bicycles and yelled at they continued to do it. Oh they kept a little distance but once they discovered they got a reaction from Clementine (she spooked forward a few steps and shied to one side) they continued to try to get her to react again. Lucky for me she's a steady little thing and she didn't spook or shy again. She had them figured out after the first pass. My FIL said I should have turned the tables and chased them! Can you imagine?

My favorite thing about the drive yesterday is that I discovered that Clementine is capable of fully settling in and relaxing. We usually trot our whole drive (especially if we've got the foxtrotter following behind us). She's always pretty well behaved but as we all know, the faster you go the less brain cells they seem to have. Focusing on just walking and relaxing was the best thing we could have done. She had barely broke a sweat yesterday even though she's so fat her wither has disappeared...I kept her on the grass too long this spring. Now she's got a small neck crest to boot. Lots of work ahead of us.....

 

[Cayuse]

Glad to see everyone had a nice weekend and Mother's Day.

I worked with Cappy today. It has been awhile and he let me know it. I ground drove him and did circles and transitions to keep his mind occupied.

He has the busiest mouth. I am using a mullen mouth as he hated a plain half cheek snaffle but if any one has any other ideas on what he might find tolerable, I'd be happy to hear them. A noseband, not tight, helps.

 

[Northwolf]

Hi there

May I join your thread?

I was a silent reader for weeks (really like to read about your driving experiences and stories), but I think I can contribute some stuff too.

I just bought my first miniature horses; two stallions 7 and 9 years old. They complete our actual herd that consists of two older (35 and 30 yo) original shetland geldings and a miniature shetland stallion. All three shetland guys are driven single and/or in a team (just for fun). We live in Switzerland, so AMH are a curiosity here.

I plan to start the new horses in driving; one of them was hitched on a cart before and one is completely untrained. So there is a lot of work to do, but I'm looking forward to work with them - they are very great horses!

Greetings from the other side of the world

Northwolf

(I'm sorry about my orthographical mistakes - I'm not very familiar with the english language, but always have a try... )

 

[Marsha Cassada]

Hi there

May I join your thread?

I was a silent reader for weeks (really like to read about your driving experiences and stories), but I think I can contribute some stuff too.

I just bought my first miniature horses; two stallions 7 and 9 years old. They complete our actual herd that consists of two older (35 and 30 yo) original shetland geldings and a miniature shetland stallion. All three shetland guys are driven single and/or in a team (just for fun). We live in Switzerland, so AMH are a curiosity here.

I plan to start the new horses in driving; one of them was hitched on a cart before and one is completely untrained. So there is a lot of work to do, but I'm looking forward to work with them - they are very great horses!

Greetings from the other side of the world

Northwolf

(I'm sorry about my orthographical mistakes - I'm not very familiar with the english language, but always have a try... )

Exciting! It will be fun to see any differences in vehicles/harness/bits and terrain.

 

[Marsha Cassada]

Glad to see everyone had a nice weekend and Mother's Day.

I worked with Cappy today. It has been awhile and he let me know it. I ground drove him and did circles and transitions to keep his mind occupied.

He has the busiest mouth. I am using a mullen mouth as he hated a plain half cheek snaffle but if any one has any other ideas on what he might find tolerable, I'd be happy to hear them. A noseband, not tight, helps.

I have fabricated a flash band on a couple of mine. Ranger was still putting his tongue over the bit when he left me. I was seriously thinking of trying a bitless bridle on him.

 

[jventresca]

Cayuse, you could try a bit with a key in the mouthpiece. A French link is a common one that comes in mini sizes.



Sorry, I only have a photo of the mouthpiece.

I know Iowa Valley Carriage has them.

 

[MajorClementine]

Welcome Northwolf! Always happy to have more people on our little driving thread. Looking forward to hearing about your training with your new minis. Post a couple of pics of them so we can see the new guys

 

[Cayuse]

Glad to have you join us here, Northwolf. We require pictures . Not really, but we would love to see your minis and Shetlands. 30 and 35 is a very respectable age, have you had them all their lives?

Thanks guys for the flash and bit suggestions. Sometimes I get so close to the situation I can't "see the forest for the trees"!

I will look into both. His mouth was quieting down as we were finishing up yesterday, but he started off looking like he was chewing bubblegum (it was ugly there for a little bit). The positive part of the session was that he is much more laterally comfortable (less stiff and rigid) than he was. We still have a way to go, but not as far ☺.

And this mouth was not dry, he frothed a little for the first time once he settled down. I have always heard that is a good sign (usually).

 

[MajorClementine]

Glad to have you join us here, Northwolf. We require pictures . Not really, but we would love to see your minis and Shetlands. 30 and 35 is a very respectable age, have you had them all their lives?

Thanks guys for the flash and bit suggestions. Sometimes I get so close to the situation I can't "see the forest for the trees"!

I will look into both. His mouth was quieting down as we were finishing up yesterday, but he started off looking like he was chewing bubblegum (it was ugly there for a little bit). The positive part of the session was that he is much more laterally comfortable (less stiff and rigid) than he was. We still have a way to go, but not as far ☺.

And this mouth was not dry, he frothed a little for the first time once he settled down. I have always heard that is a good sign (usually).

I am placing an order today for a french link bit for Clementine as well as one for my riding horse. I have them both in single jointed snaffles and after reading and a few "duh" moments on my part I'm going to try the double jointed and see if they like them. I'm also going to try it on Major who does the "chewing bubblegum" thing you said your guy was doing. Let's compare notes after we try it out if you get one as well.

 

[Cayuse]

I'll probably order one next week for him. The Mullen is much better than the snaffle but we are still not there yet as far as what his preference is. Good idea to compare notes ☺.

I have not driven Peanut for a week or so. He is not quite right and the vet was out today.

she drew blood for a CBC and to test for Lyme. We are thinking Lyme as it is common here and I have had

two other ponies contract it over the years. I am very worried. But that's my nature.

 

[Northwolf]

Thanks a lot for the kind welcome

I even thought that you want to see photos, so I already prepared some. There is an album in my user profile for my miniature horse Massai http://www.miniaturehorsetalk.com/index.php/gallery/album/366-massai/ where you can see more about our activities. I will set up another albums soon for my two older shetlands (which are part of the family since 18 years, but not all their lives) and for the new guys too.

Here is a short presentation of the two minis. I bought them from a woman who became mother some years ago and did not have any time for the minis. They're both completely untrained at the moment, so we have to start at the very beginning....

"Teddy", born 2008 in the US (sired by Lucky Four Black Velvet Supreme), 31", pulled a cart from time to time at the previous owner

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7LdELV7wSI9SThHZVZnaHpueWc/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7LdELV7wSI9M213clN5VGVjalE/view?usp=sharing

I drove Teddy in the team with Massai already three times and he did very well. But he isn't familiar with the bit and he has to get in shape before we can start with longer drives.

"Moony", born 2010, ~34"

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7LdELV7wSI9MzZBZjBzV19PLTg/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7LdELV7wSI9cGRadE45Z3dlXzQ/view?usp=sharing

He is a real youngster

He knowns lunging and was token for walks/jogging tours with his previous owner, but that's it... Actually, I work him to calm him down (he's kind of "squirrely") and lunging the correct way. And take him with me for running and walking too. He will learn carry the harness soon, but I don't want to rush with him, but I believe he's like a rough diamond and very talented. He has really nice movement - I didn't see something like that on a mini (ok, sure, I did not see many minis in my life )!

 

[jventresca]

Northwolf, you have cute boys! Your Massai reminds me of my very first mini, Chappie. He'll celebrate his 25th birthday this year. I love your photos of your trip down through the mountains to Italy. How many days did it take you?

My Chappie (What Knott's Prince Charming, 31" AMHA & AMHR)

 

[Marsha Cassada]

Gorgeous photos! There is some idiot on the internet that is telling folks nothing can be done with miniature horses. You are certainly proof that horses and ponies can do lots of things.

 

[PintoPalLover]

Some really neat pictures Northwolf

Thank you for sharing them !

 

[Cayuse]

Thanks for the pictures Northwolf, I enjoyed seeing your handsome minis.

 

[Northwolf]

Thanks a lot!

@jventresca: oh, your Chappie is very cute and in a respectable age too! Do you still drive him or is he retired?

It tooks about 6 days for the 200-km trail to Italy. Mostly alpine mountain terrain and some of the passed mountains had an altitude of over 2500 metres. We almost lost one of the (big) horses fell down a rock wall and some of the (big) horses had problems with their condition. But not my pony, he was in a very good condition and the only problems we had were small injuries caused by his removeable boots. He was by far the smallest horse in our group!

With a mini, it's never boring because there is a lot more you can do with him compared to a riding horse and every year, we discover new activities and we're not a the end at all... for this year, I plan to hitch them to a tandem and maybe to a troika, run a half-marathon with one or two minis, doing some horse agility workshops and learn some more dressage lessons, ... and a lot more *lol* But I suspect that we are not able to do ALL of the possibilities, because there is not enough time. We give our best!

 

[MajorClementine]

Trying to find a balance working both my riding horses and driving horses it tricky. I am happy to say I've been out riding twice in the last two weeks on some beautiful mountain rides. Sadly I neglected my driving my using my spare time riding. However, I did lunge the little beggers in the round pen a bit to help get rid of some fat