Coachman’s Delight Home

The most valuable skill you can teach a horse is to stand still. You may think that’s an overstatement but it’s not even the slightest exaggeration. You can accomplish more in all of your training by giving your horse “the skill of being still.” Unfortunately, many people fall into the trap of thinking that patience [...]

It took less than 20 seconds from start to finish, and I’ll spend the next 6 weeks feeling these 3 reminders daily: Sometimes, shit can go wrong faster than you can move. Horses, even small ones, are exponentially larger than we are. No one is above the previous two conditions coming together and putting you [...]

I hate to say something like “How was your season?” because to me, this is prime-time for driving. I love driving in fall despite the dwindling daylight and falling temperatures. Maybe not so much of an issue for those of you in warmer parts of the world, or on the other side of the globe. [...]

Posting images or questions about carriage driving on social media can be a great way to share and learn. Of course, then there's a whole world of unvetted experts chiming in. Learn how to spot the difference!

Carriage driving pairs of horses and ponies is great fun, but it comes with one common challenge. Getting the two horses to work equally as a pair. The solution is relatively simple, yet most people go about it all wrong. Learn how to make your carriage driving horses a pair.

Is working your horse longer setting your training back? It's easy to fall into the trap of thinking more = more, but that may be doing more harm than good. Getting the most of your workout may mean quitting while you're ahead. Read how I was reminded of this by a new horse in my training.

My goofy Saddlebred at Laurels CDE Maintaining perspective while training horses for carriage driving can be a challenge. This is especially true when you’re trying to improve your dressage scores in combined driving. We have ideals in our minds that we’d like our horses to live up to, and when someone misses the [...]