horse carriage for sale

Firse Step : Preparation-
Teaching your horse to ground drive is a great way to enhance his training, and it will make your first ride that much easier. Ground driving is also the first step to teaching your horse to pull a horse buggy. Before your start the ground driving lesson, your horse should already be used to the saddle (or surcingle) and headstall with a snaffle bit. Your horse should also know voice commands for “walk” and “trot”, as well as “whoa”.

Second :The First Lesson-
Put the saddle or surcingle on your horse, along with the bridle. If your horse has a lot of energy, lounge him first to work off excess energy - this is also a good opportunity to practice the voice commands. After your horse is reasonable calm, attach the long-lines to the bit, and run them back through the rings on the surcingle or the stirrups on the saddle. Stand behind your horse, and have a helper stand at your horse’s head (you might want the helper to have a lead line attached to the bit). Give your horse the voice command for “walk” and wait for him to start off. If he doesn’t go right away, or seams confused that you are behind him, have your helper lead him forward. Practice starting and stopping until he seams calm - as he walks forwards, you will want to follow behind him quietly keeping gently pressure on the lines. When you are ready to switch directions, gently pull on one of the lines until your horse starts to turn that direction. Sometimes horses get a little skittish when they feel the lines brush up against their haunches, so be watching for that when you ask for a change of direction. Repeat the “walk” and “whoa” on the other side. It is best to make the first lesson simple, so stop on a good note, and save “trot” for the next lesson.

3RD: Moving On-
At the next lesson you can work on the “walk”, “whoa”, and change directions for review, then you can move on to “trot”. You will need to jog along behind your horse as he trots, so be sure you are in good shape :). Don’t forget to practice standing still - this is important to learn for when you mount up for the first time. The lessons your horse learns while ground driving will help when you start riding your horse - he will already know voice commands, direction changes, and some rein cues.

4th:Driving-
If you want to continue on and teach your horse to drive, you will want to create a “training buggy” - this is just 2 long PVC pipes (about 7 feet long), connected on one end by a shorter piece of PVC pipe (about 2 1/2 to 3 feet long). Use PVC elbow connectors to join the pipes together. When you are done, you will have created a “U” shape contraption. You can hook this up behind your horse and it will simulate the shafts of a buggy and give your horse the sensation of pulling a horse buggy behind him. Attach the “training buggy” using quick-release knots(drill a hole through the loose ends of the PVC pipe, and attach it to the surcingle with some twine or rope), and if he spooks at something, you can simply release the knots and the training buggy will drop free.

Once your horse has gotten used to the “training buggy” you are ready to introduce him to the real buggy. It is best to use a two-wheel, light weight buggy for this. Make sure that the size is appropriate to the size of your horse. You will also need a driving harness (you can buy an inexpensive nylon one from many tack stores and catalogs). You should have at least one, but preferably two helpers when you are ready to hook your horse up to the buggy for the first time. Put the harness on your horse, and ground drive him a little to relax him. Lead him up to the buggy and let him get used to it. As you ground drive him, have a helper pull the buggy alongside your horse, so he can get used to the look and sound of the cart. Once he is calm with this, pull the cart up behind him, but do not hook the buggy up to the harness yet. As you drive your horse along (still walking behind the cart), have your helpers pull the cart with your horse as he walks. Once he is calm with this step you are ready to hook the cart up to your horse drive him. It is still best to have your helpers stay close by for the first few drives, until you are sure your horse will remain calm.