Ground Driving a Young Horse

What are the benefits and downsides of training your horse to ground drive and how does it work? Learning the in’s and out’s of this important step in training a young horse is critical to the development and process of creating a horse with a sound mind and good work ethic. This is setting the stage to prepare your horse for under saddle training and desensitizing in order to eliminate fear and insecurities going forward. Setting a strong foundation is key to an amazing connected future partnership between horse and rider.

Let's talk and learn about how to train a horse with this technique and most importantly...what is Ground Driving? First, we will start with is the equipment needed to begin ground driving your horse. You will need long lines, which are long cotton or fleece reins and you will also need a harness training surcingle and a cavison. A Lot of people use this technique to train their horses to drive or as a desensitization tool. This helps your horse when they are ready to ride as they will be used to the pressure of the saddle so that there aren't any incidents. Well, let's hope! Most people start training their horses at a young age, usually, it helps get the horses ready for the next big step. However, it is ok if you start a little later it might just be a little bit more difficult.

Now that you know what equipment to use let's talk about where you start in your training. The first thing you would do is check your horse for any dirt where the surcingle will go to prevent rubbing, you would put the surcingle in the girth area of your horse. Be slow and calm as we want this to be a very positive experience and some horses are not so sure about the feeling they receive from the girth or pressure on the back. Then you will attach your long lines to the rings on the cavison which goes on almost like a bitless bridle. Now that you know all of that stuff you need to know how to actually train your horse to ground drive. Ground driving is walking and running behind to teach them to move forward and steer in front of you. Well, that is pretty summarized but gives you a good visual.

Eventually, you will be able to do almost anything with your horse! Which is always good, so I hope you enjoyed this paper and will read more of my articles, OH, and good luck with the ground driving and get on your horse for the first time. Ground driving also teaches them to know how to drive! The whole process is super fun for you and your horse! Fun experiences when training is always a plus! You might need a little more training but they will know most of the basics and so will you! It also translates to saddle on back training because the surcingle has a lot of pressure on the horse's sides and back so they know that feeling and won't react horribly (depending on the horse)E.

And eventually, you will be able to do almost anything with your horse! This is always good! In the end, they truly enjoy exploring and the adventures experienced when out on the "road", so have fun with it and all will be exciting! I hope you enjoyed this paper and will read more of my articles, OH, and good luck with the ground driving!