Basic Tips??

my point exactly, which is why your replies to people- remember you are the person who told this girl to flap her reins etc- is so irresposible, and actually puts you in a position of being judged by your comments, which really are not coming across as a good advertisement for horsemanship.

ya know what. im really getting tired of your replies. youre constantly calling me irresponsible and other names. thats not acceptable. maybe you should take a look at the forum rules again. just because you dont agree with somene doesnt mean you need to call them names and a bad horseman.

she asked for basic tips, i gave them. i TOLD her about sawing the bit and such but that you NEED to sit behind a horse and learn how to use it. if youre going to sit around and tell every person that asks for any advice on here to go get a trainer, thats not going to help anyone. some people just cant afford that. do you think everyone in the world had an instructor to learn from? not really. and truthfully just because someone is an "instructor" doesnt mean theyre going to know it all and be perfect. there are many "vets" out there that i wouldnt let lay a hand on my horse because they really know nothing.

well girls i suppose thats the end of this thread lol

Getting lessons from a trainer is actually very good advice. There are so many things that cannot be explained fully in type. Too many things a novice cannot see. Driving horses is a very dangerous hobby or sport and should not be taken lightly. Cannot tell you how many wrecks I have seen caused by green horses and green drivers. Green plus green usually equals black and blue.

And I have seen horses that never recover from the trauma of wrecking in cart. 9 times out of 10 horses they are horses that did not have nearly enough training or were rushed into the cart. Our national Congress this year had one of those accidents and it wiped out 8 other horses and carts. This is serious stuff! All because someone rushed a horse into a cart and into a class that it was no way ready for.

I think a big part of the problem is a lot of people asking for advice have no experience with driving. So many times they have no idea of what is good advice verses bad advice.

Again I am not a driving expert but have worked with, watched and helped some of the best in our industry. I am always learning thats for sure. But its very hard to keep quiet when you see advice given here that goes against what the general community would say is sound and appropriate.

almagroM; i think the feeling is mutual, but in my case, its not personal, you might be a very nice person, but i really cant agree with the stuff you are saying. and i have been involved with horses for 35 odd years, both as a professional and as an owner, and i stand by my remarks that the advise you are giving could be very dangerous to a newcomer, or anyone, who has no experience of driving, and are not neccasarily in the horses best interests either. jimmy, fear not, hopefully you will get some more interesting reading out of this- if we all agreed, life would be boring!

and i forgot to add, yes i have read the forum rules, but i am sure the forum owners dont want dangerous advice posted on here either.

and further, i have not called you names; you should re- read these threads.