Trainers for a mini near Augusta GA/Aiken SC?

[butlerfamilyzoo]

Wanting to use my little (well large mini) leadline boy for more than walking around looking cute…

I found one place, but live a little too far to take advantage of the lessons added with the program. Are there any others? I would love the lessons! I drove a little as a kid, in the show ring, but really remember nothing. Not sure i could successfully put on a harness and attach a cart if my life depended on it.

Also hoping this trainer will know a bit about carts/harness to help advise us as to what to buy for our little beast. I posted on the CD-L list a while back looking for carts/harness, but really didnt know what i “should” get etc… The common problem for all newbies… :lol:

I am NOT looking to show this guy. This is strictly pleasure driving at home and around our small town on the roads. I am NOT made of money, unfortunately, and looking for a trainer that will fit in a small budget as i’m assuming my boy would need to be there a few months. In the $300-400 range? Is that possible? He is broke to a saddle, but has not had a bit in his mouth, he’s only led kids around. Doesnt care about anything, bold, has no fear.

Any thoughts?

[pricestory]

That price is probably unrealistic. I think the lower end would be more in the 600 range and it goes up from there. The fact that the animal is small doesn’t make any difference:yes:
Last time I heard a count, there were 19 driving professionals in the Aiken area. With minis, the best know is probably Muffy Seaton. She and Janelle Marshall are both top notch drivers, both representing their country at World competitions.
Maybe you can haul for lessons, get home work and get it done that way. That is how I got my mini jack driving. Ended up being much cheaper and I could do a good bit of the lesson reviews myself, going weekly for the next training time.
Aiken Driving Club has a website you can see. I’m sure you can contact someone there and they can help you find the help you need.

[butlerfamilyzoo]

I did email Muffy Seaton, she sounds lovely, though maybe over qualified for my needs to train a pleasure pony that will never step foot in competition. She does charge $600.

To be perfectly honest, dont know if this has been talked about here on this board as i stick to the Dressage forum, but i can buy a trained pony for less than i can to get one started, which seems insane, do driving ponies hold no value? This pony will never return the investment at $600 a month, probably not even at $400 a month, and he is not a “keeper” for me, when my son outgrows him, he will get passed on to someone else who needs a kids pony. Even if i had more money to spend on training, it doesnt seem worth it to spend on this particular pony for this situation. However “stupid” that may sound to the driving die hards here, i understand your side, i wouldnt dream of giving my dressage ponies a “cheap cowboy” education… But this guy just isnt worth that for something “fun” to do on the weekends. Especially knowing he’ll be in a new home in a few years.

I’ll keep searching. I’m hoping i’ll find a teen that is wanting to make some money on the side that will put a load of miles on him. We’ll see. If its not do-able in my price range, it wont be done. It wont kill me. Just thought it would be fun to use him for something more than pony rides. I really do not have the time to haul him for lessons (aiken is an hour away for me) and train him myself. Would love to if i could. I barely have time to get my dressage ponies worked. Sigh…

[pricestory]

I’ve thought about getting a smaller pony and you are absolutely right, you can buy one trained cheaper than you can pay for a pony and get it trained. The level of the training may not be the same, but they will both be pulling a cart.
Larger ponies do sell for more once trained. But driving is still the low cost deal of the horse world (of course, you still have to add the cost of a harness and cart). I know of trail horses who sell for more than some driving ponies.

[MandyWing]

Driving training is expensive because a driving trainer must have lots of equipment. It is also a big risk to hook green horses to your training cart and you need another capable person to help you in the beginning. Driving is much more dangerous for the horse than riding. if he runs away with a saddle he may just go off and eat grass somewhere but a runaway with a cart always ends in an expensive disaster. $600 for Muffy Seaton is actually cheap and i was shocked she charged that little. I think its a bargin. I just saw a Bernie Traurig clinic advertised on the forum and it was $ 600 to ride with him for the weekend ! so for $600 you get the person who trained Bouncer, the first gold medal winner in driving for the USA to train your pony !!

[littleum]

@butlerfamilyzoo;4379406

To be perfectly honest, dont know if this has been talked about here on this board as i stick to the Dressage forum, but i can buy a trained pony for less than i can to get one started, which seems insane, do driving ponies hold no value? This pony will never return the investment at $600 a month, probably not even at $400 a month,

No, 99.99% of Miniature/VSE driving ponies do not return their investment at ALL. Period.

A top-flight AMHA/AMHR Pleasure horse will fetch $15-$20K or more depending, but that’s the absolute upper echelon, MADE MADE MADE and probably with major World wins. If you know who to ask and where to look, you can get a finished, made, show-quality Country or Western horse for $1,500-$2,500. Mostly those will cost about $3,500 - $7,500. Still, when your training fees are running about $400/mnth… it just makes more sense to buy one that’s made… assuming you buy one that’s actually been MADE, and hasn’t been broke by some ya-hoo who saw a video (we have a lot of those)

I’ll point out that it’s really not so much different from big horses… how many folks buy even a $5,000 nice horse, and then spend $500+ a month on board? In less then a year the horse is far from profitable and the inevitable resale to move up will show a loss.

[nightmoves]

$600 is cheap to get a horse trained. We couldn’t even do it here in FL for that because it costs us so much just to feed them and pay other expenses. I might even consider taking mine all the way to SC for $600. The thing with training is it pretty much ALWAYS costs more than you’ll ever get out of the horse that’s why horses for most people are a hobby.