| Author | Message | ||
     Sue Wilkinson |
well thanks all for your advice we purchased some clear blinkers from ebay but when they came they were far to big to use on the pony so we have been bribing the pony with carrots whilst she stands with the blinkers on and we are pleased to anounce that we ca now get the bridle on without a fight and she is gradually comming to terms with them but thanks for the tips they may come in useful with future ponies and if anyone needs a full sized set of police horse type clear blinkers i have a pair available . we will carry on long reining her till she is totally happy . | ||
| Stef Nuttall |
If you get some of that bed camping roll, you can cut various sizes of blinker out and put in a couple of slits so it can be slid onto your cheek pieces of an ordinary riding bridle.Cut them shallow to start with so its alomost as though he as no blinkers. As he gets used to them, you can cut another pair out, a bit deeper. We have done this a few times with different horses we have broken in. They have all gone on to drive with blinkers. Take your time. good luck | ||
| Helen Hunter |
Hi Sue Here's another suggestion for you - try sourcing a set of clear blinkers. Use them as they are first then gradually "block them in" using black insulation tape starting nearest the bridle and working towards the outside of the blinker. You can continue to have your ponies trust that way. Try a harness supplier and see if they can help. Good luck. | ||
| Sue Wilkinson |
thanks for that jackie if she wasnt a rescue pony we would have sent her to a professional to break but when she first came to us 3 years ago sh was scared of her own shaddow . its took us a year to get her full trust and she was bought to be a brood mare but as she cant breed and is prone to being a fatty we thought driving might keep her weight under control a bit better we will take it very slow as its early days yet i supose it dosent help that we are starting from scratch on an older pony that has never been ridden . | ||
| Jackie Ellis |
HI Sue, I had the same problem with my cob; Badger, we broke him to harness when he was 4 years old, & he would not turn the carriage at all with blinkers,he would just rear & plung. I put a riding bridle on him, pulled a tyre behind him, & he was fine, we then attached it, & carried on breaking him as normal. He never minded anything from then on, & became a great driving horse. Competing Indoors & out without blinkers, sometimes causing quite a stir! There is no reason to use blinkers if your mare is un-happy in them, just make sure that she accepts things behind her before attaching a carriage; Perhaps for health & safety reasons i should now reccomend that you go to a recognised trainer for help!!! (Not that I did!) | ||
| Sue Wilkinson |
we have been trying to break a welsh mare to harness shes been great till today she has been lunging well with harness and normal riding blidle and long reining no problem . today we tried the driving bridle on with blinkers well to say she freaked out big time was understatement of the year a normaly very placid pony was rearing up and panicking big time she was shaking from head to tail . withing 2 mins of having the blinkers removed she was back to her normal self and carried on to work well as normal . i would welcome any sugestions as i was totally shocked by her reaction she wears a hood no problem before shows and lets you clip her ears etc never had any problems with her before she has always trusted up implicitly and we know she has never had a bridle of any sort on before we had her . i belive you can get half cup blinkers but cant find any for sale cheap to try we might try her with some french blinkers for now but we do need to sort out the problem before we can start thinking about pulling a tyre . any advice welcomed thanks sue |