groundtieing
This is my second blog about Woodrow. Woodrow has been undergoing the schooling to be a carriage horse. He has been driven in long reins but never in harness and carriage. Woodrow is a bit afraid of things coming up behind him suddenly or of being touched on the behind. He jumps whenever this happens. So I have started him out wearing blinders a few minutes a day to get him used to having obscured vision. Next I used a carrot stick (a parelli device for training) to get him over being afraid of being touched on the behind, legs, belly and under his tail. After about 30 minutes of gentle persuasion he was standing there letting me touch him with the cord on the carrot stick all over, no problem.
Today I put him in a surcingle and long reins with blinders and drove him around the round pen at a walk with the long reins touching the backs of his legs under his tail where the harness would naturally fit. Piece of cake. He is coming along quite well. I figured he was ready for some poles at this point, but I didn’t want to rush him. So I took some pool noodles I had and fastened them onto his side where the poles of the carriage would fit. I drove him again, no problem.
Tomorrow Woodrow and I will add to the noodles to lengthen them and have them drag the ground. This will be to get him used to the sound and feel of the poles as they scrape the ground and they are soft and flexible enough that he won’t hurt himself should he spook. Adding a little weight may be a challenge but I am sure I can figure it out. He will be driving a carriage by the end of the week. After that it is all down hill. Watch for updates on Woodrow’s progress.