Driving clinic on Sunday

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Red's Mom
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Driving clinic on Sunday

Postby Red's Mom » Fri Oct 13, 2017 5:57 am

Screen Shot 2017-10-12 at 10.37.08 PM.png
Screen Shot 2017-10-12 at 10.37.08 PM.png (132.9 KiB) Viewed 6922 times
This is my driving pony Oreo. We are going to a driving clinic in Moorpark with Larry Brinker this Sunday.

Sue B
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Re: Driving clinic on Sunday

Postby Sue B » Fri Oct 13, 2017 4:19 pm

Oh wow, that looks fun!

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StraightForward
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Re: Driving clinic on Sunday

Postby StraightForward » Sun Oct 15, 2017 11:45 pm

How fun! I dream of having a driving pony someday. :)
Keep calm and canter on.

Red's Mom
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Re: Driving clinic on Sunday

Postby Red's Mom » Tue Oct 17, 2017 6:43 am

Driving is so fun. My pony is a little hot, it is better to have a less hot horse for driving, but she likes to go and that's fun. Our clinic was on driving dressage. I was getting tips on how to achieve proper bend, turns, and backing. I wish I could get people to join our driving club. I am 59 and one of the youngest members. It is a dying sport! I wanted to take up driving for a long time, but never got around to it. 2 years ago I bought a 10 hand pony, Charlie, who I still have, from Craigslist. He came with his own cart and harness. I was told he was a great driver, but the owners never got around to driving him, so they put him up for sale. They only had him for about a year. I bought him for $1,400.00. It turns out he wasn't a good driving pony at all, he totally freaked out. I still have Charlie and he is so sweet. Maybe someday I will try driving him again. I then bought Oreo off Craigslist as well. This time, I made the seller drive her before I bought her. They said she had not pulled a cart in over a year, but hitched her up, and she happily pulled that cart! And boy was it a windy day. So, I bought her for $1,200.00. She is a real cutie, but has been a bit difficult. She can get light in front. She loves to go cross country, and she likes to go fast. You aren't supposed to canter, but sometimes we canter on the trail. It is incredibly fun.

For some reason I thought driving would be easy... It isn't! And when you go to a show or clinic, it is a major ordeal, because not only do you have to get the pony there, but also the cart, and you have to dress up and wear fancy hats! Driving people are very down to earth and helpful.

Srhorselady
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Re: Driving clinic on Sunday

Postby Srhorselady » Tue Oct 17, 2017 9:33 pm

That's great that you followed your driving dream. It has always looked like fun, BUT a lot of work. All that harness to put on and keep clean! I had a good friend who drove her mini in drill team and combined driving. Another friend was show secretary for several years for a combined driving club, which is how I found myself scribing at driving dressage and judging obstacles for several years. Lots of fun and I learned a lot. A little scarry at times too. Some of those advanced drivers are VERY good and then there are others... It's good to have a good crew at an obstacle if a cart goes over and you have to try and get the horse out of its harness/cart before they take off!

Red's Mom
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Re: Driving clinic on Sunday

Postby Red's Mom » Wed Oct 18, 2017 2:00 am

It can be scary. I would not call myself advanced, since I have only been driving for about 2 years. My pony can be a bit difficult at times. We went to a show last June and she flipped over in the cart! She doesn't usually act that bad, no one got hurt, but we had work to do after that! I never hitch by myself. I don't drive as often as i should, because I don't always have someone available to help me hitch. My harness is biothane so it is easy to clean, BUT it is much more difficult to go to a driving show or clinic than a dressage show! Funny thing is that I have gone to many more driving events than dressage shows. Many drivers don't have a driving facility so they have to go places to drive. My driving club plans a lot of activities. I am lucky enough to have an arena and a flattish trail for driving. It helps that my pony iOS only 12 hands.


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