Rainy Day Driving Fun

Got 'dem mid-winter blahs, sick and tired of riding 'round and round in circles indoors, wishing for a nice trail ride, or horse show, or ANYthing. And since today's weather was downright MISERABLE, and I had a feeling I'd have the arena to myself for that very reason, I decided to hitch the ole' hoss up and drive him!

Haven't driven since Christmas Eve when poor Coos about got run to his knees, toting me and miscellaneous children through that soft arena footing for over two hours, but since then the arena's gotten somewhat packed down, and I thought I'd give it a try.

It's been a steady light rain allll day long, and Quzqo's winter blanket apparently isn't waterproof, because he was SOAKED to the skin underneath his sodden blankie, poor boy. He WANTED in, LOL, pathetic drowned-rat looking critter. So, harness was ideal, I'm sure a few little straps felt less oogy than a big ole' saddle pad on his wet self.

Lunged him a little bit, he had a little P&V but wasn't crazy. Got him harnessed up, and happy day, he accepted the bit like a pro, actually reaching for it this time! I guess it pays to warm it in hot water first. Now to see what else he comes up with to mess me up (remember last Spring I had to literally tie his head down in order to bridle him?).

Ground-drove him for a few minutes just to get ourselves used to things again. LOL, he was almost pulling me along, he was so enthused! He remembered his "Gee" from his "Haw" (okay, I still use those voice commands when I'm riding him, and found it comes in REAL handy when I'm working on turns on the haunches).

Breaking many Driving rules, I tied him to a post and managed to bring the cart up behind him & hitched him up w/o a problem. He stood rock-solid & occasionally swung his head around to goober on my shoulder or neck or whatever he could reach. He was exceptionally cute and affectionate, maybe he was that grateful to be inside out of the freezing rain AND that he wasn't going to be ridden. He does seem to enjoy being driven, so who knows!!

He stood rock solid still for me while I got into the cart and we sat there a minute or two before moving off...THAT is a great achievement, sometimes he's Mr. GoGoGo!

Once we got moving he really got enthused & merrily trotted through the soft dirt like a pro, we had a grand time, and I still had my shaft bells on from Christmas, so we were just jingle-dingle ringing all over the place. Luckily no horses were inside, so nobody got spooked from the horrific sight of a horse pulling a cart!

Drove him for about 45 minutes, he was slowing down on his own by then, goofy guy, and when we called it quits, he stood rock-solid still while I unhitched him & moved the cart back and away. He was barely breathing hard, & not a drop of sweat on him...and he'd dried off pretty well on the shoulder & butt, which probably generated more heat than his barrel/back, since that was still wet.

Had to laugh at the amount of shed hair that came off w/the harness straps as well!

A good time was had by all, and Coos got to relax in his stall w/a hot bran mash & a clean stall (yeah, I had to clean it again, grrrrgh).

That was fun, I'd almost forgotten what a hoot it is! We'll definitely do that again soon!

There's a big regional used tack sale weekend after next, I'm heading to that, and maybe somebody's selling a used biothane harness. The driving folks on the Chronicle of the Horse forums hold a very dim view of new harnesses bought on eBay, and now I'm worried about my cheap, Indian harness. There's a few stitches coming loose here and there, and the overcheck is broken, so maybe it's time for an upgrade since I'm
definitely going to keep driving!