Good for the soul, horses are just that, good for the soul. For several days now, the great outdoors and my herd have been bidding me to come out and play! I had major surgery in January, and have had just about enough house time for a good case of cabin fever. I just had to work with my horses! Though my youngsters were the first to the gate, I knew that working with them was just a little too risky for my current state of body..my youngsters are great, but I am also realistic and certainly did not want a mishap on my part. ....so, I chose an older, wiser mount and I have finally started her driving training. A driving horse must learn its name. When harnessed in blinkers, they can not read your body language and must rely on your voice. So, today, we started there...at the beginning. "Legacy.....walk on" from now on, each and every time I handle Legacy, this is where we start. We did the exercise around the barn and up the drive, I did not last too long at it physically, but mentally it was so good to be around my horses.
Legacy stood for grooming, lots of body rubs and on my next venture out I will fit her to my harness. As any whip ( driver ) know..the horse must know its name, and the most important gait for a driving horse, is halt....two things we will start our journey with. It feels great to be able to post here, and though it will be limited in early 2011, I am so happy to be on the blog with everyone else....Linda
Legacy looks great in the picture. I hope you recover well from your surgery, I can imagine wanting to get back out and around your horses!
ReplyDeleteGood luck with the driving training and hope to read more about how Legacy and you are doing in this blog!
So nice to be back out there eh?? I hate days that prevent me from getting out there with Linus and the cows too. Whoa is absolutely the most important cue Linus knows from his driving!! Its so great that it transfers over to everything else too
ReplyDeleteLinda, Great to see you are getting out and about and able to spend some time with your horses. Can't wait to see how Legacy turns out in her driving training. It is a lot of fun just be ground driving and is a great bonding experience for horse and whip.
ReplyDeleteLegacy is beautiful! I hope your recovery is quick and uneventful. I'm looking forward to your posts about how you train for driving. I've never seen that done before.
ReplyDeleteFrustrating isn't it? Glad you are on the mend and was able to get outside, looking forward to seeing Legacy hitched.
ReplyDeleteI admit I am bad about using name before whoa, etc, I guess I best get used to it if I start driving my pair!!
winding winds
Dian and Blue
I know you must be itching to get out with your horses.. but I have learned over time and many mistakes with rushing the healing process... best to do what you did.. take it slow and stay safe. You'll be hitched and ready to go this summer I am sure !
ReplyDeleteGood to hear from you and that your hip is doing well! I am looking forward to reading in future blogs how Legacy comes along in the ground training process. I keep thinking I may get AhD going ground driving again, but I guess I prefer riding to driving.
ReplyDeleteThanks everyone, healing up slowly is the best plan and training slow to the best plan too! they go together ;-) My mentor trainer always told me..."slow is fast" when it comes to horses, and he has proved it right over and over again. Legacy and I have started a wonderful journey, and I think it will probably include me riding her, but for now...we stick to driving training.
ReplyDeleteIt is always the best part of my job when a client passes their driving test.
ReplyDeletedefensive driving ny