Warning: Need to Vent Post follows
Friend - let’ s call her F - who drives has inflated ideas of how competent she is at the lines.
One deadbroke pony & several In-the-Works & by no means finished “project” Drivers to her credit.
In the mix is a Shetland-type that matches her Saint of a pony & that she has successfully driven as a pair ONCE (on a trail drive with our Club - me as passenger).
At one point on this drive she handed me the lines & that old saw about Rub Head While Patting Tummy came to mind. There are 2 distinct personalities on those lines!
Since then this pony has run away with her once as a single, once in the pair - dragging along the Saint - & once single, on her own property, ending in a trip to the ER.
Life intervening, she has not hitched him (or any of her horses) for near 8mos.
But she refuses the suggestion of a Pro, Ego says she will be the one to fix him.
Mutual friend - MF - grew up driving Standardbreds at the track (parents were Trainers/Owners) - IMO she has Driving Cred, although she has not driven for many years save for above friend’s Saintly pony @ County Fair a couple years ago. She & F are longtime pals - some 20yrs+. I am a relative newcomer of some 5yrs to the trio.
MF had a QH for her daughters - since passed on - but never rode herself.
MF has relocated to another state & house has room for a horse of her own.
Her husband - knows zip about horses - has decided to surprise her with a pair of Driving minis for her birthday.
This is on the strength of a 4-hitch of minis he saw at Fair a couple years ago. 2 of those were sold as unsuited, owner kept the best 2 & drives them regularly.
F contacted owner to ask if there are any teams for sale here (F has also relocated to another state, not same one as MF)
Talking to F, I have been sworn to secrecy.
Fine, I like surprises as much as the next.
But… While I agree with the thought, my reservations are as follows:
*MF should be the one to pick the mini(s)
*MF has Driving experience, but not with a team.
*Personally I think she should get 1, or if 2, both trained to drive, then work up to driving a pair.
F has plans to obtain minis in my state, then drive up in the Spring to haul them to MF.
All sight unseen & unproven < although I do trust the gal she called here to find suitable minis.
Google found me a 8yo mini stud, from a Breeder, trained to drive, located 3h from MF. I msg’d her husband on FB, wording obscurely in case MF sees, hoping he gets back to me.
F shut me down on all of the above with “How many times have you driven a pair?”
Um, never, but your 1-time success does not make you a Pro either.
Am I overthinking?
What say, COTH Driving Minds?
