Saturday, June 13, 2009

"the" driving clinic.

Trying to cram all that we did today into one little blog posting is going to be difficult at best....so I will begin by telling you that my camera took 186 pictures today... hopefully I pulled out some of the "more interesting ones" to share with all of you. It was a picture perfect day... we began with everyone taking a little time to get to know each other over coffee and donuts, and Butch telling us about his training methods and basic manners of the driving horse.
Next he "borrowed" Alice, Deb's mini mare to show some round penning exercises and talk about ground manners. For as he explained, it doesn't matter if you drive a 200 pound mini or a 2200 pound Belgian, your horse has to know who is the "boss" and who he can trust if things should go wrong.
He also explained how to "spook proof" your horse with all sorts of funny items... like this blue tarp for example. Horses are "flight" animals, which means... when frighten or threaten, their first instinct is to run from danger. Course, if they are in a cart... the last thing you need is a horse that will run if he is scared. It is unlikely that you can ever totally teach a horse never to be afraid, but you can work with a horse to teach it to be more tolerant of strange things, and to trust the person that is at end of the rein.
He also worked with Tonka, showing the "obedience" and softness of a horse... like dropping his head when you need to.... aside from the horse showing "respect".. a horse that will lower his head, makes it much easier to put a bridle on him... if Tonka raises his head as high as he can.. I can't reach the top of his head!!!!

This was a real "hands on" clinic... the students had the opportunity to work all the horses that they felt comfortable handling. This is one of Becky and Butch's big Belgians.... looking at the size of this boy.. you can see why things like... "stay out of my space", "lower your head", "stand quietly".. are some real important "rules" for a horse to know. This all begins with ground work and manners!!!




the students had a grand time working with all the horses....which included the two big Belgians, two minis and our Tonka....the morning flew by, and after we took a lunch break, it was onto harnessing....









And ground driving!!! This part was really fun, and some of the students found themselves driving horses that they never thought they would be able to handle!!!!










here I am with Tonka... but he was driven by a number of different people!!! good for him and good for them!!!











Butch had great fun driving Alice... quite a difference from what he is used to being behind!!!












And here is our Mocha, out for a little drive with Becky and Belinda.....it doesn't matter the size... driving is driving... all the same rules apply....











this is Rick... he was comfortable handling the team (Rick has horse experience)... He had a wonderful time handling the two big boys together....











Sadly, my camera battery "died" before I got to take some pictures of CARTS!!! after all the ground driving, we got Tonka into his cart and Mocha into her's.... and the students got to do some driving in the carts and not just from the ground....

but, that is where the clinic will pick up tomorrow, and my battery in in the charger..so with any luck.. there will be cart pictures tomorrow. The thing about a clinic is you are trying to get so much into one short weekend... this is only the beginning of real driving work. But the good thing is, it gives folks a "taste" of driving, and the opportunity to see if they wish to pursue it for themselves...

As Rick so brilliantly said this evening... driving horses is a dying art... the days of the horse and carriage are long gone, so it's wonderful to have Becky and Butch who are so willing to share their knowledge and to see so many great people who are interested in keeping this wonderful "hobby" alive....