[trail_rider]

is it hard to teach a mini to drive? everyone keeps telling me that minis are very stubborn and hard to train. is this true?

[bay_blnd jmpr07]

Really depends on the mini.

We have a 2 year old mare being taught and she's awesome.

And then a now 4 year old gelding who's a spook at everything and has total trust issues.

[LazyDaisy]

I have not found that to be the case minis at all. They are generally very intelligent, sensitive and full of personality. I could compare them to Arabs and will sour much more quickly when bored with a routine. Once they understand what you want they are very eager to please and retain their lessons very well.

I did a lot of ground work with mine and from the time they turned two they were ground driven in a halter with lunge lines, and then in full harness at 3. I drove them over obstacles, tarps, cavaletti, bridges, mud puddles, on the roads, around dogs, motorcycles, took them to shows without showing, etc. in as many different situations I could think of. The learned voice commands to walk, trot, whoa and back long before I put a harness on them. The most important lesson any carriage horse, regardless of size, can learn though is to stand stock still until asked to move. No pawing or impatience, only then are they truly ready for the cart.

It was a non event when they were hooked to the cart the first time and moved off like they had been doing it forever. Just had to develop better condition so they could pull longer periods.

[GingerSnap]

All of our mini's are very intelligent. I haven't found a stubborn one yet. But a lot of it depends on how they are handled as babies. Were they treated like a pet and allowed to get away with everything or were they treated like a horse and taught respect and trust? They are just like big horses they have all the same instincts. The only difference is when they throw a fit it's not as big, but that doesn't make it anyless dangerous.

[harli36]

They use mini's as seeing eye horses I doubt that they would be incredibly hard to train and people would still use them for that.

Although I'm sure there are a few out there who are less then desireable but that is for any breed.

That said if you have never driven before or trained a horse to drive before there can be dire results. Driving is 20 x's more dangerous then riding and if everything isn't done 100 % right there can be major problems.

[stockhorse]

Mini's are no easier or harder to train than any other horse,and as always horses are all individuals.

[touchofdandy]

I was starting Spirit in driving before he passed away.

He was doing very well.

It depends on the horse, because there are bigger horses that are stubborn as heck, and then you get the ones that are sweet and willing to learn and do everything. Then the minis, you got the ones who are stubborn and the ones who are willing to learn and do everything...

[Grandma Jesse]

How do I ground drive? I'm in the round pen, pony in bridle and circingle? or just bridle okay? I get awkward with one lunge line, what baby steps to get to where I can use two?

[Grandma Jesse]

I don't know if I have a mini or a pony. She was sold to me signt unseen over the net as a "shetland" pony from people who ran a pony farm. I got her for a companion for my Welch mare which I finally moved to my new property/barn and she was so lonely I just had to get a second pony. My "super mini" is called Macintosh and she is 12 hands. I think that is too tall for a mini. But she is quite thin and the mane is thin and curly like a mini, not like a shetland. "A crazy part is I now have a colt out of the Welch and it looks just like Macintosh, not at all like the little bay mother.

[Mountaingirl89]

I have two mini's who I both trained to drive then trained them as a pair. One was incredibly stubborn and still is, however, once he figured out that I was in control he gave in and now is a very relible driving horse. He is really smart and would never do anything stupid, so I can let just about anyone drive him.
My other mini is the sweetest thing on earth, but was much harder to train. He hated having to be out in front of me when being ground driven. He drives ok now, but gets very agitated about going out for a drive and has taken off with me before.

I started him out with lots of long lining and ground driving. I don't have time to explain how I went about it right this minute, but pm me if you want to know how I went about doing it.