I've always wanted to take a video of Billy and I driving. Finally here it is... I've had some time off driving this year because of my illness and then subsequent surgery. This is our first drive after the Dr. gave the ok to get back to driving. It felt great and Billy was wonderful. We both had a long time off, but we were both eager to get back to it! By the way, the cute pinto pony in the video with the handsome "whip" is my hubby, Matthew and his pony Lil Miss.
Disclaimer of sorts... Billy was a great boy. I've known this pony for 14 years - driving for 11 years. I wouldn't recommend driving one handed and taking a video unless you really know your pony. Billy and I have been building our relationship for 14 years now...I felt safe in finally giving my video a try. Driving is far dangerous than riding an equine. Amazing that humans ever thought of attaching a carriage to a 'fright flight' animal. When things go wrong they can go south very fast - in a blink of an eye. Think about it...once a pony or a horse gets loose with a cart or carriage attached to them...that carriage can become a lethal weapon. Get out of the way and quick. I don't take my driving training lightly with my equines. I've only driven ponies I have trained and occasionally a pony or mini of well trusted trainer friends of mine. That's why we purchased our new yearling ponies...so that we can develop relationship with them from an early age. We are starting to teach them verbal cues right now, we are slowly building a strong and solid relationship. I am interested as I read accounts of days gone by, when our ancestors only form of travel was by carriage, the many accidents that happened. And there were many, actually. As I mentioned, I just finished reading a Team of Rivals and just before Lincoln's assassination, William Seward, Lincoln's secretary of state was almost killed in carriage accident. The description of his injuries were horrifying. So, please don't try this at home...
I was so pleased as I watched the video at how responsive Billy was to my verbal cues. The most interesting thing is as I'm babbling away (ok, friends you can stop rolling your eyes now...)during the video Billy is able to pick out the verbal cues he recognizes and instantly obey them. We also could hear a gun being fired quite close to us and thankfully Billy was fine with it (there was a day that that would take some creative driving on my part). Very cool! Before I ever thought of hooking Billy to a cart I started teaching him these verbal cues(a second language for him) during all our ground work, from the time he was very young. This consistency, time spent with my pony has really paid off!
I was recently sent a beautiful story about a horse and rider...it wasn't your typical story as the rider had no arms and rode using her mouth and bathed and brushed her horse with her feet. In the email my friend hit the nail on the head when he wrote, "This story is not about the horse or the woman...it's about the relationship." I could not agree more. Happy and safe driving to you...
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