Teaching a horse to pull weight - Magic, 6yo Andalucian mare Part 1.
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Teaching a horse to pull weight. According to Magic's owner, while she was being broken by another trainer, the brakes had been applied or jammed on the vehicle which upset the horse - over the next few days she would panic as she went off, before eventually settling to drive. She would not "pull away" or move off pulling the carriage calmly; she would leap forwards, bounding like a deer in an attempt to pull the vehicle. Her owner then decided to send her to us so that we could retrain her and overcome this issue. This film shows her progress after a few weeks with us; we ask her to stop and start the carriage, showing that she will pull the carriage away from a standstill happily. When horses are asked to pull too much weight (or have the brakes applied too hard, too often, or made to pull a vehicle with the brakes on) it can lead to problems - Magic did not think she could pull anything as she believed it was too heavy. We had to build up her confidence so that she could start to move off calmly. This is why, when teaching horses to pull something, it is important that they are trained properly from the start and that any harness or carriages you are using should be well-maintained. Asking a horse to pull too much weight, especially at the beginning of training when they haven't built up their fitness levels, can make them "collar-shy" or lead to problems such as rearing or plunging forwards into the collar when asked to walk on. Magic would also drop her head right down between her knees when asked to stop the carriage and would stop dead at the slightest pressure on her mouth. In our opinion she had been asked to continue pulling the carriage with the brakes jammed on - when she began to panic as she was finding it difficult to pull the weight, she had been yanked in the mouth to stop her leaping about, and when she stopped the carriage had hit her from behind and pushed her forwards. This resulted in her bracing herself for a lot of weight on her breeching (hence the lowered head and splayed front leg position when asked to halt) as well as the associated problems with the initial pull of the vehicle. We drive her here in just a soft piece of rubber, rather than a metal Liverpool with a curb chain. Breaking a horse to drive is not just about teaching the horse to pull weight; it is also about ensuring that the horse is safe, confident and above all happy in harness.
Horse Drawn Promotions - Breaking horses to harness.
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THE GREAT THING ABOUT BARRY AND HIS PEOPLE IS THAT THEY TREAT ANIMALS AS INDIVIDUALS, AS IF THEY ARE OTHER PEOPLE. WELL OF COURSE THEY ARE SENTIENT BEINGS LIKE US, THEY HAVE THE SAME SENSES AS WE DO BUT THEY CAN'T THINK AND EXPRESS THEMSELVES AS WE DO. HOWEVER WHEN WE TEAM UP WITH OTHER ANIMALS WE HELP EACH OTHER AS BARRY ILLUSTRATES. THANK YOU BARRY, IT'S ABOUT MUTUAL RESPECT AS YOU SHOW.
Fletcher sounds so like his Dad. Poor little mare. I noticed that every time she stopped her legs were braced and she dropped her head, as if she were expecting a burden too heavy for her to carry. I hope her life has been easy since these videos were made.
Fletcher is a unbelievably talented driver. He is always so gentle and encouraging to the horses he drives. An absolute joy to watch!! The driving world needs more trainers like Barry and Fletcher!!
So much I have learned from this video. Very interesting aspects of corrected training. Thank you for sharing.
Wow! I would not like to be training a horse to pull on that road with all the traffic. But she did very well
It would be lovely to see some before and after stories so we can also see their massive achievement and overcoming, you're all so patient
We are filming the "before" parts of their training for some of our new educational films, as case studies on particular horses that we have in. They will be available to subscribe to/buy on the 1st October.
Oh that will be nice I can't wait, once I've worked out how to get them😀
What a lovely mare. I hope she is doing well as this is an older video.
I HOPE SHE BREAKS FREE
What a lovely horse!
Some of those vehicles are driving far too fast approaching and passing horse.
6 dislikes? Apparently there are 6 insane persons who have watched this video.
👍💐, thanks sir
well done all,but what a shame
Is it me, or she bracing herself a lot? I'm not massively familiar with driven horses, but do they normally splay out their front legs like she seems to be doing when stopped?
No, this is not normal, but a habit we believe she developed from being driven with the brake stuck on by the previous trainer before she came to us. She had almost been taught to be cold-shouldered and cold-quartered (i.e. she didn't think she could move or stop any weight, because in our opinion what they had done had been too much for her in the beginning). She would brace herself to stop what she thought was going to be a really heavy weight, just as she was nervous going uphill as she believed the weight was too much and she couldn't pull it, or even attempt to (hence the broken heart; she'd had all her "try" knocked out of her). We had to teach her to be confident in her ability to pull a vehicle, and that she could move it forwards and hold it back too, which then meant she could work like a "normal" horse would, and actually start to enjoy her driving.
Bless.
@@barryhook2 the previous trainer should be trained with a baseball bat.
I would bet that she's a little pigeon-toed in front, notice how she paddles in front at the walk & trot. Pigeon-toed horses often take a little wider stance than horses that stand square, just as horses that stand toe-out may take a narrower stance.
Poor girl. Bracing her feet and dropping her head every time she stops. She's expecting something unpleasant may happen?
Sound keeps shutting off.
There's no end of people stupidity - all that i can say reading story of this mare. Poor animal! To teach to PULL using BRAKES - that's Darwin award, really)))) Good to know that now Magic is ok.
please share GPS in your video.thx.
I HATE HORSES IM SO DONE I QUIT