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| Contact: Earl
W. Morris or Mary Winter:
515-232-3019, 515-450-1041 (C-MW), 515-450-1046 (C-EWM) Email:info@threegfarms.com |
Driving lessons at Three G Farms
Driving lessons with Camie Stockhausen of Field Day
Horses
coming to Three G Farms for training need to present a negative Coggins test
drawn in the previous 12 months, and current vaccinations. In addition, the owner should
have the horse's teeth checked, and, if needed, floated and wolf teeth removed
before coming for training. If proof of teeth work is not presented at the
time the horse comes for training, we will have the teeth checked after arrival,
and have the needed services performed. All horses in training will be
wormed according to the Three G worming schedule (worming.doc),
by the owner or by the Three G staff.
Earl Morris, Brian Morris, Jada Neubauer, and Mary Winter
Having something banging around behind can be scary for the horse. We work very hard to make putting on the carrriage a nonevent. First we build the horse's trust in us; then we go very, very slowly with a number of steps designed to introduce the horse to the carriage in simple stages. We work hard at stopping each session on a positive note for horse and driver. We also focus on "reading" the horse so that we know when to quit in the early stages of training. We would rather work a horse twice a day for short time periods at first so that he or she does not become impatient.
We begin with ground manners, followed by longeing, long reining, and ground driving. We have even had to go back as far as teaching the horse to lead properly. Owners can reduce the time it takes to teach their horse to drive considerably by doing the ground work themselves. A horse that comes to us with good ground manners who knows how to longe and who changes gaits while longeing with voice commands will be in a harness and carriage more quickly than one that does not have that training when coming to Three G Farms.
We usually begin our work in an open bridle, so the pony can see what is going on behind. When the pony is comfortable (even bored!) with the work in an open bridle, we switch to a closed bridle, and do the same thing in the closed bridle. We have to go back and forth between open and closed bridles for every step for some horses. Others decide to trust us early in the training, so we can work exclusively in a closed bridle. (A carriage horse drives in a blind bridle to minimize distractions. One good example is the whip, always carried by a driver. The whip is primarily used the way a rider would use his or her leg. It is not helpful to the pony to be able to see the whip move. Rather, the pony is trained to move away from the whip when it is lain along the side.)
After the pony longes well, changing from walk to trot, trot to walk, and walk to halt on voice commands, we put on the saddle, breeching and breast collar without the traces. The hold backs are buckled loosely into the breast collar. The pony will be long-reined and ground driven in the harness and bridle until he or she is comfortable with those activities.
When we first beginning with long reining and ground driving, it usually takes two people ground driving, one on a longe line, the other on long lines. At this stage, the reins run through the tug loops to the bit, rather than through the terrets on the saddle.
The next step is to introduce the idea that something will be rubbing along the pony’s sides. We do this step by inserting plastic pipes in the harness loops to simulate shafts. We ground drive the horse with one person handling the reins and two helpers, one on each side, holding the plastic pipes, making sure that the horse feels the pipes along the sides.
Then we introduce the drag, made of carriage shafts held together by a brace across the back. At this point, the reins are moved from the tug loops to the terrets on the saddle. First one of us pulls the drag ahead of the pony while the pony is being ground driven, so the pony can see and hear it. Then we pull the drag behind the pony. Finally, we rub the pony all over with the shafts of the drag.
The next step is to insert the shafts of the drag into the loops. We do not attach the drag completely; instead, one of us walks alongside, serving as the force that pulls the drag. When the pony is comfortable with the weight of the drag in the shafts and the sound of it following directly behind, we attach the traces to the breast collar and hook the traces to the drag. We also attach the holdbacks to the drag.
The pony is driven extensively in the drag: around and around in the indoor arena and then outside, past horses in the turnouts, past traffic in and out of the yard, etc. This is the time to introduce new sights and sounds.
Next we introduce the shafts of our easy-entry cart. First we rub the horse's body all over with the shafts. Then we insert the shafts of the cart into the loops. We do not attach the cart; instead, two assistants handle the cart, keeping it in the loops and lifting it around corners. We let the horse stand until he or she is ready to move off. The horse takes a few steps, stops, relaxes, then moves out again. Because the cart is not actually attached, the cart handlers can remove the cart quickly, should the horse become nervous.
When the pony is comfortable with having the cart trailing behind, we attach the traces and holdbacks. The latter are attached fairly loosely, so that the breeching is not as tight as it will be when the horse is pulling.
We ground drive the pony in the light-weight cart for a few days, and then gradually add weight, sometimes with sand bags tied to the carriage, sometimes by just putting weight on the shafts when the pony is standing still.
Then one of us gets in the cart and drives the pony in the indoor arena until the pony is relaxed and comfortable. He or she must be totally relaxed, even bored, and walking, trotting, stopping, and backing on voice commands.
Finally, we move the pony to one of our Meadowbrook carriages (we have four, from one that fits our 11-hand Hackney pony, to one that fits a 16-hand horse). We drive the pony alone and in the company of other horses and ponies both in the indoor arena and on the 3+ miles of trails on our property.
While the pony is in training, their owners begin taking driving lessons on one of our lesson ponies. (Driving lessons for the pony’s owners are free while the pony is in training.) When the pony is relaxed and comfortable driving inside and out, alone and with other turnouts, and the pony’s owners have gained driving skills, we begin giving the owners driving lessons on their own pony, in preparation for sending the pony home.
Let us follow the progress of
Rockingham (Rock to his friends), owned by Paul, Bridget, Stephanie, and Ben Bryson of Cedar Falls. Rock, a 10-year-old Belgian-Mustang cross, had done almost everything in his career: trail horse, hunter-jumper, dressage pony. His family wanted to begin driving, however, and so wanted him trained to drive.October 1, 2006
: Rock arrives at Three G FarmsOctober 2:
Rock shows us his excellent ground manners and longeing skills. It is clear we can move on quickly to teaching skills specific to driving.October 3:
Rock is fitted with a harness for the first time. Much to Mary’s surprise, he has no reaction to the crupper, even though it is the first time he has experienced something relatively tight under his tail.October 9:
Rock has been long reining and ground driving comfortably for several days, first in his open riding bridle (we were pleased that the Brysons thought to send that with him!) and then in our closed driving bridle.
October 10: 10-foot-long 1" PVC pipes are placed in the tug loops. At first two of us walk behind, making sure that Rock feels the poles along his sides.
After the first couple of times, it only takes one of us to handle the pipes.
October 13:
Rock is introduced to the drag. It is pulled by one of us, first in front, and then behind him, while he is ground driven.October 15:
Rock is hooked to the drag for the first time. He is in his open bridle, so he can see what is behind him.
After the first session, however, we moved back to the blind bridle. We will not need to use the open bridle again. Rock is driven in the indoor arena and then around the farm for several days, until all sights and sounds are old stuff to him.
November 3:
The pony is introduced to the easy entry carriage. The shafts are placed in the tug loops, but the traces are not attached. He takes a few steps, with one of us acting as the power to pull the carriage. We do this operation a couple more days.November 6:
Rock is hitched to the easy entry carriage. The carriage is tight on the pony, so we will keep in this carriage as short a time as possible. He is ground driven in the indoor arena in the carriage.November 9:
We begin to apply weight to the shafts of the easy entry carriage, to simulate weight in the carriage. Rock is okay with the added weight, so Jada gets in the carriage and drives him in the indoor arena.
November 14:
Rock graduates to the large Meadowbrook. He is more comfortable in the larger carriage, and is driven in the indoor arena and, on nice days, outside.
November 25:
After ten days of driving inside and out, Rock’s family comes for a driving lesson. Bridget begins by taking lessons with Nick, and then drives Rock in the indoor arena.Rock is clearly ready to begin serious training for his new career as a driving pony, where his early dressage training will be useful, as he learns driven dressage.
lessons at Three G Farms
Earl Morris is the principal driving instructor at Three G Farms, although Mary Winter and Jada Neubauer help out at times. Earl has trained with Robin Groves, a driving instructor from Vermont, who gives lessons at Three G Farms four or five times a year. He has also had lessons with Lisa Singer, Mickie Bowen, and Kathy Palmer, and works weekly during the competition season with Camie Stockhausen.
We currently have two ponies we use for driving lessons:
Nick O'Tyme, a 16-year-old chestnut Welsh gelding, leased from Pat Ketterer, Lincoln, Nebraska, for use as a lesson pony. Nick was Pat's competition pony through the 2005 season, when she drove him (and won) the Advanced Single Pony competition at the High Country CDE in Parkersburg, Colorado. Although Pat would still like to have him as her competition pony, his aging hocks will not let him do the tight turns in hazards as he did in his younger days. We are delighted to have a pony this well trained as our pony for beginning driving lessons.
Baykill Regent, a 16-year-old bay Morgan gelding, purchased in the fall of 2003 to be used as a lesson horse. Jada started giving lessons on him in March, 2004, and he has proven to be a good, steady lesson horse. In his other life, he is Anita's driving and riding pony. He performed very well at 2006 competitions.
We also give driving lessons on your own driving horse, as long as we are sure that your pony is well-trained and willing.
Earl usually starts in the indoor arena until he is certain that the driver has good control of the horse. Then, if it is nice weather, he usually takes the student to the dressage arena, the cones course, or to a hazard or two.
Driving lessons with Camie Stockhausen of Field Day
Camie Stockhausen offers lessons for drivers and riders at Three G Farms on a weekly basis. The Three G staff usually take a block of lessons on a weekday morning, but Camie also makes afternoon or evening trips to the arena for individual lessons. Based on the interest of area drivers, she will offer lessons on Fridays, beginning in April, 2008. To schedule a lesson with Camie, contact her directly at camstock@huxcomm.net, or call her cell phone, 515-231-9875.
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Fees |
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| Contact: Earl
W. Morris or Mary Winter:
515-232-3019, 515-450-1041 (C-MW), 515-450-1046 (C-EWM) Email:info@threegfarms.com |