Having something banging around behind can be scary for the horse.  Jada works very hard to make putting on the carrriage a nonevent.  First she build the horse's trust in her;  then she goes very, very slowly with a number of steps designed to introduce the horse to the carriage in simple stages.  She works hard at stopping each session on a positive note for horse and driver.  Jada is excellent at "reading" the horse so that she knows when to quit in the early stages of training.  She would rather work a horse twice a day for short time periods at first so that he or she does not become impatient. 

Jada usually begins 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, he or she is switched to a closed bridle, and the same thing is done in the closed bridle.  Jada has to go back and forth between open and closed bridles for every step for some horses. Others decide to trust early in the training, so 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, Jada puts 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 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.  This is done by inserting plastic pipes in the harness loops to simulate shafts.  The horse is ground driven 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 Jada introduces 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 the drag is pulled ahead of the pony while the pony is being ground driven, so the pony can see and hear it. Then the drag is pulled behind the pony. Finally, the pony is rubbed all over with the shafts of the drag.

The next step is to insert the shafts of the drag into the loops. The drag is not attached completely; instead, a helper 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, the traces are attached to the breast collar and the traces and holdbacks are hooked 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 the shafts of the easy-entry training cart are introduced. First Jada rubs the horse's body all over with the shafts. Then the shafts of the cart are inserted into the loops, but the cart is not attached. Instead, two assistants handle the cart, keeping it in the loops and lifting it around corners.  The horse is permitted to 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,  the traces and holdbacks are attached.  The latter are attached fairly loosely, so that the breeching is not as tight as it will be when the horse is pulling.

The pony is ground driven in the light-weight cart for a few days, and then gradually weight is added, sometimes with sand bags tied to the carriage, sometimes by just putting weight on the shafts when the pony is standing still.

Then Jada 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 is  walking, trotting, stopping, and backing on voice commands.

Finally, the pony is hitched to one of our Meadowbrook carriages (Three G Farms owns four, from one that fits Randy Farwell's 39-inch mini, Big Al. to one that fits a 16-hand horse). The pony is driven alone and in the company of other horses and ponies both in the indoor arena and on the 3+ miles of trails on the Three G  property.

While the pony is in training, their owners begin taking driving lessons on a lesson pony. (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, the owner's driving lessons are with their own pony, in preparation for sending the pony home.

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.