Short drive, big lesson; teaching uncontrollable horses to walk calmly on a loose rein.
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- Опубліковано 23 січ 2025
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Barry explains how he teaches a pair of Friesian mares to walk calmly on rubber bits and why we are giving this lesson over a short-distance drive. He talks about the importance of horses listening to you, why we drive hard-pulling and hard-mouthed horses in rubber bits and shows how we control horses that are fresh out the stable.
These horses were sent to us because they wanted to go at 90mph everywhere, wouldn't walk out the yard and wouldn't stand still. We are trying to get them to walk on a slack rein just off the voice instead of hanging onto their mouths to get them to stay at a slower pace. Although they are being driven in rubber bits, we still want them to respond mainly off the voice.
As these horses throw their heads up in the air to evade the bit (a habit which can be due to having a severe bit in their mouths to control them previously) we have put a standing martingale on them. We are only doing a short drive with them when they are fresh out the stable to ensure they will listen to us and are still controllable when "full of beans". This is a good test for a horse and one that is often overlooked; if you had to return to the stable for whatever reason i.e. a loose shoe and you need your horses to walk to prevent injury, you need them to listen to you even if they have only gone a short distance and then turn for home. These horses will be doing commercial work with their owner, so they need to stand still when told and to walk calmly instead of jig-jogging or trotting virtually on the spot. We have also put these horses on the other side of the pole (they were previously driven the opposite way round).
We also show us teaching them to stand still and rein back when going into the yard. This film was taken early on in this pair's training, more videos will be posted showing how they have progressed.
Horse Drawn Promotions - Breaking horses to harness.
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That’s the first time I seen a car back up on a horse like that. Wow they are well trained very good.
So refreshing to see a horseman who doesn't think the answer to everything is pull on their mouth or crack them but actually has patience , know this is an old video but never the less great !
What a smashing horseman! Pity there are so few people around who genuinely have such understanding, kindness and guts, like Mr Hook.
It is a great pleasure to watch an experienced craftsman at work.
Every time I watch this I am lost for suitable words with which to praise the skills of this amazing man. And he seems to think that we all could do it. Well, I couldn't.
I still watch this video, going back years ago
Fantastic horseman with absolute pearls of wisdom, learning so much for my riding ❤
Love it when UA-cam suggests the older videos! 😊 Hello Barry and Rhi!
Hi Carli!
That is impressive. The windy weather was winding them up a bit too. Nice confidence and control.
What a treasure you are. Thinking of all these things that could come up when driving. Your steady head and hands are worth a lot to people who drive horses.
Mr. Hook, I know you're unwilling to claim yourself as the best driver in the world, but I (in my admittedly limited knowledge of driving) am certainly willing to. I've spent my whole day watching your videos. I'm a classical dressage man myself but have already learned so much today. Seriously considering switching from iron to rubber bits moving forward (assuming I can find a Baucher snaffle in rubber when the time comes). Thanks for the videos!
I live in the US and always find myself trying to steer your team to the right side of the road. Wonderful videos, thanks!
me too
So grateful for your willingness to share your experience. Learning so much. Keep up the good work!
Beautiful control, going from a canter to a walk so peacefully.
I think the secret is your very calm manner and clear communication! Love watching your videos!
Maree Torrumbarry khxlgk
A learning experience. Thank you for sharing.😷👍
Yes too many idiots with stupid ideas on training horses. Upon seeing one of our horses standing quietly , yolked up to our dray a gentleman asked what was the secret, as he was unable to get his horse to stand. "Time, and patience, time and patience" my husband replied, and he has been round working horses all his life. Any novice or indeed regular driver can learn a lot listening to Mr Hook and gain valuable knowledge from someone who has years of experience , and most of all a common sense approach when dealing with horses . No two horses are the same and you can never stop learning!
I love that you labor the point. Fine horsemanship.
I am just starting driving with my Morgan Mare I will be watching MANY of your videos. thanks for sharing
This man sure knows horses great thanks for sharing
Greetings from KY USA :D ! You are remarkable. I am learning so much from your videos. My most honest and sincere thanks.
I love fresians. They are gorgeous horses
You are very wise. I've had a drunken best man not only pressing his car close to the horses and beeping, but also throwing chunks of ice at them out of a cooler. I was very glad we took my well trained pair on that job and not my boss's half broke yahoos.
Love,love,love these videos! Such a sensible, knowledgeable horse trainer.
Brilliant lesson. Thank you.
Very hard to pull against something which isn't pulling against you. Barry demonstrates this all the time when he's driving.
I love how their ears are always loud stoning to him!
My heart as in my mouth as you passed to the left of Mel
A great horseman..no doubt..
what a good horseman. classic.
I've not seen many pairs that "lean" on each other as they drive. Is it just kind of a quirk that these two did? Great video, your training truly takes into consideration the many situations these animals and yourselves can be put into.
+FlowingDepths Thanks for your comment; leaning on each other or the pole, or pulling away from the pole, is a surprisingly common problem with a pair. Its more to do with the way how the harness and vehicle interacts with them and how they are driven, which over time - if not corrected - develops into a habit and then becomes harder to fix, because the horses will want to go like that as they believe that's how they "should" go. This pair had been broken elsewhere and had had their heads tied together with a rope by another trainer, in an attempt to "fix" the issue, which was not the course of action we would have taken. If you search for a pair of grey shetlands on our channel, there's another older film that explains why a pair pull away from the pole and what we did to resolve that issue.
Bloody brilliant :)
Very interesting. Keep up the horse sense.
Enjoyed watching, thanks ☺
barry your driving is second to none you really can get any horse to listen any horse will learn if you know how to understand the horse first your points you make I hear them . Give them horses an inch if you let them there take you mile
How can you get them to go straight instead of being bent in one direction even while traveling straight?
Love the sensible videos. Also the rubber bits. But WHERE can you get a 6 inch rubber bit for heavy horses? Cant find one anywhere
Caroline St Clair second this! Where are the heavy horse supplies!
@@Equinebovine123 Try to find a Draft Horse Journal. They list many suppliers. It is probably on the Internet, now.
I don't have current information, and this may not help at all. The quarterly, The Draft Horse Journal, lists many suppliers. I remember some in Indiana a lot of times they are harness shops. You may have already tried on the Internet, under draft horse supply.
I love Barry Hook's videos. He always says that he only uses rubber bits but what type of bits are they? Straight bar bits or jointed?
In full, they are: soft, flexible, straight bar, mullen mouth, loose ring snaffles. No joints, no cantilevers etc.
Why are their heads always bent to the left?
I'm just curious what the metal loops on the top of the bridle would be used for? Ive never seen those before and my google search isn't pulling anything up!!
They are special rosettes for taking leader reins - basically like a fixed roger ring (these tend to be able to move, whereas the ones that are on these bridles are fixed directly on to the rosette itself). When driving a four-in-hand the leader's reins are supported through them and then the centre terret on the wheeler's pads; we have them on most of our bridles to facilitate switching horses to any position while out on a drive.
Brilliant
Do you do some ground exercises at home before taking them out on the road? I mean, before you take them out the first time?
To do with traffic training? With some yes, with some not so much. We have very quiet country lanes we can take them out on to begin with if we think they need that. Some horses come to us from a riding background and are very confident in traffic anyway, so that isn't a factor for them. Of course we will always make sure we are confident the horse is safe to go on the public highway before we take them out, but for some horses heading out on the road with lots of things to look at with a steady schoolmaster beside them is the best way to get them out and about. They have so much to think about and look at to distract them, they don't focus on one thing and get worried about it! Of course, every horse is different and some horses require a lot of work before they reach the 'out on the road' stage.
Thank you for your answer. I see how the background a horse brings with him would be knowledge in the bank and would shape their training. Very interesting. They really are all different in so many ways.
What is that collar they are wearing? I haven't seen that bit of tack before.
They are neck-collars to use as a tying point in addition to their headcollars. We use them for all our horses.
Great job, as per usual Barry. What rubber bits do you use?Thanks
whats with the neck straps out of interest?
+joanna sott They are used to stop the head collars from hurting their necks - it also acts as a back up if the horse slipped out of its headcollar or it broke, They allow full access to the horses face too for grooming :-)
You mention rubber bits a lot and I was wondering what specific type of bit you use? I have a rubber mullen mouth pelham bit that I use for riding and wondered if it would make a decent bit for ground driving my mare and eventually driving with a cart.
That’s very scary seeing that car pulling up and in front of them inside them that’s scary well trained horses
One thing I would want if I had horses is to have them trust me enough and listen to direction well enough be able to control them with a hacamore, no bit at all.
Using a hackamore does not mean that your horses are listening to you more - bitless bridles still work on pressure on the face, just as bits work on pressure in the mouth. We do sometimes drive bitless (for example if a horse has had wolf teeth removed or other dentistry work done) but we attach the reins to a normal head collar. Bitless bridles are not kinder than using a soft bit and in some cases can be considerably harsher. This is why our aim is to drive these horses on a loose rein, going mainly off of voice commands, in a soft rubber bit, to prove that they are listening to us without needing pressure anywhere to control them. The bits are used merely as a guide for direction. Its the same issue as using a "natural horsemanship" rope halter - these work because they are made of thin rope which puts pressure on a more concentrated area on the horse's head than a normal padded head collar, yet many people think these are kinder simply because they are marketed in a certain way.
barryhook2
I see. Well, you would certainly know more about this than I do. I had learned about bitless bridles from my mother actually (she prefers them), and honestly, I've never much cared for the idea of sticking steel bars in a horse's mouth (just seems painful for the horse and too much overkill, really). The way I see it, if I wouldn't like it, then a horse probably wouldn't like it either. I would be interested to find out what sort of bridles, with or without a bit, that would be best/most comfortable for the horse, should I actually need to use it for maintaining or regaining control of the horse in bad situations.
barryhook2 The horse's nose is a very sensitive thing- seems people forget that sometimes.
Oakleaf700 It's actually my favourite spot on a horse, the soft velvety nose. I love to gently rub and kiss the velvet between the nostrils and they seem to like the touch, as long as you're gentle. Plus, they get to sniff your breath when you exhale as you do that, it's how horses greet each other. They wanna know where ya been and how you're doing, and that's how they tell each other, with a soft blow from their nostrils. At least that's my understanding of it anyway. XD
Leathurkatt I too love the velvety noses of horses- so sensitive. Their breath smells so sweet as well, when they exhale into your nose.. :)
If I may ask-why don't you use a spacer rod between the heads to keep their heads forward and apart?
Are those collars for the horses LOL 😂
''Who are you, Man United?'' :)
Competition horses rather than wedding horses. Rather you than me!
No, the mare has probably had an accident, as she was perfect before that. No way would it be worthwhile training for a novice, she was sold as perfect child's pony, which she was.
more jig jogging than walking tbh, I would take them out for a four mile trot
Its true that they may walk after they've had a 4 mile trot and let off some steam, but that's no good if you need them to walk straight out of the stable, hence why we are also doing this while they are fresh, as we explain in the video (bear in mind as they will be used for commercial work, the owner may not have the opportunity to take them for a good trot before every job). So for us, as we are focusing on their long-term discipline and training, taking them for a trot is the last thing we would do. We don't expect them to walk calmly all the way during this first lesson, but the fact that they are slowing and not pulling hard to trot is an improvement (their owner had someone drive them previously in strong bits and by tying their heads together with a rope, before branding them "uncontrollable"). Considering we have them in rubber bits, the fact that they are beginning to listen is, in our opinion, better than hanging on to their mouths and forcing them to walk for fear of getting hurt by the bit. These pair are older horses and had been driven for many years before coming to us, but the manner they had been driven in was what had led them to be hard-mouthed and not want to walk. We needed to change that; it may not happen overnight but you can see more of their progress in their other videos, including one with their owner on the reins.
Ty Barry, I think that you are a great driver and teacher of horses.
But I think in the early stages they should be kept calm and well worked, rather than tested. Yes, some will be fine if kept in for a few days, but some will not.
I sent my mare to a local lady who you will have heard of, [she does demos at shows], and she spent two or three weeks on long reining, we never got to putting to as mare went berserk when shafts were put alongside, presumably due to some previous accident in a carriage.
I don't think she would keep new horses stabled, seemed to me she got the problem horses moving forward.
I don't wish to comment on other trainers or how they do things, but in my opinion if a horse I was training went beserk when the shafts were put on its sides, regardless of whether it had had an accident previously or not (and we've retrained plenty who have), it would mean I had not done my job of training or re-training it properly. But everyone does things differently and will have a different understanding of problems and how to resolve them - if you're happy with the results from that lady and how she does things that's great, but it does not mean we would agree either on the methods used or the interpretation of the issues at hand.
اوكي نريد
There appears to be a strap clipped to the ring on the head stall to the breastplate. Is this to keep their heads down?
not exactly uncontrollable, just green