How to Train a Horse to Drive

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Dress your horse in soft blankets or parts of the harness. He will need to get used to having something placed on his back. Be sure to let straps gently touch his legs and get him used to having his tail handled. Treats may be a good reward.
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Walk him around in the harness for a while to get used to it. If you have done your homework well, your horse should accept the harness with little trouble.


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Lunge the horse in the harness and practice giving him voice commands to "walk", "trot", and "whoa". He should fully understand these commands. If he doesn't, you can grab a lunge whip and as you go from walk to trot drag the whip behind them. If they don't respond to that, you can lightly tap them on the rump with the whip. Do not hit the horse at any time. When you are showing your horse in a show-driving competition, you will have to use a whip as a traditional item. If your horse doesn't stand still, it may be a good time to take the harness off and lunge them in a roundpen while using voice commands as they transition from walk to trot, trot to walk, stopping, etc. Once your horse understands this, then you will be able to move to ground driving.
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Attach long reins or lines to the horse's bit and begin to "ground drive" him.During ground driving, you walk behind the horse and teach him to respond to your (gentle) tugs on the reins and voice commands. To do this, have him walk toward a fence, as he prepares to stop, gently pull on both reins and tell him "whoa", or gently pull on one rein to encourage him to turn. Most horses get the message fairly quickly.
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Ground drive the horse until you are confident that he understands what you want him to do. He should be especially well-trained to stop at "whoa" and to stand perfectly still at "stand". Your horse shouldn't turn his head as he is turning, even though this is an indication that he's paying attention to you rather than what's going on outside of his periphery. Blinders can help him focus on looking straight ahead when performing this step.
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Spend some time letting your horse get used to the cart for added safety. Pull it around him so that he can hear the noise it makes and see it moving. Let him smell of it and become completely familiar with it. As your are ground driving, ask someone to pull the cart between you and your horse on both sides and in front of your horse. Put the horse between the shafts (but do not hitch) and lead the horse while one or two helpers walk the cart to keep pace with the horse. You might even let him watch another horse pulling a cart.
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With the help of a friend or two, one day quietly hitch the horse to the cart. One person will need to hold the horse and comfort him (as well as have control of his head) while you hitch him up. Then lead him while he has the cart hitched to him. Do not get into the cart until you can walk him around without him getting panicky about a cart following so closely behind. Go through your commands with your horse before you feel absolutely certain your horse is ready to be truly driven, with you sitting in the cart has he pulls you and the cart along. You must be absolutely certain that your horse is ready; if you have any doubt, you may compromise the safety of both you and your horse.
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Step into the cart while your horse pulls it. Once you have repeated the previous lesson as many times as necessary, you can step into the cart. Be sure you are wearing a helmet, and always have a friend nearby in case assistance is needed. First time must be slow, at walking pace, and preferably on a flat, level surface such as in a riding arena.
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Repeat until both you and your horse are confident with this arrangement.Now, you can step it up to pleasure drives on back roads. Somewhere safe without much traffic is all you need.
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Keep these lessons short and interesting. 15-20 minutes of solid driving is about all a beginning young horse can handle per lesson. Be sure to reward lavishly, and of course, have fun!
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