blinders on horses

[reallemons1]

My 2 ponies are much calmer while driving with blinders. It doesn't hurt them at all and keeps them focused ahead instead of what is going to get them from behind. They are still kinda green so safety first.

 

[EweSheep]

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I agree with this issue on blinders...well said Pat!

 

[WriterofWords]

Blinders are meant to shield the horse or mule or donkey, whatever, from distractions to the side as they are pulling. I drive sulkys and used to race, they were to keep the others from shying away from the ones coming up on the sides and causing a wreck. I had several horses who didn't need them, but I also had 2 or 3 who did need them because they were easily distracted.

Your best bet is to try it without them first and see how your horse reacts. If he seems to shy a lot or be too concerned about what is next to him try them. But be aware, the first time most animals wear them is a horrible experience because they are extremely distracted by being able to hear something coming or next to them but not be able to see it, then it suddenly appears in the live of view. Use them at home in an enclosed track first, with others around either driving or riding so the horse can become used to them. Never just throw them on and go for ride the first time out.

 

[Appytaz]

PS - Something else to try when you put the blinders on him to get use to them is to lunge in them. That helps get them thinking about you and not just the blinders. And you can gauge the reaction to them also.

 

[Samarai Jenn]

I have never used them on my horses. My mare was trained using them, but I have never put them on her myself. She seems to do well without them.

 

[ninny]

WOW!!!! i never expected so many replies. Thanks everyone!! The older gelding is trained to drive with the blinders. He hasn't been driven in years though. The younger one has never been driven. I put the blinders on him and just walked him around the yard. He was a little spooky at first then he didn't care. I guess im mostly confused about safety.

So is it safer to put the blinders on even though they can't see behind them? Sorry if im being dumb but I'm confused. I dont want to mess this up. I've never done this before. I have a friend who is gonna help me with this but im doing most of this.

any good winter reading choices?

 

[patandchickens]

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Sure, the whole point of the blinkers is that they can't see behind them or too much beside them, thus there is less of the world that can visually spook them. 'Cuz you really don't want horses spooking in harness, to the extent it can at ALL be avoided, because of the aforementioned Big Wreck Factor. Obviously the horse has to be thoroughly conditioned to the normal sounds and feelings of harness and vehicles (and in some cases, the not normal ones too, e.g. the feel of a line that's gotten stuck under his tail, whooeee *that* can disturb certain horses if you haven't worked with them on it). And if the horse is at all spooky to begin with (particularly if his version of spooking involves either leaving, or swivelling around to face the scary thing) then it is probably a very bad idea to try breaking him to harness yourself.

If you've never started a horse driving before I'd be *awfully* careful to start right back at square one, don't skip ANY steps no matter how take-for-granted they may seem, dot every single i and cross every single t. And if problems arise, the better part of valor is to throw in the towel sooner rather than later (perhaps having a professional take over)... accidents can happen amazingly fast, like zero to sixty in one point five seconds.

Truly it is not like starting a horse under saddle, and while certainly some lucky novices around the world have trained their horses to drive without incident, many others have *not*. Emphasizing again the wide variety and severe nature of wrecks that can occur, with terrible consequences for person and/or horse.

Good luck, have fun, please be prudent,

Pat

 

[ninny]

Believe me i will be careful as the older gelding, the first time i tried to drive tossed me out of the cart.
Are there any good books out there on this?

Im not hooking them up until i have complete control on the lunge line. im also showing them in halter and showmanship. I can ride both of them (i look kinda stuipd) to keep them in shape. any other things to try?

 

[Rusty Hills Farm]

I've never driven light horses but I did have a team of Percherons. They were not a team when I bought them. One was very experienced but the other had never been handled--not even to clean her feet! I ordered the harness sight upseen from a nice Amish gentleman in Ohio. We talked on the phone and 6 weeks later the harness came in the mail--and fit perfectly!

I harnessed and drove the experienced one until I felt comfortable. Then only did I start the other one, kinda of inching into it--one bit at a time. The collar was interesting in that, unlike her teammate, she did not know to put her head down for me to put it on her. (Did I mention she was 18 hands?) When I got her to the point that I could harness her and shake out the lines without scaring her to death, we began "driving" inside a large round pen--her in front and me walking behind. We didn't add the skid until she was totally fine with all her commands and comfortable moving around harnessed.

Adding the skid was really the tough part and took the most time. When she could handle that, I added the 2nd horse and moved out of the arena. Then HE basically taught her everything else. The whole process took me MONTHS--as much because I was learning, too, as because she was skittish.

Oh, and because they were a team, we never did use shafts--just individual singletrees hitched to a doubletree and from there to the skid. LOLOL I don't think I'd have the nerve to try shafts without someone more experienced than I am to help! Eventually we bought and restored an old, very large flatbed and used them during the haying to collect bales from the field. They would walk along the row without a driver while the rest of us tossed bales up to my son, who stacked them.

And I, too, started with a book: The Draft Horse Primer. I would not have known HOW to harness--what goes where--without it.

 

[patandchickens]

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Um, lunge line?? if you are planning to be doing this with a lunge line, may I gently suggest, before I bow out of the thread with shivers down my spine, that you seriously reconsider your idea of doing this yourself. A longe line does not enter into the general plan at all (except possibly at the very very beginning, if you introduce the harness before you've taught the horse to ground drive well, and are using the longe line to get him accustomed to moving around with the harness floppin' around on him). And if by longe line you actually meant the driving reins, i.e. waiting til he ground drives well, I have to say there is an enormous amount of stuff that needs to happen BETWEEN ground driving well and hooking up to anything.

Oy, I will probably regret saying this, but just so you have some idea of the process, the general method is something along the lines of this:

Start with a horse that knows how to stand still for long periods of time off voice commands (i.e. not being held) and who is reasonably spook-proofed, especially as regards loud noises and sudden sights from the side and behind. These things generally require work. Then accustom horse to wearing and moving around in the harness and teach him to ground-drive well (not sorta -- well) including voice commands and teaching him not to get upset if a line goes under his tail and his tail clamps down on it. Then accustom horse to pulling against resistance on the traces (as provided by a person) while being ground driven, and, separately at first, to having a loud scrapey-sounding bumpy thing following him all over as you ground-drive (mimicking a stoneboat or cart or whatever). You may get him used to the feel of shafts (not on a vehicle) at this point or you may hook him up to a tire or stoneboat first, different people do it different ways. Hooking to a vehicle is the endpoint of this process, alhtough of course in a sense still the beginning of his training. There are other ways to do it, depending on a person's style and what purpose the horse will be put to and what resources the person has, but the above is a pretty typical agenda. It will take A While. It is not at all like starting a horse under saddle.

I am not going to recommend a book or video as I do not think it would be safe in this situation.

Hoping that your horse does not get injured or too badly frightened, both of which can happen pretty easily despite the very best of your intentions,

Pat