Green - someone new at something. Teamster - someone who has the skills and knowledge to perform the art of driving horses. Sum those two together and you get me. I've been actively driving horses since March 2009. I've learned a lot, but there's a lot I don't know. I write what I go through here, in hopes it will be useful to someone. I also appreciate any of you who add to the conversation by leaving comments. Thanks for reading.
Monday, March 29, 2010
A wagon ride
So yesterday I had family in town. We went for a wagon ride in the morning, and my sister-in-law took this picture that I liked a lot. This is me and my sweetheart.
Would that be....your sweetheart and your horse? Or.... your sweet heart and your wife? Hmmm. Gotta be careful; you might find yourself in BIG trouble! ;-)
I'm enjoying your adventures in the Kingdom of Horse immensely. I found you through Bob Skelding's site, and I'm happy to read both your blogs every time they update! Best of everything to you and ALL your lovely ladies!
LOL ... I was talking about the sweetheart sitting next to me in the wagon. The horse is pretty dang sweet, but pales in comparison to my wife. I'm sure the wife read it the other way though. :)
What a lovely picture! Your mares are going to be a beautifully matched team. Their coloring and conformation are very similar.
Thank you for your informative blog. My husband has a retired amish "field work" percheron that was the lead horse in a six horse team. He is the best trail horse ever and we would like to drive him eventually. Your blog is helpful as we have no idea what we are doing. I have a mini gelding that is currently teaching my husband and myself to drive on a "smaller scale" before we advance to our big perch. We also found you through Bob Skelding's site. Keep up the great blog! Heather in PA
PS thanks for adding anonymous. I have wanted to post a comment here many times but don't understand how to get one of the other accounts to do so. Especially when you lost Lilly. So sorry about that-I cried with you! Heather in PA
Thanks Heather! I'm glad to share my experiences if they might help you see a good/better way to go about things. It's great that you have a percheron to ride. Eventually I'll saddle Rachel and see how she does at trail riding. If you ride that percheron, you should have no problem going to driving. The hardest part is accumulating the harness and wagon/cart. :) Thanks for saying hello and for the thoughts on Lily. This year has sure had it's ups and downs. I'm just happy to be back in the wagon again. :)
Our perch responds to very light direct rein and verbal commands. We ride him in a gentle eggbutt snaffle usually bareback. He does not like or understand leg aids at all and was mildly annoyed the first time we rode him doing so.
Apparently his work collar did not fit him well during his field work years and he has an indentation at the top of his withers from where the collar dug in. He is a grey perch and is absolutely covered in scars where his hair now grows in black-in places you can see quite clearly where the harness was.
He must miss his working days as he gets very excited when he sees the mini in his harness. He definitely remembers that and wants to be a part of the action!
Living near the amish it is amazing to see them working their horses. I have often been to their homes and witnessed young boys hitching their six horse teams. Each horse carefully backs into position and they all wait patiently while the boys crawl around their legs to hitch them. No one is holding their heads or reins during this process. Amazing. The boys also have lots of terrifying buggy horse road training mishaps stories that they enjoy telling. It is a very interesting way of life. Heather in PA
Sounds like you have a great animal Heather! I bet he's just itching to teach you how to drive him. I have found that a horse with a job, is a happy horse. Lily used to get so excited anytime she'd see the horse trailer hooked to the truck. She knew that meant we were going somewhere. Because I worked her on the wagon, and rode her, she loved our outings. She reminded me a bit of myself in my younger years, never wanting to be home, always excited to get out and have an adventure.
Would that be....your sweetheart and your horse? Or.... your sweet heart and your wife? Hmmm. Gotta be careful; you might find yourself in BIG trouble! ;-)
ReplyDeleteI'm enjoying your adventures in the Kingdom of Horse immensely. I found you through Bob Skelding's site, and I'm happy to read both your blogs every time they update! Best of everything to you and ALL your lovely ladies!
B. in Lee
LOL ... I was talking about the sweetheart sitting next to me in the wagon. The horse is pretty dang sweet, but pales in comparison to my wife. I'm sure the wife read it the other way though. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks B!
What a lovely picture! Your mares are going to be a beautifully matched team. Their coloring and conformation are very similar.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your informative blog. My husband has a retired amish "field work" percheron that was the lead horse in a six horse team. He is the best trail horse ever and we would like to drive him eventually. Your blog is helpful as we have no idea what we are doing. I have a mini gelding that is currently teaching my husband and myself to drive on a "smaller scale" before we advance to our big perch. We also found you through Bob Skelding's site.
Keep up the great blog!
Heather in PA
PS thanks for adding anonymous. I have wanted to post a comment here many times but don't understand how to get one of the other accounts to do so. Especially when you lost Lilly. So sorry about that-I cried with you!
ReplyDeleteHeather in PA
Thanks Heather! I'm glad to share my experiences if they might help you see a good/better way to go about things. It's great that you have a percheron to ride. Eventually I'll saddle Rachel and see how she does at trail riding. If you ride that percheron, you should have no problem going to driving. The hardest part is accumulating the harness and wagon/cart. :) Thanks for saying hello and for the thoughts on Lily. This year has sure had it's ups and downs. I'm just happy to be back in the wagon again. :)
ReplyDeleteOur perch responds to very light direct rein and verbal commands. We ride him in a gentle eggbutt snaffle usually bareback. He does not like or understand leg aids at all and was mildly annoyed the first time we rode him doing so.
ReplyDeleteApparently his work collar did not fit him well during his field work years and he has an indentation at the top of his withers from where the collar dug in. He is a grey perch and is absolutely covered in scars where his hair now grows in black-in places you can see quite clearly where the harness was.
He must miss his working days as he gets very excited when he sees the mini in his harness. He definitely remembers that and wants to be a part of the action!
Living near the amish it is amazing to see them working their horses. I have often been to their homes and witnessed young boys hitching their six horse teams. Each horse carefully backs into position and they all wait patiently while the boys crawl around their legs to hitch them. No one is holding their heads or reins during this process. Amazing. The boys also have lots of terrifying buggy horse road training mishaps stories that they enjoy telling. It is a very interesting way of life.
Heather in PA
Sounds like you have a great animal Heather! I bet he's just itching to teach you how to drive him. I have found that a horse with a job, is a happy horse. Lily used to get so excited anytime she'd see the horse trailer hooked to the truck. She knew that meant we were going somewhere. Because I worked her on the wagon, and rode her, she loved our outings. She reminded me a bit of myself in my younger years, never wanting to be home, always excited to get out and have an adventure.
ReplyDelete