Have you ever wondered what carriage driving is all about? Curious to try but never had the courage to give it a go? UK based Sue and Monty are new to carriage driving and will be doing a regular blog for Zilco so we can follow their journey. Their story shows that it doesn’t matter whether you have experience or not, it doesn’t matter how big or small your horse is, everyone can try carriage driving.

 

Hi,

I am Sue and this is Monty my miniature Shetland. He is 33” (around 8.1HH) and 18 years old. 

Monty's full-time job is to keep my other horse Yogi company as a companion. He is a real sweetheart. He loves people and really enjoys cuddles and a fuss, but needs a proper routine and regular activity to keep him fit and healthy. 

I work full time in the public sector and horses are my hobby. I love trying new disciplines, I also regularly attend side saddle competitions with Yogi, as well as practicing natural horsemanship with both of them.

Although initially intended as a companion, I was concerned that Monty still needed regular activity to keep him fit and healthy. Being so small I am unable to ride him, so I decided to take the leap into carriage driving, something I have never done before. Having learned to drive over the summer and Monty taking to it really well I wanted to look for something to keep us fit and motivated over the winter months. I contacted Indoor Carriage Driving to find out about the sport and after a friendly chat I decided to sign up to our first training day in September. 

 

Everyone has been so kind and helpful. We had a fantastic introduction to this great sport, I learned all about the different types of harness, all the bits in the harness set, the safety features and the types of carriages. Monty and I had our first go at a dressage test (I got hopelessly lost!) and cones, they went much better as I just had to count my way around! It was an amazing experience!

 

With the feedback from the training day and the amazing help and encouragement from the organisers and other competitors, I plucked up the courage to try our first competition in October. Monty was fantastic! We completed the dressage test without getting lost! The cones were great and had our first go at the speed and thrills of the obstacles. We have learned so much and have plenty to work on but we had so much fun and Monty and I are looking forward to our next outing!

 

If you would like to find out more about indoor carriage driving, please contact Indoor Carriage Driving here. They will be able to give you further details on training events and competitions. For further information on the best driving harness for your horse, please visit our NEW STARTER HARNESS CATALOGUE Zilco harness caters for all sizes and shapes!