Learning to drive…

[Thecowboysgirl]

Well…still can’t find any drafty resources here in SW Florida! I have tried lots of different ways of trying to find draft farmers, I just don’t think there are any around. But I did find one lady about an hour and a half from here who breeds Morgans. She offers driving lessons (she rides and drives the Morgans). This is like pleasure driving, carriage type driving.

Suppose it would be worth $65 bucks a lesson and 3 hours of driving (in a car) to take that kind of a driving lesson? Unfortunately due to family committments and my own health limitations, traveling to faraway places even for a few days would not be possible. So I am still trying to figure how I might possibly learn anything locally.

What do you think?

[Robert MoonShadow]

My mentor is into driving, although she wants to learn some farm use for her boys. I got lucky finding her; someone knew us both had donkeys and told me about her…and many, many things she’s taught me w/ handling the boys I can see directly – or sometimes w/ a bit of modification in technique – into farm use. So I’d say that it would be very useful for you…not that I’m an expert, just speaking on my experience w/ learning. Of course, the distance and money thing ain’t good. The only idea I have for finding someone down there would be – have you checked to see if there’s any donkey owners around? ADMS has a pretty extensive list of various clubs throughout the states…and beyond. If you see a donkey that’s not just a pasture ornament, you’ve probably found someone who drives it…especially any minis – those people are just driving fools! 😉 And most donkey owners won’t hold it against you if your animals are “ear-challenged”. sorry, but that’s all I’ve got.

[Demented Donkey Dame]

http://www.flawhips.org/ I have heard very good things about this organization, you might want to try them just to see if they have someone who might be closer to you. I’ve found that the driving community is very helpful to newbies.
If that is your best option I certainly would go for it at least once. Learning to drive with a mentor is the best and safest way to get started. I can’t imagine anyone draft horse farming there. If that is 3 hours round trip, that’s really not so bad. I use to drive to Montana when I needed assistance, 5 hours one way and over a mountain pass. Driving clinics are also a great source of information! Good Luck to you!

[Thecowboysgirl]

Okay, well, it’s nice to hear that it might help. I am going to have to drive to Sarasota to pick up my organic livestock feed anyway, so I might even be able to combine trips to take a driving lesson while I am doing a feed run.

I checked out that Florida Whips website and saw they have some horses for sale in the classifieds section who are broke to drive- that’s worth the link right there because I think our farm would be better off with light horses doing the pulling work than drafts since we have only 10 acres and the chores simply include pulling the manure spreader, mowing, and a little garden work.

I will keep looking into this…thanks for the input.

[Thecowboysgirl]

I did email the regional contact for my area off the FLA whips site, and asked if she knows of anyone nearer than Sarasota who might could teach me to drive…

If I had SOME driving exp. surely I could get a couple of light horses broke to drive and figure out how to get them to pull a manure spreader, right lol? My husband is very handy and understands machines so he has agreed to help me with the equipment end so long as I can work the horses 🙂

[Thecowboysgirl]

Hey guys- I had emailed our one local carriage company awhile back. She pulls her carriages with drafts. So I had emailed her to find out if she might be willing to give me any kind of lessons and she just emailed me back and said she thinks we can work something out.

This might be my first break. It’s not farm work but it’s still a great big horse with a harness 🙂

[CharlyBonifaz]

:rolleyes: go for it!

[Lane Linnenkohl]

Excellent! It doesn’t matter what you’re pulling in the beginning. Just get lines in your hands.

[Robert MoonShadow]

Woot! Woot! 😎

What type(s) of horses does she have? You might need to bring a step-ladder to throw the harness up on some of the big’uns.

[HeeHawHaven]

Great! The rest will fall into place in due time!

Dave

[Demented Donkey Dame]

Super…I drove a mini horse when I restarted driving…go for it! Now I’m behind a team of big donkeys and we did our first 2011 field drive yesterday. Felt good to be off road driving. It’s posted on the blog if you are interested.

We were rained out again yesterday so our hay is still in the fields on the ground. It received a light shower and a blast of icy cold wind from a cold front!

Opps sorry… just wanted to encourage you to go drive anything you can get your hands on. Have fun and let us know how it goes!

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