Training the Haflinger’s- It Takes Two

Being only the second month of the new year, your New Years Resolutions are probably still fresh in your mind. When committing to these goals, did you give a time frame of completion? Goals are often accompanied with a completion date in mind; losing 10 pounds in five weeks or not eating sugar for a month. Before I began training the Haflingers, I too had set a “completion date.” I had laid out my training schedule with little wiggle room, wanting them to be fully trained by a certain date.

That date has passed and my pretty equines still haven’t pulled a carriage! Many people interpret this as failure or accuse me of not having worked hard enough. But a real horse person knows that when it comes to horses, nothing ever truly goes as planned! While some might condemn my “inability” to have had my horses trained already, I view it as a good thing. For in teaching these horses, I have let them teach me. And my ponies just aren’t ready to pull the carriage yet. They get closer with every training session. And I realize now that the schedule I had first created was for the training of one horse not two! 

Despite the obvious, when you train a team of horses to drive, you’re training two horses. Obvious right! Easy right! Not exactly. I am a newbie horse trainer, but I have done enough to know that training one horse is, well, easier than training two. Here’s why, I am not just training two horses individually, where each horse can progress at their own pace and be at different skill levels. I am training a team of horses, two horses. Who have to work together, move together, turn together. Not only go the same pace, but be on the same level. And this is where it can get challenging. Horses are individuals. They learn at different paces, and have their own likes and dislikes. In training my team of Haflingers, I see this in every session. And it’s why I love my horses, love their own personalities and quirks. But it also presents a challenge when I need two horses on the same level of training moving in sync not only with each other, but with me as their driver. Team driving is teamwork. While one horse can pull a carriage, one horse can’t pull a carriage meant to be pulled by two.

Team driving is not impossible; it just takes a lot of work and practice. Which is why I have been working with Rosemary & Jasmine on ground driving for a long time now. Before hitching them to the carriage, they need to be able to flawlessly ground drive. While ground driving them, I am behind them and give them the same cues I would if I was driving them from a carriage. The idea is to get them so accustomed to ground driving that when they finally do pull the carriage they won’t abandon their training in fear. For horses noises, like those of carriage wheels behind them, can be quite scary. I try to constantly be introducing Rosemary & Jasmine to new sights and sounds, but I want them to have a firm foundation in their training so that when scary situations do arise, my Haflingers will trust and respond to their training. 

One of the “tools” I am using to encourage Rosemary & Jasmine to move in sync is the jockey stick. Made custom by a fellow horse enthusiastic, this wooden “tube” with clips on each end helps keep the horses apart and in line. One horse can not go too far in front of the other nor can one drag too far behind. For now, their training takes place in the round pen. This small circular space keeps the horses contained and helps guide their turns. My little sister Quinn helps me train these girls each week and I am so thankful for her help!

More Horsey Posts: Training the Haflinger’s- Making Progress

In other words, I ditched the prepared schedule and am going one training session at a time, progressing when my horses are ready to, not when my paper calendar tells me too! That’s not to say that I don’t have a time frame or end date in mind, it’s just that I am giving my horses and I the wiggle room necessary to be the best trained driving team we can be!

Tails & Trails,

Reese