Back on Track

We are fortunate that the July heatwave is over, and the flies have abated enough to allow us to work consistently again. While we're still experiencing drenching storms and flooding, it's possible to work in the indoor without overheating, and the horses are back to their regular turnout schedule. Giving the horses as much time as possible outdoors does wonders for their mental and physical well-being.

To make up for lost time driving Levi in July, Joe and I have hitched and driven him five times since the beginning of this month. Most of these drives were kept under 20 minutes total, because we have been making many adjustments and modifications to both the cart and the harness to ensure proper fit and balance. Balancing a cart shouldn't be so difficult, but every driver I've talked to who drives carts has empathized in our efforts to solve what amounts to a physics and geometry problem. As you can see in the little video below showing of one of these brief  'test-modify-test' drives, the bench seat of the Frey Sprint is a little too high for me, perching me high up above Levi's back and at a less than ideal angle, and is also slanted downward, resulting in more downward pressure on Levi's saddle than is comfortable. It's also not acceptable aesthetically, as a properly balanced cart is a minimum requirement for a nice turnout and judges would comment on this. Different drivers tend to have differing opinions on this issue, and I have received a wide range of helpful feedback from them, but on this matter I preferred to take the advice of drivers who are also judges, or who are at least very experienced in building or modifying carts and carriages. I posted a similar video of Levi and I driving in his Frey cart to the social media page of our local driving club, which I call "The Fancy Hat Society" due to their consistently fabulous and always on-point turnouts. The most common feedback was to simply raise the tug loops (which I did by punching a hole in the biothane just below the top of the tug where it attaches to the saddle); this helped somewhat, but still didn't level the cart. After some tinkering, we realized we could change the angle of the bench by simply lowering the seat (thank goodness for the adjustability of the Freys!) and this did seem to do the trick. I'll post a follow-up driving video of that in my next post.

On a related, but sad note, Todd Frey, the maker of these fine carts and carriages, recently passed away. Frey's work was so innovative and impressive; every cart and carriage is a piece of art, including my own. Thank you for your wonderful and futuristic contributions to our sport of carriage driving, Mr. Frey. Your masterful work brought a lot of joy and helped many people and their horses realize their potential as drivers and athletes.

Joe and I have committed to hitching Levi twice a week, which is currently what he can manage due to his work schedule. As I mentioned in a previous post, I don't hitch alone and I never drive alone. One day, when Levi has had ideally a number of years under cart, I may trust him enough to stand quietly to hitch on my own, but at this time, given that these are still such new days, we will always work with a header. Joe and Levi are really developing a sweet relationship, and it's lovely to witness. Levi has made it clear that he really just wants to be trained by Mom and Dad. I'm no longer searching high and low for a trainer; in fact, I am rather wary and not interested in working with anyone who does not share my philosophy on horsemanship and values, regardless of how experienced and accomplished they may be as trainers. I have learned that there is an important distinction between being an exceptional competitor and having the capacity to be a fantastic trainer: sometimes, the two go together, but as I have seen this is more rare than one might expect. This is not an indictment of anyone, nor intended as arrogance on my part as much as it is disappointment and frustration; I have felt pretty discouraged by this process of working with others, and feel that Levi and I are making progress alone, in our own right. I have grown to trust my two hands, and my horse, and have newfound confidence in my ability to bring him along in the right ways quietly, safely, and humanely. He remains in excellent care at his boarding farm, surrounded by those who like and trust us, who are kind, and support our endeavors.

For Fall, I have a few goals I'd like to accomplish. One, I want to bring Levi to the point where he is driving comfortably and calmly on the property, in the outdoor arena and on the farm roads. So far, we have hitched a total of 12 times, and all with one exception were in the indoor, so this will be a nice stretch goal and a logical next step. Levi has been asked to walk and trot in his cart in the indoor, change direction on the diagonal, navigate turns, drive a 20 meter circle, and calmly handle his transitions. As always, he must stand quietly and remain under control every moment of training. For working outdoors under cart, particularly at a trot, I will have Levi fitted for boots to protect his feet as I wish to keep him barefoot. Next, I want to take him once more to the Rowley Riding and Driving Club show, and participate in both in-hand and equitation classes. I think this is a great experience and I love to support our local equestrian clubs! Finally, and most exciting to me anyway, I will begin trailering Levi out for field trips once or twice a week, to places where we will be driving in the future, namely the iconic Appleton Farm, Waldingfield, and the Julia Bird reservation. These spaces are historically and currently in use by carriage drivers and for training and exercising horses under saddle. The Fancy Hat Society's annual driving competitions (which we will participate in as well) also occur in this location, so it benefits us to have Levi comfortable working there. Fortunately, these venues are literally in Levi's backyard, not but five minutes' drive from the farm. Trailering him to new locations, and taking him for long hacks out in hand across varied terrain, to help him learn and grow confident, is an important extension of our current in-hand work and will expose him to the environments in which he will drive and compete most of the time. It will also help to prepare him for future work under saddle, which will involve mostly trail riding in these and other local areas to begin with, as I would like to do competitive trail and endurance with him in the future! All of the work we do in hand is now slowly preparing him to transition to being started under saddle, and I will share my plans for that in upcoming posts. For now, we will focus on driving as our main activity, with the goal of performing in our first pleasure show sometime next Fall.

(I also wanted to mention as a continuation to my last post that the incidents I observed at NEMHS were reported to the proper authorities, who assured me they are following up. In discussing this with the show secretary I learned that the steward was actually already aware the incidents, which meant that others in addition to myself were concerned enough to take action. Whether anything will come of it, or whether it will change anything in terms of how horses are managed and treated at these shows, is unknown. I am not holding my breath, but I hope at least that the word is out there: treating horses inhumanely in any way is not acceptable, ever, no matter how important you are. In 2023, it would be unwise to assume anything egregious that you do publicly to a horse cannot backfire for you in some way. I've also reluctantly decided that as much as I wanted to show my support for carriage driving at the Morgan breed shows, I won't be contributing by participating with my horse in the future.)