Driving Lesson #1

I have a little miniature horse named Fike's Angel Fire. Sweet little guy, I call him Ike. I have had Ike for several years now and he is a great little man, but I have not been using him much. I drove him bit when I first got him, but he has sat for a few years now. Well as after getting so frustrated with my big horses I thought I would start driving the him again. Except I was never really taught how to drive properly, it is not just like riding only you sit behind.

When you drive you don' t have your seat or your legs, two of the main aides you use when riding. It requires more more reliance on voice, rein , and a whip. Also when driving your horse really needs to be well behaved. As my trainer said today, "Riding a horse you can kill yourself, when driving you can take out 10 other people as well." Making the point that if a horse is loose with a cart behind him, he is dangerous to anyone in the area.

Our first lessons will be on how to get Ike ready to drive, then we will move on to actually driving. I am not using Ike for the lessons but will work on these skills until my next lesson. Today I got to work with Bill. If you look on R&S Rolling Ranch site under the For Sale area you will see Bill. Go look, I'll wait. . . .

Isn't he cute? ( my trainer really hates "cute" )

It was really a trip though, I can't say I learned a lot of new information. I learned about Roger and how he likes things done and why. Which is just as important. I know a lot of these skills, but how they are applied to driving is a new thing. For example, he was explaning the importance of the outside rein. Well that is one of the staples of dressage. . . "inside leg to outside rein". So it is more connecting dots and apply old skills in a new way.

I'll let you know more as I move along.