Driving was something I wanted to try when I got my first horse/pony. Our neighbor came home
one day with a beautiful chestnut Hackney and a shiny red 2 seater cart. He and his wife went past often at an animated trot
on the road out front. That looked like great fun. So I, at 13, thinking I was horse trainer supreme attached 2 ropes on my
mares bit for long lines and tied together a rigging consisting of 2 lengths of plastic sewer pipe as pretend shafts and encorporated
my saddle as a part, then finished off my make shift harness out of macramed bindertwine. Behind my mare I walked and ran.
She dragged it and me behind quite willingly, turned and stopped fine, that was easy...ready for plan 2.
Since it was
summer parents were at work . The neighbor kids with the cart and harness and I figured it would be perfectly fine to hook
up my horse and go for a jaunt. Being that my mare was bigger than the Hackney at 14:1 H.H., the harness was a tad small,
solution, no problem make it fit with bindertwine where more room was needed. Next we hooked on the cart and that fit good.
There was a plank fence paddock and we test drove in there for a while. She didn't like the blinkers and wasn't turning
so well and tossing her head a lot. She jammed herself into the corner of the fence and started hopping around a bit, solution,
lets go on the road where it's straighter and less turns.
We led her out onto the road still hooked up and walked
her up and down, she seemed calm...Hey she likes this. It was decided the boys would lead her at both sides of her head and
I would get in and steer, so onboard I went. It started off fine at a walk and after a block or so I told the boys to
let go but stay beside her just in case. All of the sudden she started picking up speed and I was yelling to the boys to grab
her. The trot turned into a lope and we heading for the ditch into an open field. The other kids were far behind now, chasing
after us and was just me and the out of control horse and cart. While frantically pulling on the reins for her to slow down
the bindertwine on the headstall broke and the bit fell out her mouth. On her own she turned and headed back in the direction
from where we started and all I was thinking was I have to stay in this cart and wait for her to stop. Back down to a trot
we hit the ditch once more but in a different steeper spot. The other bindertwine helping hold the cart to harness let go
and the shaft dug unto the ground. Flip went the cart..."hang on to the reins", as I dragged behind on my stomach until she
stopped, thankfully almost right away.
Mare check, other than really sweaty she was ok. Me check, road rash but ok also. Harness
check, after removing the bindertwine and doing the buckles up properly it was ok. Cart check, not so well faring...one bent
metal shaft and a slightly wobbily wheel. Yikes, what to do now. Fortunately I had a cousin living next acreage over
from us, he was 11. He was the "McGuiver" of our day, you know "the TV guy who could always save the day with good ideas each
and every episode". He rescued us by straightening the shaft with a metal snipe and a lot of kid muscle power behind it. The
wheel we did the best we could, it improved slightly but not back to perfect. We seemed to have rectified matters, as we didn't
get in trouble...likely because the owners of the Hackney sold him before this episode and rather abandoned the harness
and cart before any of this.
When my daughter was 5 we bought her a pony which was broke to drive.
The pony was not her idea and not appreciated so I figured I would try driving again.
This time I "took lessons" from Alan Ridden at Paradise Acres. I gained a lot of confidence and found it a blast. My daughters
mare drove wonderfully. It was a joy to harness her up and cruise around the field that summer, my parents even took
her off for a jaunt on occassion. Elderly relatives were visiting who were raised with horses
as a mode for transportation when they were kids. My 60 something year old aunt got in the cart with me and off we went. Since
my first driving experience I never lost the memory of everything out of control and I always attached a lounge line to a
halter under the harness headstall, just in case. Good thing for foresight, as on our adventure we ran over a ground
nest of wasps. Poor pony was getting stung and took off in a panic. I jumped out as soon as things happened with my lounge
line in hand with auntie hanging on for dear life and yelling her head off. Round and round they went until the pony stopped.
When Berreth's Gold Sammy came to live with us, even though he was an award winning driving
stallion I never tried driving him. I did however purchase Young's Limited Time as a gelding. He was trained to drive
single or double. I never did get the nerve to hook him up, but I did one day on a whim put the harness on him and
ground drive him around the perimiter of our property. Unbeknownst to me a newspaper reporter was driving past at the time
and was taking photos. She contacted us for a story as she found it a bit odd to see someone ground driving plus he was a
very pretty pony. As a result from the story he got purchased and I hope he is doing well.
The harness is in storage, the cart also, and I think it is safer for me and any pony that
crosses my future to remain this way. I think it is safer for me to drive something with a seat belt , air bag and really
good brakes.
