How to Teach a Horse to Drive

While not every horse that pulls a buggy wins multiple championships, races around a speedway or marches in a parade, any horse regardless of breed, size, age, or sex can be taught to drive. Teaching a horse the basics of driving is a relatively simple process that most competent horse owners can do if they have a calm, willing horse. Read on to learn how.

Difficulty: Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Harness
• Drag
• False shafts
• Cart or buggy

1. Familiarize yourself with all the equipment involved in driving a horse. Practice putting on and removing all the equipment from a seasoned driving horse before attempting to harness your horse.

2. Introduce the harness equipment to your horse while grooming. Prepare your horse for the crupper by handling his tail regularly.

3. Lead your horse from the ground in full harness. Every trainer has a different view on when to introduce blinkers. Whether to start with blinkers or not will depend on your personall opinion and how your horse reacts to being in harness.

4. Allow your horse to fully adjust to the weight and feel of the harness moving around him before trying to long line or lunge him it.

5. Teach your horse to lunge. Lunging is an ideal way to refine and reinforce verbal commands. It improves your horse's coordination and rhythm and familiarizes him with equipment similar to a full harness.

6. Train your horse to ground drive or long line. This is an essential step in teaching your horse to drive. Ground driving introduces the concept of steering due to pressure on the bit. Your horse should be able to walk, trot, halt, stand, and change directions on long lines.

7. Select a drag. A drag can be made from anything-a tire, a piece of lumber or a flat piece of wire mesh. It is merely something your horse pulls to accustom him to the feel of something pressing into his chest and to get him used to the sounds associated with driving. The drag should be wider than your horse and heavy enough that your horse feels the weight, but not so heavy as to over face your horse.

8. Try pulling a drag. Have an assistant stand by your horse's head the first few times you work with the drag. The first time ask your horse to walk a few steps while pulling the drag, then to halt. Each time try ask your horse to a do a little bit more.

9. Add false shafts to introduce your horse to the feel of a vehicle. False shafts can be made of a light lumber about 12 feet in length. Slip the false shafts through the tugs on each side. You can hold one and have an assistant hold the other. Together, let the shafts rub against your horse's side while ground driving.

10. Practice walking with the cart unattached. This is one of the most critical steps in teaching a horse to drive and if it goes poorly you can ruin weeks of work in a matter of seconds. Place a halter over his bridle and have an assistant stand on each side with a lead rope attached to his halter. Don't tie your horse to the cart at first. Simply slide the shafts into the tug and walk forward with your assistant pulling the vehicle.

11. Hook your horse up to the cart. This should be done quickly, calmly and with no extra movements. Once your horse is all hooked, ask him to quietly walk forward while you drive from the ground. Follow the same routine as you did with the drag. Walk a few feet then halt. He may be pushed forward a few steps by pressure from the breeching strap while trying to halt. That is completely normal. Just be patient with him. Tell your assistant to leave him alone unless he starts to act up. Each lesson with the cart will build from the previous one, just like your exercises with the drag.

12. Try riding in the cart when your horse can walk, halt and stand quietly with you driving from the ground.

13. Trot when your horse when is confident walking and halting with you in the cart. Most horses will want to trot because it is an easier gate to pull from. You're giving your horse a lot of new information, so keep the lessons short. The key is to be consistent in how you ask him to follow commands, and to repeat the same exercises to help him cement the basics.

Resources

• The Morgan Horse Association offers a free pamphlet on teaching your horse to drive.
• The Carriage Association of America is the oldest organization dedicated to the preservation, restoration and use of horse-drawn carriages and sleighs.