The National Drive - Fall 2025

Every spring and fall, an event affectionately referred to as "Adult Disneyland" is hosted at the Hoosier Horse Park (HHP): The National Drive. 

Their tagline is: "It's the most fun you can have with your clothes on." 

This is a week-long recreational event (not a show) that draws carriage drivers and riders of all skill levels to attend instructional talks, take private lessons from clinicians, and participate in fun scheduled events. The atmosphere is relaxed, with an emphasis on being safe and having fun. Ever since I caught the driving bug at the 2024 Fall National Drive, I've wanted to participate with my own horse. 

Playing navigator for Alex and welsh mare Sophie last year

To my relief, Missy's joints have been feeling somewhat better even though she hasn't received the PRP therapy yet. While it sometimes takes her 20 minutes of movement to warm up after being in a stall during the day, she's able to work comfortably most days of late. (I think the decrease of major barometric pressure swings has played a part in that.) This meant I could drive her in her new carriage for the first time... and sign us up for the National Drive!!

Letting her see (and hear) it's different 

Missy: "I don't know why you're making a big deal of this."

Best spotty girls

Seeing if the brakes work (they do!)

The view from higher up that this carriage allows me is one of my favorite things about it.

Pure joy

I was thrilled

My best girlie

Due to my work schedule, I could only attend Friday through Sunday of the Drive, bringing Missy up to the HHP Thursday evening after work. However, that felt like plenty for us newbies and still afforded me the opportunity to take a couple private lessons with Joanna, the instructor I met as she coached Alex and Sophie through obstacles and a cones course last fall. As a member of the welsh community, she could give me pointers on laying the foundation for a driving horse who might participate in both combined driving and welsh breed shows. 

Looking at you, Nova👀

My driving goals for Missy are more geared towards learning together and having fun together as she ages. By attending the National Drive, I hoped to:

• have a fun solo outing with my heart horse
• make sure I'm aware of and following the accepted driving best safety practices
• drive away from home for the first time (and sort out hauling a horse AND carriage)
• increase my understanding of and ability to use driving aids

Malhon helped me devise a plan for loading up the carriage in the bed of his truck, which would enable me to pull Missy in the horse trailer at the same time. We used a pair of ramps and a drill-powered winch to get the carriage in and out of the truck bed smoothly and easily. 

It worked like a charm!

Upon arrival, Missy shared an apple with me and got some grazing time in all her UV-protected glory.

I've set up at the HHP many times, but never with a carriage outside my stall!

Missy sporting her "jammies" (BOT sheet and quick wraps)

Missy took everything in stride and settled well. Even though it has been 2 years since she's been to the Horse Park (for her competitive dressage retirement show), she has shown there many times in our 14 years together, more than any other venue. 

Throwback to our very first show together, a combined test schooling show at the HHP in 2013.

We placed 4th/12 in the Green as Grass division, finishing on our dressage score of 38.

I didn't want to drive for the first time in that kind of atmosphere (the park was CROWDED) without supervision, so I had plenty of time Friday morning to get Missy out for more hand grazing (although she didn't stock up overnight, yay!), attend talks on safety practices (VERY informative, although I was already doing most things) and navigating for combined driving (did you know navigators can bump a carriage to the side to help drivers avoid running into things??), and gawk at the vast array of hitches cruising around the park.

Grazing in a patch of shade

The safety talk was given by the owner of IVC Carriage, a mostly-online shop that I've placed numerous orders with as I've started driving. (They had their mobile shop set up at the park for the week too, and it probably doesn't surprise you to hear I spent a bit of money there.) A lot of driving's safety "rules" stem from preventing a horse getting loose with a vehicle attached. She likened that situation to having a loose horse with a weapon attached to them and told horror stories of innocent bystander horses being fatally wounded, like the one impaled on a shaft when a horse tied to a trailer while put to managed to get loose. You can read her safety-related blog articles here. Two things I realized I needed to do were put keepers that hold the noseband to the cheek pieces on Missy's driving bridle and add a slow moving vehicle (SMV) sign to my carriage. Attaching the cheek pieces to the noseband prevents them from being pulled away from the horse's face, which would render the blinkers useless. (You don't want your horse suddenly seeing the carriage "chasing" them when they aren't used to that.) The SMV sign was required if I wanted to drive on the trail that includes roadways. I remedied both of those items prior to my first lesson with Joanna Friday afternoon.

My carriage sporting its new SMV sign and number holder.

Both of us having a snack to buffer our stomachs before the lesson (Rx bar for me, soaked Outlast for her)

I planned to meet Joanna in the outdoor arena for our lesson. With only minor nerves, I harnessed Missy, put to (while barnmate Deb headed her for me), and started driving Miss across the stabling grounds to the arena. I was grateful to have barnmates Deb and Sue there for moral support, and they were kind enough to grab some pictures and photos for me. 

Going over our experience and goals 

Miss drove off like she had done this her whole life, and I have to say her confidence was reassuring. I didn't know how she would react to driving around other hitches that ranged from swarms of single minis to teams of Friesians and even a pair of tandem haflingers. Before I knew it, we had arrived, and Joanna was performing our "safety check".

Looking at my holdbacks

We made a couple minor adjustments to Missy's harness (which required me to step out of the carriage and hold her). 

• The main safety-focused change was to remove the metal clips that connect the reins (lines technically, but who's gonna police me?) to the bit. These cheap clips could potentially break, leaving me in a dangerous situation. Missy also likely preferred the feeling of the biothane directly attached to the bit with the conway buckle as opposed to the metal clip clanging on her sensitive mouth every time my connection was unsteady. 
• We turned around one of the quick release shackles that connects the trace to the swingle tree so they both had the pull tab facing out towards the shafts. In the event of a wreck, it's easier to access the tab and release the trace when it's facing out, away from the horse's legs.
• We raised shaft carriers one hole to better match the line of draft (the line the traces make from breastcollar to swingle tree).
• The final change she instructed me to do after the lesson was flip the clips on my holdbacks. The way they were facing (opening out) would enable them to catch on things if we brushed against them. While driving in the open arena, it wasn't a big concern. 

Clips facing the wrong way

Joanna's kind and candid way of teaching had me relaxed and engaged throughout the lesson. She clearly had Missy's happiness and comfort as her top priority, which made me like her even more. 

After the safety stuff was out of the way, I requested coaching on the basics: steering and transitions. I felt like we were getting along okay when driving at home, but I wanted to improve my abilities so I could be more precise and better understood. One piece of information that greatly helped me was that the inside rein initiates the bend, and the outside rein controls the size of the turn. Ideally, I would touch Missy's inside ribs with the whip (where my leg would be when riding) to help ask for bend, but a combination of factors meant that I used my whip very little throughout the Drive. For one, my rein and whip handling need work outside the carriage. I struggle to keep soft, steady contact while also placing the whip right where I want it. My homework is to take my reins home, loop the bit ends around my toes, and touch a target with the whip without causing the rein to change/slip off my toe. The other reason is Missy is VERY sensitive and gets easily goosed/upset when I gently apply the whip. Joanna drove a horse that reacted similarly for many years, and her suggested solution was to use a verbal cue to signal bending (such as "corner") every time before I touch Missy's side. That way, she can learn to bend off the verbal cue and never have to be touched by the whip.

Both of us had our thinking caps on

Missy was a little antsy at times, jigging when I wanted her to walk, and I think some of it stemmed from me being too rigid with my upper body. Joanna got me to stop bracing, which allowed me to offer better contact. Of course, once I was no longer braced, I had to deal with not keeping my right rein (thanks hypermobile shoulders), but we could work with that.

There may have also been minor discomfort due to her joints needing to warm up adding to the jigging. She looked sound, but I hadn't lunged her before putting to, and I decided to get her joints moving prior to the next day's lesson. There was also just... a LOT going on around us, including one pony being driven at speed in the grass next to the arena. Thankfully, the worst thing she did was jig, and it improved by the end of the lesson. 

Taking a moment to let Missy stand and process when she made a good choice

My verbal cues got a bit of an overhaul during this lesson too. While it doesn't really matter what words you use, Joanna suggested reserving Missy's name before a command only for upward transitions, while using a drawn out "aaaaaaand" before downward transitions. This helps Missy predict what we're about to do and respond promptly. We ended on a good note, and agreed to meet at my stall and work outside the arena the following morning. 

Following the lesson, I made yet another stop at the IVC Carriage booth. I wanted reins with regular buckle ends, rather than having to mess with the conway buckles every time, and my hands weren't happy with my heavy, 1" wide biothane reins after an hour of driving. 

I found a pair of grippy, synthetic reins that included buckles, a pinky loop (for holding the excess length of rein up away from the wheels/axle), and finger stops like I prefer on my dressage reins. They also came in a narrow, 5/8" width that fit my hands beautifully. 

Missy clearly slept well. I love seeing evidence that she is content enough to lie down while away from home.

Just a horse girl with pictures of her horse's poo on her camera roll. Missy's gut was happy during the trip.

Motion is the lotion for pretty girl's joints

I have no media from Saturday morning's lesson, but, well, you're not missing out on much. Malhon joined me just as I finished lunging Missy, and Joanna met me at the stall in time to watch me harness and put to. There was a "teaching moment" where she emphasized the importance of slowing down and focusing on harnessing when I accidentally mixed up the girth and overgirth buckles while hurrying and talking to her. Whoops. With Missy properly put to, she climbed up beside me, Malhon hopped on the back, and we headed out towards the marked trail that would take us past the obstacles on the cross country course. 

Missy... never settled. I spent the entire lesson trying to figure out what method would work for her to get her to stop jigging and just walk. She never did anything blatantly bad or dangerous. She just refused to relax. In good news, Joanna was there to confirm that I was doing everything right and applying my aids correctly. I would occasionally get a few steps of walk out of Missy, but as soon as I returned to quiet, light contact, she proceeded to jig. While we obviously need more driving miles under our belt, this was unlike her. Was it the atmosphere? The driving bit that differed from her riding bit?  The fit of the harness/carriage? These uncertainties meant I missed the scheduled "Mimosa Drive" (um, hello, that sounded fun), but I will look forward to that at future Drives. Instead, I bounced some ideas off another experienced driver and formulated a plan for discerning what was bothering her. I ran home and grabbed her saddle and riding bridle over lunch, tacked her up, and took her for a hack on the same route as the morning's lesson.

On that hack, it became apparent we were dealing with a couple different things. I think she prefers the style of bit I ride her in (low port comfort snaffle eggbutt) over the low port mullen liverpool I was driving her in. Her mouth was much more quiet, and she settled into the walk I was looking for with happy, light contact. The other major factor appeared to be... XC jumps. Missy KNOWS what XC jumps are, and when we were actively schooling and showing in eventing together, she would absolutely eat up a course. On our hack, when we rounded a corner and the field of jumps came into view, girlfriend was AMPED UP. It had been 8 years since I took Miss XC jumping... but it was here, at the HHP, and Missy REMEMBERED.

Throwback to Missy and me schooling XC on that very course in 2016

I let her walk, flat footed, through the water on our hack, but made it very clear that otherwise we were ignoring the jumps. She settled, and we ended our little walk on a good note. She clearly had plenty left in the tank, but I let her have a couple hours to rest and munch hay. I took the time to swap out the bit on her driving bridle to one that matched her riding bit and watch the derby that was taking place in the indoor arena. It was fun to see so many different teams work their way through the cones course, some of them at impressive speeds!

But we weren't done for the day yet

In the evening, I pulled my big girl panties on, hooked up Missy by myself, and headed out solo on a different trail. This one, the longest of the marked routes, went nowhere near the XC course. It was uncharted territory for both of us.

We covered some ground!

The route took us out the front entrance of the HHP, on side roads (including a short section of gravel), and wound through portions of the Johnson County park, providing a tour of the border of Camp Atterbury, the disc golf course, the RC flyers field and RC car track, and the "Gatling Gauntlet" obstacle course. I couldn't wait to see what was around each bend, and we were treated to radio control airplanes doing stunts overhead, as well as quiet trail cut through wildlife habitat restoration areas. Missy, too, seemed happy to be out there, exploring with me. Her demeanor had done a complete 180 from the morning's lesson. She was her alert, but responsive self. As I relaxed, confident that Missy was now enjoying her work, I realized that this... was FUN. 

Soft ears and a flat walk. Also note the new reins, which were SO much better for my hands and our contact.

We walked, trotted, and even (*gasp*) cantered our way around, in tune with one another. It was absolute magic. Since I had timed this drive during a scheduled dinner, we had the trail all to ourselves. I was able to be in the moment and flow with Missy in this new way of working together.

Crossing the scenic mini train's track

When we made it back to the stable, Missy was unhitched, pampered, hand grazed, and tucked in for the night with many reassurances that she was the best, smartest, most wonderful mare. 

She is also, as it turns out, the most mischievous mare...

The next morning, I had planned to once again lunge Missy, then fit in one final drive (with Malhon!) before we had to pack up and go home. We did get to that... but Miss had other ideas first. I apparently underestimated how much Missy would want out of her stall after missing 3 nights of turnout. She took matters into her own hooves by brushing past me as I mucked, pushing through the lead I was using as a stall guard, and making her own opportunity to stretch her legs for the morning, trotting down the drive. (Silver lining: She was 100% sound on the pavement after the prior day's work and being stalled overnight.) Cue the usual chorus of "loose horse!", me jogging along behind her (internally panicking), and eventually me calling out "I'll claim her (I think)" when she was caught at someone's campsite. Thanks to the emergency collar I have taken to using, they had an easy way to hold her, knew her name was Missy, and didn't have to lend me a halter for the walk of shame back to our stall. ("She's not feral. She was just done with being stalled.")

23 years old. Knows better. Also knows an opportunity when she sees one.

I took the time to let my adrenaline come back down, then proceeded with our planned lunge. She looked like she felt great, and I got to put to practice my verbal driving cues now that I had solidified what I was going to consistently use. Malhon arrived just as we finished, so we got Miss put to and headed out to enjoy a Sunday drive together. 

While Malhon could've sat next to me for the flat parts, it was better for the balance of the carriage if he was on the back, especially when going over any terrain.

Malhon grew up riding and driving. I'm sure he has many more hours experience than I do in the carriage box. Even though he never took lessons, solely learning from his parents how to drive his ponies recreationally or the draft horses they used around the farm for work, he knows a LOT about driving, harnesses, vehicles, etc. I was grateful for this when Miss was a little tense at the beginning of the drive, and he spotted that my holdbacks were a little loose, allowing the shaft carriers to pull forward on the saddle, back strap, and crupper any time we slowed down. We got down, he held her head as I snugged them up, and carried on with an immediately happier, more relaxed Missy. In hindsight, I'd venture a guess that this was part of our problem in the second lesson too. While Missy was fine when it was just me in the carriage, the added weight of a person or two more would've greatly increased that pressure. 

"Missy, trot-trot!"

The ear flick

We took yet another route we hadn't been on yet, but this one DID go on the XC course. While I told her, "that's NOT a ramp", as the first coop came into view, today she understood the assignment. She steadily walked where I guided her, trotting and, yes, cantering only when I asked. 

 A large portion of the trail ducked into the woods, where we got a chance to really practice our steering. Missy did great, and Malhon was an excellent navigator, making sure we saw any roots or other obstacles in our path.

I don't have any good photos of how tight some of the turns were, but Missy handled them very well. I learned the drive prior that her left shoulder is her strong shoulder, and she prefers to lead with it, tipping her withers left. I was able to effectively use half halts on the left rein to ask her to pick up that shoulder and not dive into lefthand turns. 

When we reached the end of the trail, I asked Malhon to humor me (when does he not?) and guided Miss around the XC course to one of the water complexes. After how well she had done on trail and how quietly she had walked through the water on our hack the day prior, I wanted to check off a bucketlist item: driving through water. 

So we did.

Malhon hopped off the back to play videographer (and avoid getting splashed). Missy walked through like it was the most natural thing in the world. Then, we came through again at the trot...

She's such a badass little mare

...and cantered out, right on cue!

All smiles, and I was giggling

"Missy, canter!"

Taking my honey for a drive, then having Missy 100% know the right answer to a new ask... it was the perfect way to end our first National Drive. 

Not a bad way to spend a Sunday morning

I unhooked Miss by the truck and cared for her while Malhon got the carriage loaded up. We worked together like a well-oiled machine, and in no time at all we were headed home. 

Have truck (and carriage and trailer and mare), will travel

While it was certainly a bit of a rollercoaster, I think it's safe to say Missy and I met (and even exceeded!) all of my goals. I think it's safe to say we both had fun. I feel confident that my gear and order of operations is safe. We covered many miles away from home, including trail neither of us had seen before. Hauling the horse trailer and carriage with Malhon's truck worked perfectly. Following both my lessons and the solo miles Missy and I shared, I'm feeling much more confident in my use of the driving aids. I have plenty I want to work on with Missy this winter (like improving our steering accuracy with cones courses), but I'm definitely looking forward to the next National Drive in the spring!