This message is from: "Cheryl Beillard" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Hello everyone .. after reading the posts about sleighing and the question about bucking straps, I thought I would open up and tell you about my first short but educational sleigh drive .. no rally, to be sure, although I did (rally, that is), after almost losing it as we careened over a few boulders (at a brisk trot) under our less than 8" of fluffy new snow, and almost tipping over on a turn going down hill (not my idea). Today was the first day we had enough snow, temperatures just around freezing (and not 30 below, with wind chill) and SUN to make conditions right, I thought, for trying out my new sleigh (an antique Vermont cutter, in original condition, but still pretty sturdy with reasonably wide runners). I also had a husband and a guest from Washington who were there to catch me (or the horse) if there was serious "fallout" from this, my first test drive. It took me about a half an hour to adjust the harness from my road cart to fit the sleigh, oil the few screws and things that seemed to need it and .. I'm still not sure if I got it right .. the tugs had a LOT of slack in them, going down hills, and I had to drop the loops for the shafts to their last hole to get them fairly level along Soleia's very rounded (read pregnant) sides .. Soleia hasn't been hitched since November, and some of you may recall, I was having the beginnings of a potentially serious problem with bucking .. the last being a good 300 ft of crowhopping, in which she persisted in a sort of half hearted way (ie. she never connected with the cart, or really got her heels up) .. HOWEVER, as a prudent reader of the list, I immediately sought advice and subsequently purchased a very supple and easy to attach strap designed by Dave McWethy (Camptown Harness) .. Dave has used snaps instead of buckles to make it easy to attach or detach .. and it worked superbly, because Soleia did, of course, give a few little bucks (no doubt remembering her modest success last time out!) but had to go sideways, rather than up, I think and she was easily brought under control (no, that's an exaggeration, I am not sure she was EVER completely uner control in this new contraption!). I was a little apprehensive and only drove her in the fields and out along a lane we have, for about 20 minutes .. Thought it best to end on a positive note for both of us. There were a few dicey moments, as at one point, she got sort of sandwiched between a tree, a culvert (looming very large in my view!) and a rock. Of course, as I quickly discovered, you can't back these things up .. so it was forward, over the culvert, through the tree or over the rock .. I chose the rock. And then some. Found it very difficult to know where they are, of course, and in Renfrew County, Ontario , we have a LOT of rock. I also noticed that turning on a hill is not advisable, and that maybe a trail blazed by snowmobiles with packed snow on a flat surface might be the ideal conditions. The other complication was my new filly, Tunica, who raced up and down the fence line, calling desperately for us to come back.. Didn't help my nerves or Soleia's state of mind .. There were definitely some tense moments, but I learned a few basics, including what to avoid, but I 'm sure there are many more lessons to be learned and I only hope I can learn them without serious misadventure. My visitor from Washington, got as far as his helmet, and opted to watch with my husband, from a safe distance. Gorgeous day, great potential but a little sobering as an inexperienced driver. Boy, when these things hit a bump, you know it! And the noise, on gravel is deafening .. I first led Soleia up the lane, rather than driving , to see how she would react to the noise, but other than a little ear twitching, she was fine. Mostly, it was that she didn't really want to leave her new stablemate -- and it was her first time out in a long time .. been too cold and I've been giving her feet a rest from shoes, and ice made working with her out of the question.
