GROUND DRIVING AS A TRAINING AID - Natural Horsemanship training Tips © by Gordon Adair / Trainer

Ground driving, also called long lining, is best known by horse owners for training a horse to pull a cart or buggy. Like always, there are different uses for everything. The art of ground driving can be used to teach a young or problem horse the proper way to respond to a bit before you mount up. Ground driving is the closest way to simulate riding while you are safely on the ground.

The equipment that you will need to ground drive is: A surcingle or western saddle, a snaffle bit, and a pair of 30' round tightly woven nylon long lines. A surcingle is a strap that wraps around your horsešs girth area and has many rings, it is very similar to a driving harness. Each line is attached to one side of the snaffle bit, through a ring on a surcingle or through a stirrup on a saddle to the center of the arena, where you can control your horse as if you are riding. The furthest line can either cross over your hores's back or around the hindquarters above the hocks. You have the options of: following beside, behind, or standing in the center of the arena while controlling your horse.

A word of caution: ground driving does take coordination on your part to be able to remember which hand controls which direction, this may seem simple but wait until you are in the middle of a conflict and you have very little time to respond with only one attempt available.

There are many reasons for you to learn, or teach your horse to ground drive. Here are just a few examples which will start you on your way to finding your reasons to ground drive. Developing the proper muscles of your horsešs neck, shoulder, and back to prepare him for the weight of a human. A human's weight on a weak horsešs back is like a person sitting on a wood plank; it bends downwards. This causes your horsešs head and hindquarters to rise upwards, placing him into an uncomfortable position and restricting smooth movements.

• Teaching horses to properly flex their head's, neck's, shoulder's, hip's, and tail's in the same direction. Horses should always bend their body in a curve so their head and tail point in the direction of travel. This will eliminate twists in your horsešs back, which restricts movement and gives a rider a very uncomfortable ride.
• As a change in your training routine. Horses do not like change, by doing different procedures horses will get used to doing different things. So the next time something that is out of your control happens, your horse will think that it is just another test.
• A good means to test the training level of a horse prior to mounting. Many people are not honest about their horsešs training manners. By ground driving you can quickly find out whether the horse will stop, turn, or back on command. This proves to be a great insurance policy from getting hurt on a unfamiliar horse.
• Working out a performance problem like rearing is much easier on the ground. Whether you use ground driving for training to ride or as another test or discipline to further your horsešs education. Do not limit yourself to just walk, trot, and canter. You can do anything ground driving that can be done on horse back. For example: side passing, two tracking, backing, lateral flex head movements, and more.

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Gordon Adair is a professional natural horse trainer and riding instructor with over thirty-five years of experience. Gordon's specialty is instructing owners with their horses, the philosophy of teaching horsemanship and communication. The ability to teach and communicate can then be used with the owners own discipline and personality. Ocala, Florida for more information