Aaaaaarrrrrggggggghhhhhhh!
- Thread starter ginakatie
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Fell Pony
Always learning.....
Yep, i saw this a while back on you tube, it is very scary I agree BUT accidents don't happen all the time. It is a high risk sport and you would be wise to know that accidents do happen. This is a very extreme case. I have been driving for over 20 years (gawd I sound old) and I have never (fingers crossed, touch wood an all that) never had an accident whilst I have been driving. I have been involved where I have been the groom and yes it is scary but if you know what you are doing (hence why training and lessons are a good idea to know what to do in the event of an accident).
Don't let this video put you off, let it be a warning of what can happen when things do go wrong.
We all love our sport and do our damndest to make sure this doesn't happen!!
Enjoy!
Don't let this video put you off, let it be a warning of what can happen when things do go wrong.
We all love our sport and do our damndest to make sure this doesn't happen!!
Enjoy!
I witnessed a rather nasty tip up last weekend. Sadly one I have been predicting and writing letters to committees about, but being told "it's just a bit of fun" Last weekend what I had been worried about happened.
Basically driving is safer than riding, IF and only IF you put in place basic safety proceedures and stick to them.
My insurance to run a riding school ran into the thousands of £, the same insurance to run a driving facility runs into a few 100 £.
As Fell Pony says, so long as you learn from a reputable person and you don't try to cut corners things ought to be fine.
I Have been driving for 30 years or so and only ever tipped 2 carts, both in my hot headed youth.
Basically driving is safer than riding, IF and only IF you put in place basic safety proceedures and stick to them.
My insurance to run a riding school ran into the thousands of £, the same insurance to run a driving facility runs into a few 100 £.
As Fell Pony says, so long as you learn from a reputable person and you don't try to cut corners things ought to be fine.
I Have been driving for 30 years or so and only ever tipped 2 carts, both in my hot headed youth.
old_woman
a VERY senior citizen
I agree with Wally and Fell Pony.
I've been driving for many years and have only been in one very, very minor accident/incident. That was with a newly-broken small pony. He was a confident chappie but nevertheless we were restricting our driving to traffic-free tracks until his responses were down 'pat', when a large GSD whose responses were clearly NOT down 'pat', leapt away from its owner - leaving him sprawling in the mud - having decided that my little pony looked like dinner.
It really was a full-blown attacking leap, not just a snapping at the heels type of thing (which is the one time I appreciate a horse who can be persuaded to kick under saddle or in harness!). Little pony took off for a few seconds - just long enough to get the cart firmly caught between two posts, which we were about to bypass, having a key to the gate ...
It didn't do much good to the paintwork, nor to certain parts of the harness, but little pony calmed down remarkably quickly and looked round for the dog as if he wanted to kick the living daylights out of it. Too late! I was already laying into it with the driving whip while my friend/groom was at little pony's head. TBH I really wanted to lay into the dog's owner with my driving whip but he wasn't such an immediate threat to life and limb.
Little pony - after his momentary fright - dealt with the entire incident with such aplomb that I decided his responses were sufficiently reliable to take him out on the roads, and so it proved to be.
I've been driving for many years and have only been in one very, very minor accident/incident. That was with a newly-broken small pony. He was a confident chappie but nevertheless we were restricting our driving to traffic-free tracks until his responses were down 'pat', when a large GSD whose responses were clearly NOT down 'pat', leapt away from its owner - leaving him sprawling in the mud - having decided that my little pony looked like dinner.
It really was a full-blown attacking leap, not just a snapping at the heels type of thing (which is the one time I appreciate a horse who can be persuaded to kick under saddle or in harness!). Little pony took off for a few seconds - just long enough to get the cart firmly caught between two posts, which we were about to bypass, having a key to the gate ...
It didn't do much good to the paintwork, nor to certain parts of the harness, but little pony calmed down remarkably quickly and looked round for the dog as if he wanted to kick the living daylights out of it. Too late! I was already laying into it with the driving whip while my friend/groom was at little pony's head. TBH I really wanted to lay into the dog's owner with my driving whip but he wasn't such an immediate threat to life and limb.
Little pony - after his momentary fright - dealt with the entire incident with such aplomb that I decided his responses were sufficiently reliable to take him out on the roads, and so it proved to be.
old_woman
a VERY senior citizen
Another good reason why your whip should always be in your hand and not in the whip holder
Precisely
People who condemn us for 'using long cruel whips' have clearly got a very perverse mindset themselves, in that they are unable to comprehend a gentle stroke of the lash to knock off a horsefly, the laying of the lash on the neck to guide a horse's head or the defence of the horse (or human for that matter!) from crazed predators. Perhaps they would prefer the clegs to live a long and happy life and the predators to get their fun and games ...
My goodness, that was awful to watch!
I haven't driven in many years now. Used to drive quite a lot in my youth but for one reason and another it fizzled out. I would love to get back into a bit of driving but if ever I do, the only thing I will be using is http://naturaldriving.co.uk/content_home.php
The safety quick release alone sold it to me and I would be very dubious of driving in anything else after seeing the SaddleChariot in the flesh
I haven't driven in many years now. Used to drive quite a lot in my youth but for one reason and another it fizzled out. I would love to get back into a bit of driving but if ever I do, the only thing I will be using is http://naturaldriving.co.uk/content_home.php
The safety quick release alone sold it to me and I would be very dubious of driving in anything else after seeing the SaddleChariot in the flesh
That is awful, poor gorgeus horses. IMO once the horse took off, all the horses should have been unhitched and taken out of the ring. Awful. Still accidents happen and you can't let them stop u driving
The safest place to be in a mess like that is a driver in the cart and someone at his head. Unharnessing in the ring with all that going on is not what should be going on. Each turnout shoudl have made for the exit as and when it was safe.
I have one, maybe two ponies who would stop after the quick release cord was pulled. If they were in a blind panic the last thing I'd do is release the pony in the hope I could keep hold of it. Jumping off a moving cart is not easy to do without landing on your nose or your backside. Several folk I know who have had them have had problems with them.
I have one, maybe two ponies who would stop after the quick release cord was pulled. If they were in a blind panic the last thing I'd do is release the pony in the hope I could keep hold of it. Jumping off a moving cart is not easy to do without landing on your nose or your backside. Several folk I know who have had them have had problems with them.
Watching that video just got worse and worse. I felt sick afterwards. I can't understand what they were doing to the horse at the end. Maybe it had broken it's leg or something,or were they just holding it down for some other reason?
From what I've learnt from my sister, a Natural Horsemanship teacher and trainer, grounding a horse with force does untold damage to it's mental health. The chances of a recovery are slim from what I can understand. I'm not sure that grounding is the right word. Quite what they should have done I don't know, but I would be interested to hear from anyone with suggestions.
I would be interested to learn more about Saddlechariots. I attended a demonstration/teaching day about them this month.
From what I could understand, it is safer to have a pony/horse bolt with out a vehicle attached than with. I understand the point that a horse bolting alone is not safe where there is traffic, people etc, but surely it would be far worse if it was attached to a vehicle. There are times when getting to the horse's head when driving alone is not possible, the video is a good example of this. If the driver in the video had a quick release system then surely the out come would have been different.
A I am now a wheelchair user and there is a version of the Saddlechariot for just this purpose, if there is some danger in using a Saddlechariot then I really would like to know. Surely I would be safer using something with a quick release system than something without ?
I had to watch the video again to make sure of what I had seen. I feel quite ill now.
at the end, they were holding the horse down so they could safly untangle it from the harness, in a big mess. its terrifying. i dont drive but still, i think they really should have got all the horses out as soon as poss
If the horse had got up having been tangled in the harness it may have done itself even more damage. They needed to keep it down while they untangled it and made it safe for the horse to stand again.
We often sit on ponies coming out of anaesthetic to stop them trying to get up before they are ready. They all go on to make sensible citizens.
We often sit on ponies coming out of anaesthetic to stop them trying to get up before they are ready. They all go on to make sensible citizens.
Yes but I would much rather a loose horse than a loose horse with a trap in tow
Much more dangerous for a horse to be running loose with the trap IMO.As said above really. In case of an emergency, I would much rather step off and use the quick release system to prevent myself getting into a dangerous situation. I also would not try to hang onto the horse if not possible. The idea behind the quick release system is to free the horse from the Chariot which again IMO is the safest option. A horse running around in blind panic with a trap in tow is just asking for trouble. A horse just running loose in panic is much more likely to settle faster as opposed to a cart flying around all over the place behind him.
In the OP's link, I strongly believe that if those horses were using saddle chariots, it wouldn't have been anywhere near as awful and dangerous an incident.
As I have said, I am all for the SaddleChariot. Have seen it's use and met the man behind it himself (lovely guy I might add) and I would NEVER drive with anything other than a saddlechariot after seeing how much safer they really are
If the horses in the clip had been using saddle chariots they wouldn't have been in a show ring!!
I'm just not seeing the attraction of these saddle chariots - where and how do you practice the release and step off bit so that in the event of a horse bolting
you can deal with it effectively? IMO the safest thing to do is have a pony properly trained and have a nimble groom who can assist at the first signs of trouble. My husband has twice been on a carriage when the horse took fright at something and bolted (not our horse or carriage) and both times he stayed on and held the carriage from tipping until the driver got the horse safely back under control. Both times the horse involved went on to drive calmly again - if it had been released from the vehicle it would have learnt that when you run, you get away from the carriage - as it was the horses learnt that the carriage came with them and stopped when they did, no problem. I think they are horrible things and are encouraging bad practice - no-one should drive on their own, under any circumstances! Especially people with mobility issues!! Can you imagine what would happen when your pony gets startled out on the road or on a lane and you loosen it from the vehicle and let go the reins??? It really doesn't bare thinking about.
If my pony spooks (as he can occasionally as he is a very fit and sharp competition pony) I shorten my reins and bring him back under control pronto while my groom helps stabilise the carriage - I don't leap off and let him get on with it! And even if he was bolting blindly I would like to think I was responsible enough to take some kind of action - supposing it was turning him into a hedge but I would have to be in dire straights before I would consider jumping off.
IMO if you feel you need to have a saddle chariot for safety then you probably need some decent lessons instead. One day these things will be banned and they'll all be left sitting gathering dust in garages, no matter how nice a guy the designer is.
As for 'grounding' a horse - it maybe wasn't the best way to stop the horse in the clip but it worked and the horses involved in that drama were all reported to be unhurt.
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