I know I've read that horses are probably more innately suited for driving than for riding...so, my next question would be, how many of the same muscles are used for driving that are used for riding. My gut tells me the back is used pretty differently for driving, but maybe it still helps some? We normally ground drive our horses before we ride, but in the case of a horse who might be an alternate riding horse for Cary, would the horse get a lot of muscle benefit from an extended driving period, before we put her under saddle? Would it even be of benefit to drive her with a cart first? I normally think of ground driving being a building block to teach steering when the human isn't right beside the horse, and that's valuable... I just wonder how much strength building would also be of cumulative benefit. (Even if we do a lot of driving, Cary won't be the first to sit on her - I think he's too big for that. I'll get my small friend up first, then me, then Cary after she's used to me...)
Karen Thomas, NC No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.463 / Virus Database: 269.6.1/776 - Release Date: 4/25/2007 12:19 PM
