Breaking a riding horse to work

[Andy Carson]

I have decided to teach my wifes riding horse to do some work. He’s about 15.1 hands with a stocky build (for a riding horse) and seems like he would be able to do a substantial amount of work. He also deals with the heat incredibly well, which is a big motivation. At any rate, I have a couple questions I would like to get opinions on.

1. I am tempted to bite the bullet and get a collar harness for him. My only hangup would be that they are a little more expensive and on the off chance that he just won’t work well, it would be more money wasted. I have never used a breast collar and am not sure how much work can be done with these…

2. I have this idea that when he is going well, I might be able to team him up with my draft mare from time to time. I don’t plan on doing this alot, but there are times I would like a little more power. They are very different sizes((15.1-1100 lbs vs 16.3-1700 lbs) but move at about the same speed and get along well. The draft is in good condition but the riding horse is not. I was thinking I could move the connection on the double tree over so that the draft is pulling twice the load at the beginning and make fine adjustments later. Maybe it is a pipe dream to work two animals of such different sizes together and I ought to focus on working the riding horse alone…

3. The riding horse ground drives better in an open bridle. My draft works better with blinkers. Any problem with working them mixed like this?

Any advice or thoughts are appreciated.

[Tim Harrigan]

Andy, that is quite a way to move the linkage on the doubletree but it should be OK as long as you are not using a pole on a wagon or implement. Ground skidding would probably be fine when they are pulling, starts might take a little more practice. From what I know of a breast collar they are really best for light draft like a cart or wagon. If you are really interested in teaming them up for work you should think about a standard collar. Don’t worry about the size difference. If the evener can be adjusted to distribute the load correctly and the riding horse has the right attitude I doubt if it will be much of a problem.

[Andy Carson]

I will make sure the double tree has lots of adjustment to it. I know twice the load is a long way to go, but I think a horse that is 1.5 times as big and in shape might actually pull twice the load of a smaller horse that is not in shape. We’ll see. I don’t actually own anything with a pole so am not so worried about that for the immediate future. I suppose that will be an issue in the future if this works out. Maybe a wider double tree? Another draft would definately make this easier (the thought crosses my mind often) but the times I honestly need more power are rare. On top of that, the riding horse is (more often than not) just standing around seeming to say “whatcha doing?” I would be happy to show him…

[Donn Hewes]

just some random thoughts from a brief thunder storm. The only real question as to whether “he will or He won’t” is how calm is he naturally. To save on money throw the draft horse harness on him and drive him a round a little. Collar three inches to big – no matter. If he is willing buy him a collar and harness that fit.

I have spent a fair amount of time working Halflingers and Percherons together. 95% of the time you don’t need to off set the evener. I look at the task at hand and ask “is this something two of these smaller horses could do?”
There are two specific cases were an off set evener has really been useful. One was to move a large log that was just beyond the ability of two halflingers. Took the bigger Halfling and a Percheron Gelding and two inches of offset. Voila! The other I never really tried but, The same team of halflingers would pull a mower, just not as long as a team of Percherons, To work one of each together for maximum time, (both needed a rest at the same time) an off set might be useful. Again probably two inches.

I think you will be surprised by how strong the smaller horse is. In my extremely limited experience with saddle horses I have been around a couple that I personally would not want to work with. Too hard to hold still and relax. I work one horse open face and three with blinders all the time.

[Andy Carson]

Well, I have ground drove him and he was fine with that. I’ll throw the harness on too, that’s a good idea. My wife has ridden him around various implements while I was using them. No problem there. He has a great deal of respect for me and especially for my mare. I think he’s calm enough for the work. He is generally a little “scampish,” sometimes “too smart for his own good,” and sometimes a bit fidgety. I thought some hard work would probably do alot to cure him of these traits. I am suprized the offset is so small, but he is really about the size of a large haflinger so that would be a good comparison.

[Andy Carson]

The riding horse is actually doing pretty well ground driving with the harness on. I think I’ll get him a harness that actually fits him, I put this one together out of spare parts and it shows… He’s got a way to go to be truly relaxed, but he’s starts, stops, stands, turns, and the harness doesn’t seem to bother him. I would like to ask him to pull a little weight, but am scared of asking him to pull weight without a collar that fits.

[grey]

Next step is to let the ends of the traces drop. Disconnect them from where you’ve hooked them on the britchen rings and let the heel chains drag and rattle on the ground. Let them brush his legs when ground drive him through turns.

[Donn Hewes]

Andy, I wouldn’t worry about the offset evener until you see that you need it. That horse is going to have a good engine on it. Even thought the collar may be too big you could drag fence posts around with it. At least that is what it looks like to me.

[Andy Carson]

Thanks for the tips. I am wondering if I ought to start getting him used to shafts next (for cart work) or start to team him up with my draft… Any thoughts one way or the other? I would guess I will work him alone in shalves more frequently, but the team work is more important.

[blue80]

I think I learned it from millers book, but it’s nice to start in a round pen when dragging chains etc.
Horse may get a little ansy, but will go round and round and not learn it can get away from you. then can work with simple commands. then open the gate and make the horse work past the gate, normally they want to go straight out.
When you have control and everyone is settled, head for the wide open spaces.

Great looking prospect you have their!

[Berta]

Oh is he ever handsome in the harness.

[grey]

Myself, I like to have a horse going pretty good single (with a big tire or ground sled at least, preferrably also on a cart if there is one available) before I team him up with another horse. Part of that is out of consideration for the other horse. I don’t want to subject the educated horse to a complete newbie that might pitch a fit, at least not if I can help it.

The main reason, however, is that I want the green horse to focus one me for his cues and his training, rather than be distracted by the second horse.

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