Part II of Jeri Miller's story of making of a champion through patience, hard work and consistency. Thanks Jeri, for allowing Hunt Seat Horses.com to print the story of your training of Phantom to become a World Champion Driving Horse!
Part II begins with the transition to full driving harness ...
We then progressed to outfitting Phantom in the full driving harness: breastcollar, saddle, backstrap, breeching and crupper.
Once again, we went back to the first step; we did a lot of simple hand walking around to accustom him to the weight and feel of this new apparatus, and then longed him lightly at a walk and trot to let him feel the harness moving on his body. We then line drove him at the walk to get him used to the feel of the crupper and breeching, as well as the breast collar.
We then added the driving bridle with blinders, and first hand walked Phantom until he was accustomed to the feeling of not being able to see as freely as usual. We did this when he was alone in the arena first, and then worked when there was lots of commotion going on so he would become used to all of the activity and noise, even though he was not able to see it. Once again, we emphasized WHOA and STAND in all of these sessions.
After Phantom was comfortable with all of the preceding steps, we harnessed up with all pieces of the driving harness, and line drove. The above photograph shows Phantom in perhaps his fourth or fifth line driving session. Once again, we started small, perhaps five minutes at a time, when the arena was quiet, and gradually added more time and drove when there was a lot of activity in the ring.
At the end of his yearling year, we were taking the harness to shows and when we were done with Halter and Showmanship, we would harness him up, and do a little long-lining or line driving, and then tie him to the trailer for a short time with the bridle off and the remainder of the harness still on (NOTE - do keep an eye on any horse tied to a trailer with harness - especially a youngster...there are many loops and straps to get caught!!)
As Phantom turned two, we began to lightly ride him as well, and found that the drivng foundation was a great help! I had a horse that could actually steer and had a headset that was consistent - thanks to all of the line driving and long lining!!
Another important part of a future driving horse's education is that he must learn to pull CORRECTLY. Some horses do not like to pull with their shoulders, preferring to use their head and necks. This is not only incorrect but does not present a pretty picture in the show ring. After line driving in full harness, we attached the traces to the breast collar. A helper then led Phantom while I put weight on the traces to simulate the carriage's future weight.
Photo of baler twine attached to trace slots and illustration of how to hold to teach horse to pull
The system I have used is to loop bailer twine in the slots of the traces to lengthen them, as shown above. Then, while the helper leads you can put weight in the breast collar by pulling on your "extensions". He responded like a trooper, pushing his shoulder into the breast collar and pulling. I then increased my pull, and so did he, and then see-sawed the traces from side to side on his hindquarters (simulating turns in the carriage) - no problem!
The next step was to begin to familiarize him with the cart - luckily, he had seen my older gelding pulling the cart around since he arrived, so he was not afraid of the cart and its movement. Without jeoparidizing my cart (!) I wished to get him used to the only part of the cart he hadn't really "felt" - the shafts. Using a homemade shaft trainer (three pieces of PVC pipe joined with elbow joints in a "U" shape), I first let Phantom sniff the apparatus, then laid it on the ground and line drove around and over it. I then had a helper drag it, first in front of him so he could see where the noise was coming from, then behind him. If at any time he would have become uneasy or upset, I would have gone back a step and built up his foundation. We then introduced the shafts into the tugs of the harness.
In the above picture you can see how this works - adding a little pressure to the horse's sides to accustom him to the feel, while still being light enough to not scare him at this early stage
Once Phantom became accustomed to this, we allowed the shafts to drop on the ground and line drove him, so he became used to the feel of the shafts moving as they are dragging on the ground. They also do make a little bit of noise, so he became accustomed to hearing something behind him; however, he was not scared because he had heard and seen them previously.
The shafts can also be wrapped up in the breeching straps to keep them off of the ground if you desire; we have done training both ways...
Over the course of Phantom's two year-old year, we worked on reinforcing our line driving, adding the trot and doing lots of "whoas" and stands. We began driving outside as well as inside, which he handled well, and without stress or excitement, even at a busier barn with horses and riders jumping fences around him.
In the early fall, we did more frequent work on teaching Phantom how to pull by once again adding weight to the traces.
Photo showing breeching strap buckled to tug loop
We then attached the breeching to the tug loops to simulate the tightness of the breeching when hitched to the carriage, and went through our ground driving sequence. We also practiced lifting the actual carriage shafts over him and moving them on his sides to let him feel their presence.
So as you see, we have spent over two years with our young horse, making him confident and consistent both in long lines and line driving, he is wearing the full driving harness comfortably and he has learned what pulling is like and what the shafts feel like. Many people would think this was a long time, but as Phantom was a youngster we took advantage of the time to build a strong foundation.
NEXT TIME: Part III: Hitching and Driving!
BIO: Jeri Miller has been involved with horses for over 35 years, starting with a grade Pinto gymkhana horse in western Pennsylvania as a teen and progressing to training her Paint/Pinto driving horses to APHA Honor Roll titles and PtHA World Championships. She also shows in-hand and under saddle, both English and Western, in local open shows and Paint and Pinto shows in the central Pennsylvania area. Her website is "Driving In Color".
Jeri Miller and Phantom
