This message is from: Sara Faull <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
One trainer that we have worked with progressed to hitching to the cart by first ground driving with the cart in the shaft loops but not hooked to the traces. Two people on either side steadied the cart while he drove the horse from the ground- This was done to familiarize the horse to the feel of the shafts when turning. If the horse spooked there was no danger of being run over by the cart, since the horse was not attached to the cart. When this was accepted, he got in the cart and drove the horse, but also had the horse on a lunge line with an assistant loosely lunging the horse. This was a way of preventing any blow-ups from getting out of control, and was only done when hitching for the first time- not done for days on end.
Sara Faull- Gouldsboro, Maine
