Coachman’s Delight Home

Questions Answered! You can watch a recording of my live question and answer session from March 30th, 2020. We talked about collars, marathon times, long lining, getting lazy horses to walk, then getting the hot ones to relax, and more. Check out the full recording plus links to the reference materials and recommended long lines.

When you’re teaching a horse to drive, sometimes everything goes great until it doesn’t. Things may go great in the preliminary work, but then you hit an impasse. Those problems can be mild, as described below. However, if the problems go unchecked, or ignored, they may be a prelude to a runaway. This question was [...]

I've had great teachers to learn from in my life as a carriage driving trainer. Many of them were human. However, some of the best teachers have been horses. The best ones will catching you doing your job right. The other ones will make you better by waiting for you to figure it out.

Is the single jointed bit the root of all evil? Many people shy away from a bit that has been used successfully for generations. What’s bad, and not so bad about a single jointed bit?

I’m often asked, “How much is too much contact, and how little is too little.” The answer often depends on what it is that you’re doing with your horse. But the question of how much contact you should use goes beyond the specific activity your are doing with your horse. It can change within the course of a single workout. Instead of focusing on “How much contact should I have?” you should focus on “What is the most effective contact for that moment?” Read more and watch the video.

Breast collars are the most common style of harness for carriage drivers of all types these days. They’re light weight and easy to fit to just about any horse. However, lately there’s been some discussion about how much pressure is placed in the neck strap when your horse is pulling. Should you be concern?

I hope you had a great Thanksgiving! Mine has been pretty darn good, and still going strong. I get to have two this year since my sky family will be celebrating our own “FriendsGiving” this weekend. This is definitely one of my favorite holidays of all of them. Cook, eat, drink, be merry. So freekin [...]