Missy's First Harnessing

Monday, I ground drove Missy in my buggy harness for the first time.

Missy: Does this harness make my butt look big?

It was the first time I've fit the harness to her, and I was pleasantly surprised to find it's adjustable enough to accommodate both her and Pyro. I'll need to lower the breastcollar before I actually put her to work in it, but I didn't want to change it off Pyro's settings since the traces were just going to be draped over her back. 

Me: Missy, your butt IS big. 
Pictures post tail tidy for sanitary reasons. Ahem, MARE.

I had the open cheeks (rather than blinders) already on the bridle from working with Pyro (who strongly prefers being able to see), so I decided to give that a try with Miss and swapped in the liverpool bit I had snagged for her based on her preferences. 

While there are options for leverage with the shank, I had the lines clipped into the snaffle ring.

She prefers a solid mouthpiece with gentle tongue relief. (I'm not going to mention how much of my money IVC Carriage has received since I started learning to drive.)

She patiently ground tied while I fit the harness to her, fussing and adjusting until I thought it was acceptable for the task. This is part of why I'm interested in driving her. I trust her to stand for the process of harnessing and putting to. Plus, driving sounds like a great way to keep her fit without adding extra weight on her arthritic joints. 

She stands for harnessing much more patiently than Pyro.

I grabbed my cheap buggy whip I use when ground driving, and we headed to the indoor!

...only for me to immediately have to drop the whip. 😅

No whip in sight, looking content

Big mare reminded me that she has distinctly different needs and preferences from her son. (She's always so good at humbling me.) When I've ground driven her in past years (always in her open cheek riding bridle), I haven't carried a whip. As I start to gain some actual education in driving, I've learned I need a whip to act as my "leg". Missy was able to see my whip "looming" over her butt and was NOT A FAN. I hadn't even thought about this as it's a non-issue for Pyro. She was worried and tense, scooting forward away from the perceived pressure. I chucked the whip out the gate, and voilà, I had a relaxed mare, happy in her work, in my hands.

Practicing our steering and voice commands

She was a little too sore from being kept in due to soaked pastures to do any trot work (motion is the lotion for her arthritis), but we got to practice halt-walk-halt transitions off my voice, as well as steering with my newfound (novice) understanding of cueing with the lines. By the end, she had figured out I didn't want her to swing her butt to turn (which would bump into the shafts if she were actually hooked to the cart), rather bringing her shoulders around. 

Such a smart, willing mare

Next time we ground drive, I'll definitely put the blinders on the bridle and see if she'll stay relaxed as I carry the whip. I so appreciate that she's always willing to try and figure out whatever new thing I'm asking of her though, and we both got a nice walk in the sand (with no concussion symptom flare up!). 

She looks so little here, but she sure has a big piece of my heart.

I hope to get to take a lesson with the local experienced driver we've connected with in the near future. I figure Missy might be a bit more forgiving of the learning process than Pyro, so she may be the first victim put to the breaking cart! I want to stress that I'm an absolute novice in this sport, but I'm doing my best to proceed safely and with proper instruction. 

Looking forward to watching Missy's tail rhythmically swish in front of me in the cart!