A Big Day for Linus

Dad has surprised me by being very excited to once again have a horse that drives. After chores today I got the training cart out and then brought Linus out and tied him to the trailer to groom him and clean his feet out. He hasn't been tied for a while so it was good for him to be tied again. Dad came over and asked if I was going to hitch him to the cart. I said I wasn't sure yet, I was so far planning to get him used to it and see where it took us. He said to get him harnessed and we'll see where it leads. Off he went to do some trimming. I harnessed Linus and walked him to the cart. He has seen it many times before and when he tried to eat it I knew he wasn't scared of it! Then Dad came over and decided with both of us there it was safe to hitch him. I put his halter on over his bridle and held him while Dad made the adjustments and hooked onto the cart. Linus was such a good boy and stood perfectly still the entire time. He did have a moment of "what is going on" when we started off but he did superb. Once he figured out the cart moved with him he accepted it within minutes. I kept at his head and Dad walked behind the cart. I was so excited I was shaking and had to force myself to calm down so I didn't excite Linus. What a frickin awesome day it was to have him pull his first cart!!!! My only regret is that I wasn't able to get any pictures. We went the length of the driveway and around the barnyard a couple of times. Dad commented on how well I had done with him til that point for him to be standing so still and be so easy to work around. He also said how nice it was to be able to move the lines around and if they hit his rump he didn't jump or flinch. It was fantastic to hear that because Dad had a lot of driving hours in his youth and a lot of time spent with horses. Our work is paying off in a big way. A lot of it is that Linus was handled from Day 1 and was born with an outstanding personality. I told Dad what kind of work we do and that you can throw a rope all over Linus and he won't flinch. So, it was a feel good day on so many levels. We are going to keep hitching him to the training cart 1 or 2 times a week but are not going to get in it til next year when he is a 2 year old. The cart is very light and its not horse size so I will only get about another month out of it. I do have another one though for use after this one. Its so exciting to be on this path with Linus. Its great to give these experiences back to my Dad too, it was easy to tell that he was supremely enjoying himself.....and he wasn't sneezing!!!!! We figured it has been about 20 years since we've had a horse in harness on the farm and it was actually at our previous farm. We didn't have a buggy then or anything but hitched the horse to the sleigh a few times in the winter. I plan to make driving a regular event for Linus and I. I'm so in love with it and haven't even been in the buggy yet!!!!