It was almost a year ago that I began the training process with my team of haflingers. All my hard work reached its climax when I hitched my team to a buggy for the first time. After months of ground driving my team successfully, we were definitely ready when the time came to have them pull something. We wanted them to have some experience pulling before they pulled a full size buggy, so we took the pole attachment and hooked it to a little four wheeled cart. This helped desensitize the halfies to pulling an object behind them.
At first we just led them around, giving them time to get used to the cart and how the weight shifted when they turned. Initially this contraption was too light even with my little sister riding in it, so we added some heavy pipes for weight. I was able to walk behind both them and the cart as we drove around.
The make-shift cart 
One of the reasons I aspired to train the halfies in the first place is because my family owns a wedding venue. We plan on offering horse drawn carriage rides, which is definitely something to work towards & look forward to! In the beginning of November, the Haflingers were part of a Pine Meadows Venue photoshoot. Shelby Chante Photography did a great job capturing the horses in this fall themed wedding shoot. Confession: the Haflingers had never pulled a full size buggy or carriage when these pictures were taken. They had only pulled the little make-shift cart. This was a big deal. I think that the horses were more ready for this than I was. I was terrified and stressing the entire shoot, but I should have known better and had more confidence in my girls. Luckily everything went very well.
The horses are hitched to the cart in this pic, you just can’t see it? 
Finally we hitched them to the actual buggy. My little sister Quinn was the first to drive them from atop the wooden, green buggy. We used this less-nice buggy just in case anything went wrong. I wanted to keep the nice, white carriage safe. For the most part everything went very well. The horses had to overcome some reluctance to move forward and are still working on making smooth turns. The haflingers continue to improve with every drive! We plan on spending many hours driving all over the farm. This will give us and the horses plenty of practice driving!
I am so proud of my halfies and all we have been able to accomplish! I am so thankful for my sister Quinn who always helps; she is becoming quite the horse trainer. I look forward to many more pleasant drives on the farm! *If you drive a horse or a team, comment below and tell me all about it!*
Merry Christmas + tails & trails,
Reese
Sounds exciting, Reese! Enjoyed seeing the photos of the horses all hitched up. I have driven a draft, a mini and a few horses, but I have never driven a team. Looks like fun!
That’s so cool that you have driven before! I really enjoy driving my team. I have never driven an individual horse before, I am curious as to how that would compare?
So exciting! I know this journey hasn’t been easy but I’m so proud of you Reese!
Thanks so much! God has blessed me with such helpful & supportive friends and family!