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Beginning: Driven to Drive
Not long ago, I observed a person
at a schooling trial driving a pair of horses with breast
collars to a carriage with roller bolts. The official at
the event told this person that they had incorrect harness and
they were going to ruin their good horses and/or have a wreck.
The animals were in obvious discomfort, but this person wouldn't
listen to anyone. I came away from this with the
determination to make sure I didn't unknowingly make my
animals suffer from my own ignorance.
It has driven
me to research carefully before implementing anything
with my Fjord mare pair. Driving should be about you
and your horse(s) both having a good time together, safely
and comfortably. At the bottom of this page I've
listed some of my favorite resources I have found along the way. |
Photo by Wendi Ross, Blue
Ribbon Photography |
From
personal experience, I know it can be very confusing to
weed out all the good information from the not so
good regarding harness and equipment. What is just fashion nonsense and
what is necessary for safety and comfort.
Sometimes those fussy traditions are there for a valid
safety reason! There really are not any safe,
cheap, shortcuts
to driving. Failed substandard or inappropriately applied
equipment can ultimately end up as a life threatening
experience for driver and/or horses.
Learning about driving the
last several years has become a passion, and driving pair an
obsession. I still feel I have a lot to learn, but we
have a good start on this journey. Since I am asked
often what and why I use what I use, here are some of the
major items I've chosen for my Fjord girls; a kind of report
card of our turnout and journey of discovery thus far:
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The Carriage
I
knew I wanted to do pairs, and have on and off road capability, and
be able to participate in some CDE's. |
Photo by Wendi Ross, Blue
Ribbon Photography |
It also had to be
practical for every day use and training. After the
first drive, I knew I had found everything I wanted in this
vehicle, the Pacific
Carriage Omega. It's strong and
balanced, comfortable for equine and human alike, well
engineered, well sprung and QUIET. I think it's
beautiful too (especially with my Fjord girls in front!).
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Photo by Wendi Ross, Blue
Ribbon Photography |
Neck Yoke
and
Attachments
Multi-functional, the
neck yoke supports the positioning of the pair, is a
point of attachment to the pair pole for carriage
steering, and is point where the harness brakes (the
britchen) are initiated. |
I can't take credit for
this particular equipment decision, however, as
the neck yoke came with the carriage and spring mounted
pole. But I have found that this is a great set up
and I wonder why it's not used more often with marathon
vehicles.
I chucked the pole straps
and use the snap shackles hooked directly between
the neck yoke and the kidney links
on the hames. This means there isn't much hanging out in front of
the horses to get in the way of turns and obstacles. The
snap shackles slide on the kidney links so there is some lateral play
for my mare pair to both have the room to bend in turns, with little
interference from each other or the pole. And yet the neck
yoke encourages them to center themselves between their traces
and travel straight on.
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The Harness
One of my best
decisions was having Camptown make my harness.
It's wash and wear, made out of beta synthetic material with
leather lining in key areas. It looks traditional, but it's easy care all the way.
It is long wearing and strong, but soft and supple, even
in freezing conditions. |
Photo by Wendi Ross, Blue Ribbon
Photography |
The style of britchen on
this pair harness works very well with the neck yoke set
up. The quarter straps from the britchen go under the
belly to attach to the end of the martingale, just
behind the girth. From there, the martingale
goes forward between the front legs to clip onto the
neck yoke. You have an
almost immediate effective support without having to have the britchen snugged up
so tight it inhibits stride.
Photo by Wendi Ross, Blue Ribbon
Photography
One of the challenging
issues was adjusting the pair harness to get the slop
out, so only a few inches of play occurs between go and
whoa in its support system (when britchen is being used). Once the
traces become slack, the horse is then out of draft, the britchen (braking)
needs to smoothly engage from
the resulting resistance on the neck yoke.
When the horse goes back into draft again, pushing
against the collar and tightening the traces; the neck
yoke will resume it's neutral position below the collar, slackening the
martingale and thus letting go of the harness brakes
(the britchen).
From the smaller inset
pictured below shown in draft (no brakes); note the
Martingale loop is adjusted so the loop is pulled out
the back of the girth by barely snug quarter
straps that come off from the britchen. This
spring loads the martingale, so when it's needed for
braking, there is a good four inches of play before the
Martingale loop connects with the back of the
girth. This loop slack is important as it protects
the driving saddle from bearing unnecessary pressure by
being drug forward between the horses front legs by the
martingale. The key is having as little
slack as possible forward and aft of the girth without
creating tension when the martingale/britchen is not in
use.
Photo by Wendi Ross, Blue Ribbon
Photography
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Photo by Wendi Ross, Blue
Ribbon Photography |
The Driving Bridle & Driving Bits
I just love these
bridles. Look at the crown piece
behind the ear. It is curved and shaped so it
actually goes around and cups the ear structure.
There is no pressure on sensitive areas. I just
don't have head shaking problems with my Fjords. |
The driving bits I use
are Glory Bits. My first mare already had been driving
in one and doing well in it, so I got her one and
bought my second mare one as well. The bit options I chose are a loose cheek liverpool.
The mouthpieces are copper with a hybrid forward curve
that is part mullen, and part arch. This bit
seems just perfect for Fjords. They have
wide mouths, thick tongues and not a lot of room for
much else in there (food always fits though!).
They tell me they like
these bits, as I don't have to have flash nose bands to
keep their mouths tied shut on them, they listen softly
and keep bit contact. They even open their mouths
to take the bits themselves when being bridled.
Fjord approved.
Note for
pairs: It is often recommended to have a fixed cheek bits and
bit bars to avoid any pinching or hooking of equipment. I
have not had that problem so far, however.
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The Neck Collars
The joy of collars. You
either love them or you don't. I knew I wanted to
work with collars. It was part of the personal
journey I wanted to take and I knew it would be a
challenge. They are a little more expensive
to set up, but when done right, the horses do work more
efficiently, in my opinion. I found that out
after having to wait for more harness parts, I had to
use breast collars temporarily and my ponies just didn't
stride out like they do with their neck collars! |
Photo by Wendi Ross, Blue
Ribbon Photography |
I've had people tell me
that neck collars should not be used in marathon, but
with my neck yoke set up, my mares can move and bend
freely, and judging from actual sweat patterns, the neck
collars cover less body area than breast collars or euro
collars do.
They do not generate heat, are not restrictive, and I've had no bruising,
rubbing or injury from the collars.
Fit is the most
important part of neck collar usage. I ordered 20"
half sweeny buggy collars with a little wider point of draft. I found with the
Fjords, that their necks are so wide compared to their
height, that I had to sit on the brand new collars
endwise and spread them out some, to get the collar to fit down onto
their shoulder at first. I also needed wider
kidney links to accommodate the neck width and allow the
hames to seat into the collar's groves (hame bed) properly.
Once I had all those pieces of
the puzzle fitting smoothly together, everything else seem to
flow into place.
It's a very personal choice in how you want to drive. No
regrets here, I think collars are beautiful as well as efficient
for the horse.
Personal Note: Fjords don't have
much of a throatlatch, so I always unbuckle my collars when
putting them on or off. The girls don't care for the
tradition of pushing the collar on
upside down over their faces and twisting it around behind their
head, it tends to strangle them unnecessarily.
|
Photo by Wendi Ross, Blue Ribbon
Photography |
The Trace
Connection
I
followed the popular trend of using marine grade
snap shackles for easy connectivity to the carriage. |
I use the
largest size snap shackle from Carriage Driving Essentials for
the traces hooked to the single trees, and the smaller size for
the neck yoke attachments (see Neck Yoke/Attachments above). Putting too and
unhitching is then just a snap!
Single trees are a must with
breast collars to avoid friction burns and pain for the animal
as my beginning narrative exemplifies.
Roller bolts are okay with neck collars, many information
sources say; but from
this picture above, you can see my girl's neck collars are still
working the single trees completely. From my own
observation, it seems that even horses in neck collars would be much more comfortable
using single trees too.
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The Line of
Draft
Something that should be taken
into consideration, but is often lost in the many infinite details, is
the Line of draft. Horses actually PUSH against their
breast or neck collars to move the objects we attach to them.
How they are attached from this point of push to the carriage's
point of pull determines how efficiently they can work and avoid
injury. It's a similar concept for a person moving a heavily
loaded wheel barrow; one lifts the wheel barrow handles up to the correct angle
for them to
be able to push the load forward
easily, otherwise it's a struggle. Two books worth
mentioning explain this in detail, listed below in my Favorite
Resources/Books; Understanding
Harness and the Workhorse Handbook.
My own set up isn't a perfectly ideal,
ninety degree line of draft according to the books. But
it's proven to work for us
over a couple of years now. My
collars don't rock top or bottom. The sweat patterns are even, so I know pulling
pressure is being distributed evenly along the length of the
collar to the horse. There is no bruising or irritation. My horses move forward freely,
easily.
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Photo by Wendi Ross, Blue Ribbon
Photography |
I think having wider kidney links that
set the trace-eyes higher up on the neck collar, and my Fjords
have pretty good shoulder conformation for carriage work compensates from having
less than perfect draft angles. All these factors are
important to take into consideration for a cohesive working whole
between horse, harness and carriage.
|
Photo by J. Rachau |
The Horseshoes for Driving:
Plastic shoes, it
does sound very odd. But the plastic is of a
strong material, like skate board wheels and is really
quite long lasting. It's like putting
sneakers on your horses. And since traction and
concussion on pavement are a big concern for me, they
have worked wonderfully for us after miles and miles of
use. |
I've also used
these shoes in CDE's with
excellent results in mud and wet grass. I watched
metal shod horses slipping and some near falls, but my girls
didn't bobble in their funny footwear. This particular
brand is called Ground Control Horse Shoes. They nail on
just like normal metal shoes, and just trim off what you don't
need with nippers. I was grateful that my farrier was very
open minded and willing to apply them.
These plastic shoes are also very quiet on the roads and it's very
pleasant and peaceful trotting on.
Some parting
thoughts. . .
So if you made it this far,
you are probably a driving crazy fool and just as twisted as I am.
I'm so sorry for you - but ain't it fun? All the
stuff I listed here is my opinion, it doesn't mean it's right
for the next person and, after all, I'm just a learning amateur driver. I think bottom line is that
we have to consider EVERYTHING that affects our carriage driving
situation, and foremost look at it from our horses perspective.
So stay safe and have fun. Drive on!
Dedicated to my patient teachers,
Elska and Judit aka: the Girls
Photo by Wendi Ross, Blue Ribbon
Photography
My Favorite Resources
Websites:
Driving Books:
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The Art of Driving by Max
Pape
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Understanding Harness by Barb
Lee
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The Principles of Driving by
the German National Equestrian Federation
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Competition Carriage Driving
by HRH the Duke of Edinburgh
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30 years on and off the Box
Seat by HRH the Duke of Edinburgh
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A Teamster's View, More and
Different by Steve Bowers
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On the Box Seat by Tom Ryder
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Carriage Driving- A
Logical Approach through Dressage Training by Heike Bean and
Sarah Blanchard
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Work Horse Handbook by Lynn
R. Miller
Driving Video/DVDs:
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Bending the
Driving Horse by Muffy Seaton
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Combined
Driving 101 by Muffy Seaton
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Competition
Carriage Driving, Parts 1, 2 and 3 with Ewald Meier
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Turnout and
Presentation by Drive on Productions
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Bower Farms -
Harnessing Hitching and Driving
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Bower Farms -
Training the Driving Horse
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The Laurels
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