Zebedee is a four-year-old hackney cross Dartmoor gelding.
He had been sent to another
trainer to be broken to drive
however
after 4 weeks his owner was told that he wasn't enjoying driving and he had started
rearing
when he was put to and that therefore driving wasn't for him.
Deb's owner sent him to us for an assessment to see if this was indeed the
case.
In our opinion Zeb's rearing was not down to him hating driving
but not understanding what was being asked of him, i.e
a lack of clear instruction and correct teaching resulting
in him misunderstanding and getting confused.
As proof of this, here we are showing that Zeb does not rear when we put
him to.
We show Sarah, myself
and Fletcher putting him to on different occasions which shows he will behave
even when different people
are handling him.
Notice how his leg is
at rest; he is not fidgeting about when the carriage is brought up to him.
He is happy to stand still calmly
while one person puts him to, changing from either side
as we do do up the tugs, attach the traces and secure the breeching.
Having one person put him to
obviously takes longer and having no groom at his head
shows that he has not been distracted by anyone feeding him titbits
in order to keep him quiet while someone else attaches him to the carriage.
His attention is focused on being put to;
although he is free to rear should he choose to do so
he remains calm and relaxed.
When he is asked to move of after being put to, notice how he walks away calmly
without plunging into the collar, rearing up or lunging sideways.
Zeb does not fidget while he is being to
or while we are adjusting harness,
moving backwards and forwards from the carriage to him in order to put on the
reins for example
but he will still move over when asked to
so that we can put the shafts on him squarely.
He will remain standing still even when we make a noise with the reins on the
carriage behind him
or when the driver gets on the carriage and prepares to move off.
He's also happy to remain standing
while other things are going on around him, for example here
when we walk another horse back into the stables behind him.
When Fletcher
gets on the carriage this time we ask him to take his time sorting out the reins
making noise and making the carriage move about behind him
to show that Zeb will still stand still happily and not rear.
Notice as well when Sarah lets Zeb off,
he is happy to remain standing still and does not start rearing or fidgeting
even though he knows that he is about to go out on a drive.
He will then walk on calmly when asked to
on a loose rein, bearing in mind he is only being driven
in a soft rubber bit.
To see more of the training we have done with Zeb please watch the videos in his
playlist.