I used to drive pretty frequently and have done plenty of navigating for quite a few friends. My own horse is 14 and I event him. A friend of mine and I were talking about driving, and I had mentioned to her that my gelding’s sire was a combined driving horse. This sparked a (maybe crazy) idea that it would be fun to see if my gelding would take to it. So, the question is, is 14 too old to teach a horse to drive? Do I have my head stuck in the clouds with this one?
Not at all. Start with ground driving and go from there. If you are also new to driving, do find experienced help for later steps. Also, see if you can expose him to carriages and make sure his is accepting of other horses driving.
Have fun
You know your horse by this time, so be honest with yourself about his general attitude towards things. My big lightbulb goes off if horse is a spooker. His first reaction is always to shy sideways. Some are quite reactive this way, covering a 6ft space in one hop. Others may skitter a few steps, then stop to look.
This is your horse’s natural reaction, you can’t change it. You can work on desensitizing, but some horses just never get over the BIG sideways move in a scary situation. Scary can be white paper in a breeze, meeting a mini, a jogger or meeting a large tractor hauling machinery zipping down the road. Riding the shy or spook out is not too bad most of the time, but spook is unacceptable when horse is hitched to a vehicle.
If horse is pretty accepting of most things he sees or meets, he may be a good candidate for learning to drive. Older animals have usually been out and about, seen quite a lot, done a number of things, so they can be quite accepting of new things.
I would also recommend finding someone in your area to help you learn driving. There is more to it than just getting into a carriage and heading out. You and horse have to learn to work together, each depending on the other to do their part. Practice whip use, carry it ALL the time. It is a tool, no good to you NOW if you have it stuck in the whip holder. Horse has to respond to whip without excitement, over reaction of jumping or faster speed. We think if it as your “legs” when driving. Horse should bend, move easily over when touched. You can whack annoying dogs along the road who get too close to horse, defending him from a possible bite.
I always recommend Doris Ganton’s book, for beginners. It has great pictures, step by step progress, so things are really clear. Just don’t expect to have horse driving well in a week or two! You have to establish the basics, Whoa, Walk, Trot, so horse is almost doing them on a loose rein. This is your brakes and horse will work WITH you as he understands things you tell him. Stop and Stand quietly are the two BEST gaits on any Driving horse!
I had a wonderful riding horse, she could go anyplace, face anything, but she didn’t have the mind for a Driving Horse, even though she would wear harness, blinkers, drag things. Her first reaction was always to skitter sideways from things she was unsure about. Usually only a step with age and more experience on her. Easy to stay on, but there was no fixing or changing it. And she NOTICED everything. So while she would have been a great horse for an Explorer or Indian Scout, taken care of him in scary situations by getting him away from things, she NEVER would have been a reliable Driving Horse with the shying. Some horses are like that, just not made to be Driving animals. No shame in it, not your training program’s fault. Just how they are wired.
Just going forward with horse wearing harness, obeying long line voice commands well, dragging things, will “expand his horizons” in adding training and acceptance. Even if he never gets hitched, you have made him a better horse with this work, so he will be more enjoyable ridden. He may be a perfect driving horse, get the training and say “What is next?” so you can end up with a driving horse who is a lot of fun to use!
You won’t know until you try him, put in the time. This is where an experienced Driving Horse Trainer will be helpful, since they have “trained eyes” to read signs a horse gives that you may not notice. I would go to a Trainer before hitching, pay to get the help at that crucial time, so you and horse can go forward from there more easily. Good luck
When my mare was 11, I shipped her back to my parents to spend the winter-spring there when I was on deployment. She was boarded with an old Amish trainer and part of the deal was he would break her to drive for me.
As the story goes, she was delivered on a Friday night, in big rig trailer to the barn. The wife’s restaurant was open that night, so the lot was full, adding to the drama. Since lights were minimal, all the Amish guy could see was the whites of the mare’s eyes on the trailer. She came off the trailer snorting & blowing, and making a show. Old guy leans over to Mom & asks “How old is she again?” 11. “This might be a tough one.”
This guy was the local zoo keeper & got all the orangutans. For him to wonder if it was doable was saying a lot.
This mare could spin like a reiner under saddle. She’d spook just to dump you. She could quit for 25 minutes of a 30 minute riding lesson. She loved to drive. She’d reliably spook at the fire hydrants until she died, and rarely stood, but she was a fantastic, fun driving horse.
She had her repertoire of tricks, but was pretty predictable with those tricks.
I heard through the grapevine that as youngster she wrecked a bike or did something similar. Lady I bought her from said “you drove HER?:eek:”
I agree with everyone above, you never know until you try! Just make sure you’re taking the appropriate training steps so you can do so safely. You never know- he may surprise you. I’ve heard many stories of beloved riding ponies being retrained to drive as their children outgrew them because they couldn’t bear to part with them. An older horse can definitely learn new tricks if he has the right mindset and training!
Not at all, I started teaching my gelding at age 11. I taught another who was 12. And my aged gelding learned to drive in his mid 20’s. It was just for his fun and my learning process, but he did brilliantly.
I think older horses take to it well actually. They seem to find it as novel and fun as we do.
All good to know! I’m incredibly lucky to have some very knowledgable driving trainers in my circle, so perhaps I’ll give it a shot this spring 
