HORSING AROUND BY TRIANA ELAN

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Driving Adventures

When I obtained Don the Belgian, I decided it was time to learn to drive under harness. A crazy thing, I thought...being behind the horse with absolutely no contact. But being a driving horse, Don was going to teach me what I needed to know. I hoped.

I began cautiously by reading driving magazines, watching driving videos, and photographing combined driving events. Still, I was afraid to actually drive. The thought of having a horse run away with the rig attached and the potential injuries was a daunting thought.

But gosh, at the combined driving events, people were having so much fun! Plus, these drivers (formally called "whips") looked so elegant in their dressy attire during the dressage part of the driving competition. During the marathon driving, though, fashion is not an issue! That made me happy since the fancy clothes look expensive.

I finally got my nerve up to take a driving lesson in England in March of 2001 during my visit which included the tour of the King's Troop stables. A horse driving internet friend linked me up with a carriage company in Seven Oaks, Kent County. On a freezing cold March day with the air heavy and the temperatures encouraging snow, I drove to Seven Oaks for my lesson.

My driving teacher was named Sarah. In her time away from the stables, she was a nurse. I liked Sarah right away. It was obvious that she was accustomed to teaching children, for which I was grateful. We toured the stables and I got to meet all the horses, including a giant Shire draft horse that was a whopping 19 hands high!

Sarah took me to the tack room and showed me all the various types of harnesses, collars and bridles used for driving. She pointed out that each horse at their stable had their collar custom fitted (the collar is the round part that goes around the horse's neck. All of the pressure is concentrated in the collar, and an ill-fitting collar can result in nerve damage, sores and restriction of breathing in the horse.

After quite a long lecture about safety and the proud announcement that their carriage company had never had a wreck (impressive!), I was taken to meet my four-legged instructor who had been groomed and was waiting for us. "This is Katie," Sarah announced with her wonderful accent. "She's half Morgan and half Hackney, aren't you, Katie?" The mare turned around and shot us a hateful look. "Don't bother with that, then, Katie," Sarah barked. Leaning close to my ear, Sarah whispered, "She's fine on the wall as long as you stay away from her teeth and her feet." That didn't reassure me at all, and since I didn't know whether Sarah meant that Katie had a problem with farriers and equine dentists or whether Katie had a habit of biting and kicking, I stayed a safe distance from the little mare who, it turns out, is a retired National Champion of the British Driving Team.

"She's lovely under harness," Sarah sang out. "Aren't you, Katie?"

Katie did not look like a happy camper until she was in the harness. Sarah rattled off encyclopedic information while hitching Katie, showing me every strap, buckle and holdfast and explaining what they were all for. Amazingly enough, it all made perfect sense. Just don't ask me to repeat it.

We climbed into the carriage and Sarah showed me how to communicate with Katie via reins and voice. I really giggled when Sarah shouted over the wind, "Since it's blowing out here, we'll have to raise our voice to talk to Katie. She'll have a right problem hearing with the wind this way." Then my ear nearly ruptured a drum when Sarah commanded, "KAY-tee, tuh-ROT!" Katie immediately picked up her pace into a nice little trot.

By now my friend taking photographs had taken shelter in the car, so I have no proof other than my word that I did actually drive by myself, but I did. With Sarah's thorough instruction under my belt, I swung Katie out into the arena and felt how much contact I did have. I was having a ball and immediately hooked on driving. A first success is critical, and I certainly got that.

By the time my hour and a half lesson was finished, my fingers were nearly frost bitten, I couldn't feel my face anymore, and I was miserably cold, but warmed by the glow of happiness for the experience.

Needless to say, I came home and immediately started driving sweet Don, off into the sunset, him and me.

© 2002 Island Star