What age could you start driving a horse?

by Roch Drives on September 11, 2006

justjumpitjag asked:


like to show AQHA pleasure driving?
Wow I didnt think that so many people that dont know much about horses would answer so quickly. Yes Driving like a horse pulling a two wheel cart and you driving them, similar to plowing. If you look up harness racing thats what it looks like just in AQHA its way slower and graceful

Joann

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{ 12 comments }

♥Honey Blood Coma♥ September 17, 2006 at 12:32 pm

Woah.
I didn’t know that you can drive a horse.
I thought you could only ride them.

kevinitisii September 17, 2006 at 6:15 pm

since when do people drive horses. I have only saw them riding horses and I have seen kids as young as 6 riding horses.

va8326 September 18, 2006 at 2:15 pm

you appear to be confused because i have never seen anyone ”drive” a horse

kahnegirl September 20, 2006 at 7:36 pm

I start mine, training that is 1yr. No weight, just use to things behind them!!! & Use to the harness.

Gille N September 24, 2006 at 12:04 am

there is no age for “driving” (:D) a horse. Well, atleast as like. 4 or 5.

hey, and do you need a liscense to ride one? :D

texasrose79761 September 24, 2006 at 12:28 pm

Driving is really hard on a horse’s knees. The knees don’t fully form until they are 3 years old. If you horse is older, not a problem. If your horse is younger, go to your vet and have an ex-ray done. Ask there opinion.

avalon552 September 27, 2006 at 6:39 am

i think that it is never to soon to start the ground work… make them comfortable with you walking behind them or line driving. but i never start to work a horse (driving or riding) before the horse is 3 so that their legs have time to fully develop

can76chaser October 2, 2006 at 5:30 pm

I have been driving for years. I start training mine at 2yr or so. Just the harness, no weight on them. Then I put weight on them around 3yrs. You start with a tire or wood. I own Morgan horses & here ia a link. Hope it helps.

fae October 4, 2006 at 1:15 am

Fourteen months, just keep the circles large, his knees and joints are still growing so take it easy, drive in serpentines and do circle work at the walk and trot with lots of reverses.

Mulereiner # October 5, 2006 at 9:13 pm

I started my 10 mth old donkey in driving training immediately.

For the first 2 years, I ground drove him in his halter and lines and took him for walks everywhere.

Right before his 3rd bday, I bought a harness for him and bitted him up in a snaffle. I just continued to ground drive him at shows, at open riding, around the barn etc, making sure all my cues and commands were solid.

Driving him in the halter gave him such a soft mouth. He had a fairly easy transition to bit. He pulled a travois as a 2 yr old.

I hooked him as a 3 yr old and hes doing wonderful.

You can hook them as a 2 yr old, mentally, this donkey wasn’t ready for it and I chose to wait. I would just go with what you feel comfortable with the animal. My belief is that you can’t ground drive and expose them enough and I want to be sure how they will react in a situation before hooking to cart.

Good luck!

Edit, i read all the uninformed talking about weight issues. Do you people realize that a properly fitted cart weighs 5-10lbs on their back? There is no weight on them. The weight they pull is far less than sitting on them at 2 yrs old. Wow, I agree, lots of uninformed ppl on YA tonight, must be the full moon.

Danielle B October 5, 2006 at 11:53 pm

You can start ground driving (walking behind with long reins) early as you want. We do it to all of our 2 yr olds before we start riding them at 3. As for actual driving, 3-4 yrs is usually good to start driving, going slow and easy in the beginning to build up the muscles needed.

dressage.rider October 6, 2006 at 7:22 pm

I’d recommend about a year in age, make sure that they are on good soft footing, not pulling alot of weight and that you do short drives. Thier knees are not closed yet so don’t stress them at this age. But, it is great to do and builds a wonderful foundation for riding later on.