The weather has been unseasonably warm here – 70s yesterday and today both. It’s got me antsy to get working. The harness is being made now, so hopefully I’ll have it here soon. In the meantime I started refreshing the pony. It’s been about 5 years since he’s been driven, but he’s a good quiet boy with an excellent memory, thankfully. I found a PNW Extension publication with a diagram for training poles that would work with the pleasure harness I have to at least start desensitizing him to the sensation of something dragging behind him on the ground, since he’s only used to pulling 2-wheeled pleasure carts.
I built one quickly, though I’m pretty sure I need to move the cross brace back on the poles a bit…they seem a little short in front…I don’t have a picture from the side though. He was great with the dragging sensation, didn’t miss a beat. I walked him with a halter and lead rope for a few rounds before putting the bridle on and driving with the lines. We drove like this for about 30 minutes before I gave him a handful of grain (a HUGE treat for a fat pony who’s been on a hay-only diet for years) and brushed him down.
I’ve learned in my time around the drafts at work that the time you spend on the ground brushing and building that comfortable relationship is time well spent and can’t be overlooked. What animal would want to work for a handler who only comes out to toss on a harness and send them to work for a bit (maybe a long bit) before tossing them back in the pen with hardly a thankyouverymuch. Even though I’ve had this pony for about 15 years (I got him as a barely-green-broke 2 1/2 year old), I feel like I need to reinforce that relationship even more now that I’m going to be asking him to work for me rather than just using him for pleasure.
-Kelly & Red
