Learning the ropes...er..reins

It's been a juggling act preparing our house to sell, planning and making decisions as well as phone calls for the farm house remodel, making sure the horses get ridden and last but not least, learning to drive Dixie.

It's an act worthy of a circus.

Dixie's three month stint at boarding school is up on the 10th of June, wait it is June. Wow!

Part of her purchase agreement was three months of boarding while learning to pull a carriage along with complimentary driving lessons.

A package deal I was happy to oblige.

Their philosophy when training horses to pull a carriage is the owner should have a basic understanding of how to drive or the work put into the horse is well.... wasted to say the least.

I've had 8 driving lessons so far. The first three were with a seasoned horse. Driving him is like driving a Cadillac. He's smooth, soft in the mouth and can turn on a dime.

Then I was able to drive Dixie. Since we are both learning it was a bit more challenging, luckily the trainer wasn't far behind as in directly behind me holding the rest of the reins as a safety measure. 

The next lesson I not only drove Dixie but his horse Egon who is the same age as Dixie and has had about the same amount of training.

He's a bit more energetic and jumpy and really put my limited driving skills to the test.

They have a nice big arena as well as an obstacle course with a grid of poles to weave in and out of

 and a series of 'gates'

Back in the day the driving society called them hazards but because it gave the illusion of being hazardous they've since changed what they call them.

Dixie was willing and gave the poles and 'gates' her best effort as I drove her through but when I had Egon's reins in my hands, lets just say I was happy to have the instructor behind me holding the slack.

The horse is touchy and jumpy and wants to go at the sound of a click. 

The instructor had me take him through the grid of poles to try my hand at guiding him when something set him off and the carriage hit a pole causing the pole to snap and break.

The noise of the pole breaking made him jump even more and we broke another pole, then another and another. 

I managed to down 4 poles in less than two minutes. The trainer took control of the horse, got him out of the grid and drove him around then had him go back in.

Once Egon settled down he handed me the reins and had me drive him once again through the set of poles. 

Both Egon and I were successful and the crisis was over.

The instructor was unfazed and calmly encouraged me things like this happen and its better when they do sooner than later.

He chalked it up as a learning experience and we moved on.

I've since had two more lessons and will be going back again on the 5th.

I feel confident and well on my way but will continue to bring Dixie back on a regular basis for more training once she's home.

As a side note, no animal was harmed during the making of my driving lessons.