Downloadable Lesson Plans
If you’re not sure what you should be working to improve on your carriage driving, a lesson plan can help you focus on the skills you want to develop.
Planning your work with your horse is the best way to advance his training, and improve your skills. These Downloadable Lesson Plans will help you plan that work with easy to follow directions broken down by one exercise at a time.
Each exercise includes an instructional briefing, plus step-by-step instructions with diagrams. “Performance Priorities” help keep you focused on the important points of each exercise.
Get your training focused by purchasing a lesson plan today. You’ll get instant access to download the lesson plan to your mobile device or computer. You can even print them out on your home printer to bring to the barn with you!
** Please note: All lesson plans are downloads that you can save to your computer or mobile device. They are not physical products.
Andy so awesome you are coming to Southern CA in Dec but your calendar and the Whip’R Snappers calendars don’t match. 12/12-14/25 vs 12/13-14/25 and Lakeview Terrace vs Temecula. Think about hooking up with Joan at amazing Fresian Focus Farm where Gerard Paagman started The Caravan. She had 3 $1,000,000 Fresian studs when I started on The Caravan. Unfortunately, I missed the training camp you taught at in BC at Gerard’s. Had hoped 2-3 years ago to join Michael Muir’s caravan from Yosemite to Yellowstone then head off driving in Arcadia National Park for the summer and head South to drive more of Rockafelliws trails and train with you for a week or until you kicked me out. Alas Yellowstone wouldn’t allow the horse carriages —crazy since initial visitors went through by stagecoach! And again I had to work and then fought off long COVID for 3 years and my strong team member passed but not before you gave us 50% off not driving straight class snd on the beach up Fiana Kastsma’s. So now I have a new young team of plow boy Belgians and ready to add ring work to wagon trains and a carriage business as we become the only driving lessons within 400 miles of Los Angeles County. Hardy Zander lives nearby and started as a kid on a Belgian farm team so maybe between the two of you I can enter a ring without running over Ted Campbell or Patricia Demurs. Driving is a small community. So my dad is from Fall River and mom from Newport so will probably end up out your way eventually I hope. But in the meantime it is incredible the opportunity exists to train with you here! Just wanted to let you know about the different sites and dates and truly give you a nudge to check out Joan’s Fresian Focus Farm. Her two story stable has big beautiful guest rooms, a bar and even a big library. Ya gotta see it to believe it. Gerard can get ya in if you don’t know her yet—but you should. Happy trails and see ya in December. Welcome!
Thanks for the note Joan. Looking forward to seeing you in December (dates and location corrected!)
Andy
Hi Andy, I enjoy following your lesson plans and my seasoned driving horse does as well! I’m looking forward to implementing more of these with my ‘new to driving’ horse. He’s already been hitched successfully and is ready for something challenging. My question is do you have recommendations of a progression of these lesson plans? I will also continue with ground driving and long lining. Do you have a particular order for those as well? Thank you!
My Go-To lesson plan is the Training Dial . Pretty much every horse I work, and every lesson I teach starts with Exercise 3 from that lesson plan. Work that whole lesson plan from the beginning until the pattern is second nature.
From there the Building the Half Halt is a good place to go.
All of that said, all of the lesson plans have been written in sort of a sequel/prequel format. In other words, you can pretty much dive into almost any lesson plan on it’s own, and still have success with it.