Third carriage driving lesson

laura jeanne

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Jan 7, 2004
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I started out with lunging again. It was going fine but I forgot to switch the lunge line to the other side when I changed sides!

Then the long reining went okay. I had to practice a figure 8 and also square turns. On the square turn, you have to make the horse kind of pivot on the hind legs and bring the shoulders around. So when the outside front leg is back, I had to put some pressure on the outside rein and then release it as the horse stepped forward. It worked!!

My horse was rounding up, curving her neck and going on the bit a few times.

I'm very excited because I am going to start taking riding lessons from this RI on Thursday nights after work. So this week will be the first one. (in addition to the carriage driving)

Does anyone else feel as awkward and clumsy as I do handling the lunge and long reins while trying to get them set up?? They keep getting tangled and dragging on the ground.

Anyway, I love it and can't wait for my next lesson. Next Sunday I will be out of town but may be able to make it up during the following week.
 
Long reining and lungeing are not as easy as they look. Handling all the kit takes time and effort to get sorted. Don't worry, soon you'll not be aware of the reins and whip you'll just be concentrating on the horse and the reins will sort themselves out.
 
I had three lessons lunging and two long reining, laura jeanne. So you are faster than me.
 
Yes, the whip was another problem. I kept thinking that if I were taller, it wouldn't be such a problem, but I'm sure that's not true. I just need to get used to it all.

I did figure out that I need to get the lunge line folded so that when I want to let it out it will feed from the front. And I also need to sort out the reins before I even start putting them on.

I can see that I will be at this stage for quite a while before we even get to the harness/carriage part. Then a whole new learning stage will start again. I'm just in love with the whole thing. I love the horse too.

Skib, did you find that you had the same problems with all the reins and lines and whip?
 
hey laura jeanne, I have a 12hh driving pony, i had her broken last year and had some basic driving lessons at the same time.. i still find myself getting in knots with reins and whip.. :confused:
I think you'll pick it up much better than i have, as you are going about it the right way and getting proper lessons before jumping in the deep end!!!
 
Skib, did you find that you had the same problems with all the reins and lines and whip?

O my yes, the thread where I asked NR for help is a detailed record of my baffled incompetence.
This will be a long post.
My situation was different. I wasnt learning to drive. But my great 5 year plan for learning to ride included both lunging and long lining. My RI happily agreed to give me lessons in both (she didn't mind which I did first).

As with most learning I found I managed best by separating the elements.

First lesson: the whip. I got into a right muddle about how to handle it and move it from one hand to the other. In the end I think I found a picture in a book, but you don’t need to buy a book.
You have to move the whip from one hand to another behind your back so it doesn’t frighten the horse. And to do this you have to turn the whip the other way up in your hand. This is called reversing the whip.You are holding the whip upwards and to turn it tip down the trick is to move your thumb under the end of the handle, to the other side, then adjust your fingers. Then you switch it to the other hand and tuck it under your arm. It is still upside down. You reverse the trick to turn the whip the right way up again. But this time if it is awkward to move your thumb, the secret is to move your little finger instead. I bought a lunge whip and practised this, and controlling the thread of the whip.
But you can practise using any short whip.
The text books gave me the idea one did this with one hand.
Finally, I found it was a non-problem as my RI allowed one to use both hands to juggle the whip about!

Next element was the lunge line.
Even I remembered easily that you held the line in the hand towards which the horse was going. If the horse is on the left rein, moving to your left, the line goes in your left hand, and vice versa.
My RI taught me to start the change of rein by halting the horse and then moving the line into my other hand. Then it was clear which direction you were going to start off in. Changing hands first and then approaching the horse and winding up the line as you go means it will unwind again easily from that same hand?

I bought a lunge line and fixed it to my daughter’s garden bench and then practised passing it to the other hand, coiling it up as I walked to the bench. And walking away, letting it out again.

Then I practised with the whip and line together, still using the bench.
Then I lunged my two grand daughters (one after the other) who pretended to be ponies.
And in return I let them lunge me.


The long lining was simple in comparison as there is no whip and you don’t coil the line to change reins.

Since then I have seen Richard Maxwell do a demo of rope circling and long lining and I bought his latest DVD showing how to do it.

He doesn’t use a whip even when using a single rope. To simplify things he says. Instead he twirls the end of the rope. But he does suggest you practise doing this without the horse to improve dexterity. He fixed the end of the rope to a ring, much as I used the garden bench. And you must twirl the end of the rope away from yourself, otherwise you may hit yourself in the face.

Some people use long lining as a substitute for lunging. In my lessons I didn’t do much circling. Long lining I did was like riding but without legs. I walked behind the horse and my RI used the lines to teach me to handle a horse with only the reins? I neglect the reins when I ride. So it was good practise for me. But I wasn’t learning to drive.
We used my teacher’s personal mare, and she was so good that after two lessons, I went back to riding.

So in other words, yes, for a short while I felt a right idiot. But after two week's practise at home, I had the hang of it. And from what Maxwell says, everyone needs to practise without the horse. So I am sure you'll do fine.

And by the way, I think one could practise with any stick and a piece of rope. You don't need to buy all the gear as I did!
 
jack, are you having fun with the driving then? I do not have a horse and so have to take lessons to be able to ride (drive).

Esther, I am 5 feet also. It just seems like if I were taller, things wouldn't be dragging on the ground while I am getting set up and the whip would be easier to handle. But, hey, any excuse! And the long reins are supposed to be over my shoulder but they keep slipping off.

Skib, I am going to print out this thread so I can try to figure out what you did and do some practicing. I could go early to my next lesson and practice with the real stuff.
 
The difference being - I have been longreining for over 15 years, you have been longreining for a few weeks :) I don't longrein with the reins over my shoulder, I have them in my hand and I try to use ones that I am comfortable with. I may have adapted some things over the years to accomodate my height without really thinking about it. You soon learn your own method of doing things, but as you are doing you need to learn the text book method first. Is it a heavy whip? I don't like really heavy whips and I tend to use a driving whip rather than a lunge whip so I am not falling over the lash. Sounds like you are doing well though.
 
Esther, I'm not sure what kind of a whip I am using! I am using the whip for the lunging part- it's not heavy, just long with a long string attached (another problem). I will ask what kind it is - goodness, the things I didn't even know I didn't know!!

In my second lesson, I accidentally raised the whip up and that is this horse's cue for canter so all of a sudden she was cantering around! As this was only my 3rd time with all this, I think I am doing pretty well but I'm sure as time goes on, I will get more comfortable with it.

I do seem to get a bit dizzy while lunging. Is there a secret as to where to look or something? If I look at the background, I feel better but looking at the horse I get dizzy.
 
jack, are you having fun with the driving then? I do not have a horse and so have to take lessons to be able to ride (drive).

YEs it is great fun, especially as my little pony seems to enjoy it so much!! when my friend broke her to harness he said to me that the pony had definitely driven before as she was a natural at it.. but i have had her since a 2 yr old so i know she hasn't!!
I went to a driving trials last weekend with a friend.. the obstacles part looks great fun.. if a bit scary!! but I might have a go in the field with a few cones this weekend! :)
 
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