This message is from: "Karen McCarthy" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Here is (yet another!) post from the famous Carriage Driving List (CD-List). It was written/posted by Linda Fairbanks. Thought it was pretty apropo info for anyone wishing to start a horse in any kind of carriage or draft work. Made me reflect a bit, as some folks have criticised me in the past for "dorking" around too long, and being "soft" on my horses before really putting them to work. ((Hey, I LIKE tailriding at the walk/trot!))
Linda Fairbanks is an old driving friend, and she is a very good judge and trainer to boot. Plus I think she can express her thoughts very, very well. Read on if you will: "..The information about the Cavalry study on how much weight horses can pull is interesting but I must comment. I believe that if a horse is made to pull too much weight, he will either become balky or will break down physically. There are some differences between what we do and what the Cavalry does (or did). If a Cavalry horse pulling a caisson became lame or sore, he would be replaced by another Cavalry horse. If he became balky, he would be "fixed" or replaced by another horse. Most of us have only one or two horses and have relationships with them. We don't throw them away when they are used up, but we try to get a good long career out of them before we retire them. Also, I think the study must have been done mostly on pairs and fours, which allows any individual to take a brief break when his body demands it (as noted recently by Muffy (Seaton). The rule of thumb I use is based on light horses at various stages in their development: An inexperienced driving horse or one who is not fit should stay at 50% or less of his body weight and stay on mostly good footing. A driving horse with 6 months to a year of steady work can increase the weight and begin to increase the duration, the difficulty of the footing, the temperature, humidity, etc. It takes a long time to really harden a horse physically and I am convinced that they break down if worked too hard too soon. A vet I work with advocates 600 miles of long, slow distance before any speed or real difficulty is introduced. What this boils down to is a quiet year of slow walk and trot on good ground for the youngster before he is dashed into a speed or endurance contest. The result is a confident horse who is happy in his work. As a public trainer, I came across many horses who were angry or afraid about their work and I came to see it as a real shame that so many good horses are ruined by rushing them into work. I don't know what the upper limit is and I think it varies with the individual horse. This is not something that can or should be legislated, but experienced and sensitive horse people know the responsibility they have to the horses in their care." Karen McCarthy Great Basin Fjords :: Carson City, Nv www.picturetrail.com/weegees
