First Driving Lesson

[Ryderd65]

Sierra and I had the greatest time yesterday. We had our first driving lesson! We drove for about an hour and a half during beautiful weather. The ponies name is Rickey and he has been driving since he was a yearling. He's now 21 years old and has loads of spunk.

He went all out to give us a fun ride- here's a pic-



We'll have another lesson in a week or so and one of our Corgis will ride along.

[WashingtonBay]

Ah - so it was you having the lesson in driving, not the pony! It looks like a lot of fun. I've done a little bit of driving when I was showing, with my trainer's cart. Would like to again sometime, wish I lived somewhere with quiet roads I could get out on.

[vicklynn]

Oh how cute. I also thought it was the pony. Glad your doing great. When I win the lotto, both horses and myself are getting the full blown out class. I want a winter sled, and a cart. Im not asking for to much??am I;):innocent:

[Cat]

Looks like fun! I may have to get into driving someday - especially with 2 haflingers and a donkey - seems I have critters that are begging to be driven.

[jeezitsjacki]

that looks like a lot of fun. ive never tried driving. but something tells me I dont think ben would be into it..

[Dakota Sunrise]

Awe, the pony is so cute! Looks like fun.:)

Years ago when my dad was still a logger, he worked with a really nice old guy who skidded logs with horses. In the winter time he invited us out for a sleigh ride pulled by his draft horses. I got to steer.. and promptly drove into the ditch.:rolleyes: :p:innocent:

[IrisGreen]

Ohh that is neat!! So, you are taking driving lessons from a trainer on one of there horses? Are you wanting to train one of your horses to drive? Or just wanting to learn how to drive for the experience?

Driving is so much fun but it does take practice and getting to know the horse you are driving and there little quarks. You really have to pay attention because you cant feel what they are doing like you can when you are riding them. They can start side stepping away from something on the side of the road and before you know it they are in the other lane if you are not paying close attention to them.

It's really fun if you are just driving for pleasure and not on a busy road or neighborhood. Parades, fairs and weddings can get really stressful and you have to focus on every little thing the horse does to make sure they stay on the path and calm.

I can't wait to get Muffin driving on the roads. We have lot's more training to do before then but I am looking forward to nice neighborhood drives :)

[Stellaluna]

Good for you! Driving is so much fun. As a kid we had an arab that my brother and I trained to drive. My parents just lost him last year. Now my dad has a new driving horse he got from the Amish while she was in foal and we bought her filly (Luna) who I plan to use for driving (and riding).

[Ryderd65]

The pony belongs to our barn owner, along with everything else. She took us driving to see if Sierra would be interested in learning to do it. Sierra is even more excited today about it then she was yesterday :) Nice thing is, we can just pay for the lessons and won't have to buy any equipment other than gloves.

I hadn't planned on teaching Sarge to drive, but he may already be trained. He's the only horse (besides the driving ponies) that didn't freak out when the wagon went rolling past his pen :rolleyes:

VickyLynn, we talked about how nice it would be to have a sleigh and go all Currier-and-Ives for the holidays. But we don't get much snow here in Phoenix ;) (why does this smilie look like its been poked in the eye?). When you get your sleigh though, I definitely want to see pics

Iris- I just wanted the experience. I'll likely drive again, but I don't see myself committing to it right now. Rather just support the munchkin doing it.

[Ryderd65]

Oh Dakota, don't feel bad. I managed to jackknife the cart yesterday and my barn owner fell out.:o Luckily no one was hurt, we just ended up laughing.

[Gypsy Rose]

I've driven a few times before, always under supervision, of course! It's not as easy as it looks, especially if you're driving a draft team through the fairgrounds!

That was neat that day- I got to drive the horses, and help get hay off the field the old fashioned way.

It's really a work of concentration to make sure a team of horses is going straight down a row- even as well trained as these were. I had the advantage of driving a single horse and buggy a time or two before that, or it would have been even harder, lol!

Sure was fun, though!

Glad you had a great time, and are looking forward to more.

[IrisGreen]

Yeah, Driving a horse is not so easy. I tell people I am training Muffin to drive and they think it's no big deal. Non-horse people think it's easy to drive a horse. I guess they think it's like driving a car and the horse will stay straight tell you pull to turn? yeah, right! It's more like driving a car that's out of alignment and keeps wanting to veer off the road or suddenly swerves due to a bush blowing in the wind. lol It's nothing like driving a car!

I'm glad no one got hurt when you jack knifed the cart. Some carts can be easy to jack knife depending on how the front end is built. Some are built so you have to make a wide slow turn because the wheels only turn so far and don't go under the cart (like a cars front end). But, some are built so the front axle is attached to the cart on a swivel point so the axle can spin 360 under the front end of the cart.

Each font end design is suited for it's intended use. Some carts or carriages need to be able to make tight turns to get out of court yards and are light enough to not have to worry when the wheels get sideways under the cart for a moment. Others are too heavy and will get off balance if the front end was allowed to turn completely under the cart and need the wheels to stay on the sides to keep the load even on all 4 wheels.

The cart you are driving has the front end on a swivel (from what I can see) so it can turn sharp but the only problem is the design of the cart and how the frame is built. The bar that goes from the front axle to the back axle is blocking the wheels from being able to turn all the way under the cart.

So, I bet you went to turn and as you did the wheels went under the cart as they should but got stopped by that bar and couldn't go any further under the cart and the pony kept pulling to the side making the cart jack knife on it's self. So just be aware the wheels can only swivel under the cart so far before they hit that bar and make the cart want to flip over. Normally the wheels shouldn't hit anything under the cart when designed on a swivel like that. But that framing bar under there is hindering the turning radius and would even act as a brake when the tire got pushed in to it making it even more prone to tipping over. So, it might not have been your fault, just a design flaw with the cart. Just be aware of it so you don't turn to sharp and end up doing it again.


Edit:

An Idea for an Easy Fix: If the cart is set up as I think it is and this is what caused it to jack knife on you.

Have the owner mount a bracket/stopper on both sides under the cart to stop the axle just before the tire hits that frame bar. This will allow the tire to keep rolling free and fallow the horse around instead of locking up when it gets pushed against the frame bar causing the cart to want to flip. It's a low wide cart so it shouldn't want to flip unless that wheel gets jammed against that frame bar and can't roll out of the turn.

[CircleR]

Wow how fun!!
That's really neat Ryder!! I would love to learn how to drive.
One of the customers that come into our repair shop is trying to get me to take their 2 white driving mules Jack and jill. They would sell me the cart and harness cheap. But I am having a hard time convincing my husband that we need 2 more mouths to feed.:)

[Country Girl 43]

Aww how fun Ryder....When I first saw this I THOUGHT you finally got a mini....LOL
Glad you had fun.

I had a pony cart when I was a kid. We trained one of our ponies to pull it, but she spooked one day and sent my friend and I plus the cart into the electric fence. Needless to say I haven't attempted any driving since then and don't plan on doing it any time soon....LOL