Driving

Question
I just bought a 3 year old miniature stud horse.  He ground drives beautifully. The problem starts when he's hooked up to the e-z load cart.  He can be lead and ground drive but when I get in the cart he'll rear, kick and backup.  If I have someone lead him out he's fine once he starts moving.  Do you think gelding him is the answer.  I bought him from a man that bought him at auction and then he put him in a petting zoo for the past year. Needless to say he's very sweet and loves attention.

Answer
Cheryl,

First off, geld him, the sooner the better.  Unless you are interested in using him for breeding, which unless he has papers he's useless for, gelding him will make him better to have around and much happier overall.  He'll be able to be put out with other horses/ponies/minis if you wish.  

As to the driving, it sounds like he's never been actually taught ot pull anything.  He doesn't know how to lean into the breastplate or collar if you are using one and get weight moving.  You need to teach him that.  Forget the cart to start.  Get a tire or something, run a couple of pieces of hay string or cord thru the ends of the traces and put those through/around whatever you are going to ask him to pull.  I use a small pasture tine harrow meant to be pulled by a 10 hp garden tractor.  You need a couple of people in addition to yourself for these first couple of steps.  Have someone at his head, and someone to hold the twine/cords in place.  You DON'T tie them on, the holder has to hold them together.  You want to be able to release them instantly if need be.  Then, after you ground drive him for a few minutes to get him into the mode of getting commands from you, take him over and introduce him to what you are going to ask him to pull.  Then put him in front, have the holder put the twine/cords from the traces to the weight and ask him to step forward.  Have a person at his head to cue him what to do.  Ask him to take a couple of steps, then reward him lavishly with attention and maybe even a treat.  Repeat, lengthening the number of steps, he'll get the idea.  Make sure you cue him first and try to have the person at his head do as little as possible and sort of step out of the picture gradually.  This takes a lot of repetitions for some, only once or twice for others.  A lot depends upon the animal.  Once he's pulling the weight and has the idea you can go back to hooking him to the cart. You can probably do this in a few hours to a day or 2.  He sounds bright so he should figure it out pretty quickly.   

With his background remember he's not been asked to do any real "work" like driving.  He's spoiled rotten, face it, and you have to introduce him to doing something useful.  Mine are all spoiled rotten but they have learned that at times I will ask them to work.  My ponies will work all day at fairs, multiple pony parties, whatever with no complaints.  They get a treat after every ride, usually from the child who they gave the ride to.  I make their work worthwhile so they are happy to do it.  My horses know that they will always get a treat when a rider gets on or off.  I use a fanny pack and 1 of the compartments is full of treats before I start on to ride. My students all know to carry treats with them.   

Good luck,

Lyn