First Hitch and Fourth Birthday

There are moments with horses that are experienced only once or twice in a lifetime; today was the kind of day that I will remember forever.

Levi turned four today. He has been brought along very carefully since he came into our care in November 2020. This day represents a culmination of approximately 2.5 years of consistent and careful work, with and without a trainer, with and without the best space or equipment, and with and without people to help us. Today, all things galvanized in our favor, and we hitched him to his cart for the first time without incident. This was a milestone separating all of our foundational progress from the future work he will accomplish under cart. I have been working toward this day for a very long time. After the events of today, my mind is at rest, because I know that he is ready to begin the next phases of the work.

The day began with our 30 minute walking warmup, as usual, but with a twist: his cart accompanied us for the walk, carried by one of my intrepid helpers. I was able to secure not one but two people to help us perform this task today. For this part, one helper carried the cart while I walked Levi out, and this first video details our work in that regard. It is important that the horse sees exactly how the cart moves, hears the noises it makes from all sides, and is able to move comfortably with the cart in all positions, and in the environments he will eventually work with that cart. Carts pulled by other equines will move swiftly up into his field of view in the future; he must be prepared for that. He will pass, and be passed by carriages moving at all speeds, and he should be able to accept this. Practicing with the cart situated close to its intended position is also crucial to helping the horse accept this object following closely behind him without fear. If done properly and carefully, the horse becomes well-prepared to accept the cart moving right behind him in draft. Part of this long introduction takes place in the video below. The videos in this post are a bit lengthy so feel free to skip ahead, but there are some points that might be informative. (The proportions of objects in the video are also a bit distorted - to put it into perspective, Levi is 15 hh and Joe is 6 feet tall, while I am significantly shorter, but my helmet cam makes everything look funhouse mirror-like.)

It's interesting to note that approximately 90% of the needed training for this situation actually takes place in the first 30 minutes of working with the horse, as everything he needs to know in order to be calm going forward is part of this one capsule. The rest of the training is not an afterthought, but after careful preparation the horse is quite relaxed and unfazed about everything else, so the remainder is really solidifying what he learned in the first several minutes. This is extraordinarily helpful and another illustration of the value of the '30 minute warmup' we utilize every time we train.

The next video details the remaining steps we took to help prepare to hitch Levi to his cart.  The second person in the video is Sam, our barn manager, who has graciously helped me so much with Levi and offers helpful advice throughout the video. She is an accomplished driver who has started many horses and ponies, and has expertise with young horses of all ages. We are very grateful for her help. After Levi accepted the cart visually without incident, I put his driving bridle on and we repeated this process; again, no issues there. We then harnessed him and took him into the indoor arena where the actual hitch would take place. I first drove him around a bit to get used to the arena, and then hitched his drag once he was comfortable. I did this because he will need to be prepared to feel the weight of the cart on his collar, and on the saddle a bit as well, even though the weight of the cart is insignificant in comparison to his tire drag. After he drove calmly with the tire for a bit, I unhooked the drag and asked my assistants to position themselves at either side of his head, and we were ready to hitch. This video below details that entire process. If you want to just watch the hitching and walking out part, skip to the 20 minute mark of the video.

To the sharp-eyed drivers viewing the video, please know that we understand this initial turnout is far from ideal; the tugs need to be lifted and shafts shifted forward while the breeching and bucking strap also need to be adjusted, among several other things. This is not a perfect turnout, just a first attempt at hitching. All of this, and proper balancing of the cart, will be perfected in the next few hitches, as the horse becomes comfortable with this process. I will examine every piece of harness to ensure it is comfortable and functional for the horse. I will also share videos and photos of our final turnout with experienced drivers and get their feedback. Optimizing our turnout is a work in progress for sure and there are endless areas for improvement.

For the initial hitch, every attempt to keep a calm and relaxing environment was taken, and every person involved was very quiet and deliberate in their movements, with no one making any unnecessary motions. Because we've always treated Levi this way, he has always felt so safe with us in the arena that he nearly always falls asleep when he's getting ready to go out; the running joke has always been that he needs an alarm clock to begin his training sessions. I definitely prefer this to an excited horse for sure! Today, fortunately, was no different. This quiet horse proved himself more than willing to accept this new situation with ease, including multiple adjustments made to his harness as he stood to be hooked to the cart for the first time. He has dealt with my constant adjustments to his tack since he was a baby, and this is nothing new to him. He also quietly and willingly walked out, obeyed my requests and dealt with the strange sensation of the shafts in the turns, and was just over all a gem during the whole process. We made one lap in one direction around the arena, then reversed directions and made another lap, and then called victory for the day. In retrospect, I wish I'd been more attentive to how much space my poor assistants had available for a quick exit on either side, particularly toward the arena wall, as I was more focused on Levi; I didn't think he'd try to push into the wall in any case. At no point during this hitch did I try to step into the cart; that will be accomplished in subsequent hitches. Today's first hitch was all about helping him feel comfortable with a cart strapped to him for the first time, and understanding that he can move out exactly as he has been taught before. As I always say to him, "Don't worry about it. You already know the answers. You how to do everything you will be asked to do today."

The next several hitches will be just as simple. We will work at becoming more confident, solid, and independent first, working for longer periods of time; then, when he is showing that he is ready for more, I will step into the cart and ask him to walk out a few steps. This will probably happen within the first six or seven hitches. We will continue to build on this, always stopping the work well before he is ready to quit, and always ending on a high note. Finally, after several weeks of working in the cart in the indoor, he will be ready to go outside and begin working again in the same outdoor spaces we have already claimed. After a solid year of work under cart, Levi will be ready to prepare for his first show under cart in the Fall of 2024. I have more detailed training plans for this to share in upcoming posts, but for now, I will enjoy our little success today. As of today, he is officially a driving horse.