A fine example of driving asshatery

[monica1979]

Click to view

Now I'm no expert in driving, but I'm pretty sure that get a yearling hooked up to a cart for the first time like this is not a good a idea. She's still a baby and they had her carrying the weight of the cart and 2 adults, without even desensitizing the poor thing first. And getting her started on asphalt and cranking her head up the whole time *

Comments

[wastedrock]

It looks like a pretty nice Standardbred racing place, my guess is they've broken a couple babies to drive. When is it carrying two adults?

They're just trying to get it to walk, I'm pretty sure there isn't a whole lot of other places TO break them to cart on the track, I'd think they'd have to be broken to drive before even setting foot on the track.

TL;DR
It's meh. Baby STB acting like a racehorse.

[monica1979]

At 3:29 they move her to the grass and then the woman gets on the back of the cart as well and they start making her move a lot faster at about 3:44. If they were just getting her to walk, I wouldn't have so much of an issue with it.

[lunatteo]

Some folks didn't ever watch Black Beauty... that check rein up that high is what's driving the poor girl batty. You'd think they'd harness her up before hand with that check and do some ground driving with it or something slowly bringing it up. She was flailing her head like she'd never had it before... Even if she did driving her first time with it that high? Hm... She was actually not too bad so I do think they've done some desensitizing. She never seemed scared of the cart, just pissed at that check rein holding her head up and when it started to move towards her ear at the end (think they need a better keeper for it o.O)

Also, that few times she slid on the asphalt made me catch my breath. >.< Need a dirt track folks! Jeeze... even a dirt driveway... not a hard thing for people to have, or even a neighbor/friend to.

[greyskyridge]

I'm missing the part where the video shows the horse from birth to that moment so everyone can tell that they didn't do grounddriving in the time leading up to that video

[thejinxii]

This^

[wastedrock]

That's pretty much how I felt :p

[lunatteo]

True, we can't really know. But also some of those photos we harp on we can't really know what that day was like or training was like for them prior either. (Some. Others? Oh lordy!) And they did handle it well.

All I can think for why the asphalt apart from "we didn't have any other place to do it!" was perhaps not wanting the cart to bounce too much behind her as it went over uneven terrain. We don't know.

I would say "I would have done it differently" but I also would not be training youngsters in prep to race either so it becomes a moot point.

[lovely_beezer]

I don't particularly like the young horses (STB, TB, or otherwise) being broke so young, but we can't call out one particular person on this when it is an industry wide problem. This looks like a typical track breaking scenario to me. I agree, use of the check rein is something I might have waited to do for a session or two, but again, an industry wide standard that we can't condemn here without being hypocritical.

Additionally, horses can pull weights much higher than they can stand on their backs. Again, not trilled about the age of the horse here, but she's pulling (an estimated) 400lb with both people on that cart, well within her pulling range.

[appolonia]

It's also entirely possible that the horse WAS introduced to the check-rein properly and was just being a dick that day for whatever reason that young horses sometimes decide to be assholes.

[lunatteo]

That's all I can think about the check is that they do it just because and its one of those 'she might as well sooner or later' moments. Like when some folks just tack a baby up with everything for just their first backing when they've not had them in a bridle at all prior. Just one little issue added that kinda sets off the kettle. Luckily she was handled well about it, unlike how some might do so.

[monica1979]

OK, not wanting to start a fight here but it seems like a double criteria in the horse industry. While people are criticizing riders for starting horses under saddle before they're 3, when the horses are being driven so young it doesn't seem to be all that bad? I know that carrying a cart and carrying a rider isn't the same, but shouldn't they allow the babies to mature before they started driving them?

[monica1979]

Gotcha.

[harnessphoto]

Racehorses are broke young, which has been shown to cause long term damage. HOWEVER, racehorses also 'bounce' better when they're young. A 2 or 3 year old stands a better chance at recovering from a racing injury than an older horse.