This is actually going to be an extremely good carriage horse. Woodrow has won my heart. I have been training him to drive for a few weeks and if you have read
Learning to pullmy previous blogs about him, you will know that he started out a little nervous about people in general. Since he has come to us, he has calmed down and gladly says hello, eats his grain out of our hand (I know, I know, this isn’t desirable to some people), loves to be petted and gets along well with most of the other horses. We do have one mare (Midnight) that puts him in his place quickly. When she is in the pasture with him, he will just freeze until she lets him move. She used to be a mom and is a boss mare and Woodrow has certainly learned his place in the pecking order with her.
I trail rode Woodrow recently. We were riding through the woods blazing a new trail. He stepped on something and bruised his hind sole. So, he gets to stay in a small enclosure and get his foot soaked twice a day until he feels better. At first he did not like this at all! But he has adapted and I think looks forward to it now because he gets his withers scratched, his coat brushed and a few treats for being a good boy. This has set him back a little in learning to pull a cart. However he is so smart that he will pick right up where he left off and be fine. At first when he turned with the training cart hooked up to him he couldn’t figure it out. He thought he had to run or at least gait up some. But with my husband walking next to him and reassuring him while I drove him, he quickly decided it wasn’t something that was going to jump on his back and eat him. In just a few short weeks he went from being confused and skittish about having blinders on him to driving down the road quietly with a training cart. Can’t wait to get him in the driving cart!