After reading the first two articles in the “Introduction to Carriage Driving” series about selecting and fitting a harness and choosing a carriage (refer to the March and May 2009 issues of Equine Journal), you’ll now learn how to evaluate the suitability of a horse or pony as a driving prospect and finally, the fun part, how to start teaching him to drive.

Selecting a Carriage Driving Prospect

Good, safe driving equines come in all shapes and sizes. While some breeds have a long history of performing between the shafts, like the Morgan, Hackney and Standardbred, that doesn’t mean other breeds can’t excel as a driving horse too. In fact, as long as the animal is suitable for the job you have in mind, the breed or appearance of the horse is simply a matter of personal preference.

“I think one of the reasons people are drawn to driving is because it doesn’t really matter what breed of horse or pony you have,” says Muffy Seaton, internationally-recognized clinician, judge and host of several educational driving DVD’s, including Harnessing and Hitching 101. “Even though I’m partial to ponies and have a barn full of miniature horses, I think that someone can find a perfectly safe and capable driving prospect in any breed.”

Most importantly, especially for beginners, the horse must have a calm, sensible attitude, should be patient and willing to stand quietly for long periods of time, and must be confident enough to venture down the road by himself without wanting to turn back to the barn. Horses that kick, freeze, balk or bolt are not safe driving prospects and should be avoided.

“A good temperament is the most important trait in a driving horse,” says Seaton. “The horse must have an open mind, a willing attitude, and be innately trusting. If they have too many issues from the past and won’t let you into their mind, it can be very difficult, if impossible, to teach them.”

If you’re like most people, you probably want to drive the horse you already own. This is just fine if the horse has the mental muster to do the job safely. Next, think about the type of driving you want to do and honestly evaluate if your horse has what it takes. If you only plan to drive recreationally, then it doesn’t matter how the horse looks or moves, as long as he is capable of doing the job you ask. It’s important to make sure the horse or pony is physically capable of doing what you want. While Miniature Horses have proven themselves to be tough and quite capable in the cart, they are not a suitable choice if you want to carry passengers who are bigger than toddlers, unless perhaps you plan to drive a four-in-hand of Minis. However, they can be an excellent choice for beginners because their willing nature and small size rarely intimidates even the most timid of drivers.

If you hope to compete some day, the horse should also have a pleasant, even trot; sound, clean legs; sturdy, healthy hooves; and if driving in the breed ring, be a reasonable example of the breed standard. Traditionally, driving horses are expected to trot but gaited horses, such as Tennessee Walkers and Paso Finos, can also be excellent driving prospects for recreational use or breed-specific shows.

If your competition dreams include entering Combined Driving Events (CDE), you’ll need a horse that has enough ability to perform a good dressage test, be brave enough to move through the hazards without getting spooked, and be tractable enough to follow your lead in a tight cones course. Visit a CDE in your area and you’ll be amazed at the wide variety of horses and ponies that successfully compete in these challenging events.

For beginning drivers, the ideal choice is to find a seasoned carriage driving horse that can help you safely learn the ins and outs of the sport. Before purchasing a horse or pony that supposedly knows how to drive, or attempting to train a green horse, the beginner should try to find an experienced driver or driving instructor who will help them get started correctly and safely. The expression “green and green makes black and blue” can be all too true when it comes to carriage driving!

Understanding the Process of Starting a Carriage Horse

Teaching a horse to pull a carriage is no simple undertaking. It requires a deliberate plan, a lot of patience, and the horse sense to realize when things are going right and when things are headed for a wreck.

“Training a horse to drive is so much more complicated, so much more dangerous, and requires so much more trust from the horse than teaching a horse to ride,” says Seaton. “Most people will send their horse off to a trainer, or at least get regular, knowledgeable assistance when starting their riding horse, and driving should be no different.”

For some reason, many people have the mistaken idea that they can teach their equine to pull a cart in just a few days, explains Seaton. Nothing could be further from the truth.

“In my training plan, it takes a good month of ground work before the horse ever gets near a carriage,” says Seaton. “A lot of the horses I get in for retraining have been ruined by people who don’t know what they’re doing. Many times the horse just won’t ever drive again, and there’s nothing a trainer can do about it.”

Before attempting the following training plan with your horse, find a knowledgeable driver or driving instructor to help you, then start at the very beginning with your horse, by assuming that he knows absolutely nothing. Teach him to lunge in the stall or in a round pen. He must learn how to respond reliably to all cues, i.e., walk, trot, stop, stand, etc. While he’s learning these cues, he can also be getting accustomed to the basic parts of the harness. Begin by introducing an open bridle with a simple snaffle bit. Most horses will fuss with the bit for a while but will quickly accept it within a few days, especially if they are being asked to think about other things, like walking, trotting, or standing still.

Once the horse has calm acceptance of the bit, introduce the surcingle (or saddle portion of the harness) and crupper. The surcingle doesn’t need to be tightened as much as the girth for a riding saddle; a snug fit is fine. When putting the crupper around the horse’s tail, be sure that the tail hairs are not caught in the crupper as they can irritate the sensitive skin on the underside of the tail. Initially, the horse will clamp his tail and tuck his buttocks when you try to put it on, but he’ll eventually decide this is a painless procedure and will readily comply.

Lunge the horse with these basic harness parts in place. Keep the training sessions short, 15-20 minutes if possible, and always end on good note. Never move on to the next step until the horse is completely accepting of the current stage.

When the horse is bored with the basic harness parts, you can add the breeching next. The holdback straps can initially be tied to the tugs to minimize flapping until the horse gets used to this new sensation. When he’s ok with the breeching, leave the hold back straps dangling to flap at his sides while he moves around the round pen.

When he’s comfortable with all of these new additions, it’s time to add the breastcollar. To keep the traces from flopping all over, tie them in a knot and run the breeching hold back strap through the knot then buckle it back to itself. Now the horse will feel the harness on his whole body. Lunge him until he’s quietly accepting. Remember, just this seemingly basic process of adding the parts of the harness may take days for your horse to become fully accepting and bored with what you’re doing. Don’t rush it! Have patience and you’ll be rewarded with a calm, trusting horse.

Once he’s responding well to all cues and is completely comfortable in the harness, recruit someone to help you with the next steps. To begin ground driving or long lining, run the reins through the terrets. (See Photo One). You may start by walking alongside your horse, gradually move to a position directly behind him or off to one side out of kicking range. Your helper should be walking by the horse’s head to calmly direct him should he get confused about your new position behind him. Some horses may be just fine with you behind them while others may want to whirl around to look at you. This is where the helper is especially important to keep the horse moving forward. Once again, don’t move on to the next step until he’s totally accepting of this stage.

When you’re ready, open the gate and go for a walk! In the beginning, keep the header up front with a long line attached to the horse so he can help control the horse in case of an emergency. When the horse is moving confidently, have the header come back with you so that the horse is out in front by himself. This is a great accomplishment! Now you can walk the horse everywhere so he’ll be exposed to everything he may see in the cart, like bicycles, cars, baby strollers and barking dogs.

“I like doing a lot of road work while ground driving because the horse can be exposed to many things he may see in the cart, yet we’re in a safer position to handle any issues that might occur,” says Seaton.

Now is a good time to add distractions. Assemble a string of tin cans and have your helper at the horse’s head. Have another helper drag the cans first in front, then beside and finally behind the horse. Be prepared as the horse’s confidence may be rattled by the noisy cans. When he could care less about the cans, start dragging them over a variety of surfaces, such as gravel or dry leaves, so that the sound changes.

“I find that horses are more reactive to sounds than they are to pulling weight,” says Seaton. “I like to pull things that make noise instead of pulling a heavy tire, which can actually bounce around and knock you off your feet.”

Once the horse readily tolerates strange sounds, he can move on to the next step of dragging a big singletree. To do this, attach trace extenders or run a thin rope through one trace end, through the rings on the singletree and then back to the opposite trace end. In the beginning, you might choose to simply hold the end of the string until the horse has proven to accept the singletree. (See Photo Two). If he reacts too much or happens to get tangled in the traces, you can just drop the end of the string and the singletree will promptly detach itself from the traces. Start with the header in front by the horse, and then they can walk back with you when all goes well. Take the horse out for walks again with the singletree.

Up to this point, all of the work has been done using the open bridle. It’s now time to introduce the driving bridle with blinkers. Put it on in the stall or in the round pen, and work around the horse so he can get accustomed to hearing but not seeing you. Be careful leading him through narrow gates or stall doors since he can’t see the rest of his body.

When he’s fine with the blinkers, start over at step one – lunging in the round pen – and proceed through all of the steps just as you did before. It’s a whole new world with blinkers so your horse has to experience it all over again.

Now that your horse is almost rock solid, it’s time to introduce the cart. Begin by using a simple, two-wheeled training cart. (No antique vehicles please!) Let your horse sniff the cart, nibble it, or explore it however he likes (safely!). (See Photo Three). When he’s disinterested, have your helper pull the cart in front of the horse while you ground drive him. Eventually the helper can move the cart beside the horse and finally out of sight behind him. All the while, the helper should be bouncing the cart so that it makes the most commotion possible. Once again, pull it over a variety of surfaces to make different sounds.

When this goes well, bring the cart up to the horse and rub the shafts on his sides. Then have your helper walk with the cart on one side of the horse with the shaft touching his side while he moves, then repeat on the other side. When the horse is comfortable with this, it’s time to actually put him between the shafts.

At this point, it’s helpful to have your horse in an open space where he doesn’t have to turn in the cart, which may be a bit scary for him the first few times. With your helper at his head, pull the cart up to the horse (never back the horse into the cart), and just hold the shafts in the correct position (the horse is not attached to the cart) while the helper leads the horse. When this is completely uneventful, put the shafts through the tugs, tie or buckle them down, and hook the traces. Walk around again. This time, ground drive the horse with your helper at the horse’s head with a lunge line attached. When the time feels right, step into the carriage and enjoy your first drive!

If you’ve followed all of the steps patiently and deliberately, your horse will have a great foundation as a safe, trustworthy driving horse that understands and enjoys what he’s doing!

For more information about carriage driving, try the following sources:

American Driving Society: www.americandrivingsociety.org

Carriage Association of America: www.caaonline.org

Muffy Seaton: www.muffyseaton.com

“Harnessing & Hitching 101 with Muffy Seaton” by Drive On Productions