This summer we had a good driving group. One of the fathers took over as the leader and I gave moral support and computer aid. He really worked with the kids and taught them to drive and do it well. My boys 8 and 10 worked on the ponies. State rules require that the kids be 8 as of January 1 of that year. The 8 year old could not show but he spent the summer working the little paint while big brother worked the team. We made progress.

This is little brother holding the pony while his older brother shows the team.

Single Pleasure with Cricket the WelshxQH

The rules are that their is an adult on the vehicle with the kids while in the show ring.

This is these are the grays that we started last spring. The left horse will be his single pony for next year when little brother takes the paint for real. They are a nice little team and will only get better. The left horse is only 3 according to his papers and the other is 5 best we can tell from his teeth and prior owners.

Grays again but there is a cute set of blue roans in the background. The kid has a yearling and a weanling out of one of the mares. He should have a 4 up in a year or so.

Thanks for looking. KM

P.S. The best part is all 8 of the kids in the group are going to the state fair. Should be fun.

Great news KM, please convey my, "ATTA BOYS, WAY TO GO!!!!!!!!" to the boys. What about the daughter's pigs? Come on dad, what else was taken/shown? You know my youngest finished this year so I will live vicarously through you and yours until my grandson is old enough!

Great pictures, the greys have come along way by the looks. Looks like the boys are doing good to. THANKS

Good job! That looks awful fun and I hope the boys do well at state fair. I wish we had something like that here. Not as much draft stuff here as there I don't think.
We had team pulls at the county fair
but they were for an association, not an open event. Some teams from your area (Driggs I think) did pretty well, and the light weight team outpulled everbody (10,500 on a sled, full pull).
I'm not sure, but I think there's no driving at all in the horse part of the fair. More geared toward the halter and reining classes. Maybe I'll have to see about organizing something there. I'll give you a call.
If you get bored (ha, ha) come down with the boys and stack some hay (you can bring a team and wagon if'n you want to!). Loads of driving practice here.

We had a good fair. Tuesday the kids took in the sewing projects, cooking projects, and art projects. Wednesday was the modeling and driving events. Thursday was the pigs and calves showing. The kids came home with a pile of blues and a couple of red rosettes. The 10 yo made a pair of basketball shorts that he modeled. He did a good job with it. My 12 year old daughter won the sewing for her skirt and jacket she did most of the project without her right index finger. (Ran it through a gear on the 4th of July, 3 hours of surgery, 2 pins, she is starting to get some feeling and movement back.)

Pigs were in the top 10 of 35. There were 4 of ours. My 2 oldest and my niece and nephew. I didn't feel too bad. We lost a pig so one that I wanted to leave home had to go. He was a great commercial pig but he had to be held most of the summer as he just plain grew to well. We averaged 7" on the loin eye and .65 inches on the back fat so they were about right. Even the one that finished at 300 still looked good and wasn't too soft. He was just a big framey pig with lots of grow.

We go to the State Fair with the clothing, modeling, and ponies. We drive Saturday at 8:00 am with the first class. If my son will trust his ponies and not try to over drive them he will be fine.

And now you know the rest of the story....

KM

Kids and ponies, a great combo. Way to go, to the boys and their "support group". Very nice.

I could tell it was killing you to have to be out there with your boy! LOL

Wes,
This started as one kid that wanted to drive. The fairboard figured why not. (Unfortunately, I am on the fair board.) The next year there were 3. The next there was 6 and now 8. Next year we add 5 more that are siblings to those already driving. I had had 4 more parents ask where to buy carts and harness. We have 8 classes. Ponies 14.2 and under pleasure driving and horses 14.2 and over single pleasure driving. We then have teams pony and horse. The Utility class and cones classes we combine all the sizes and just separate for team and single. Right now there are only 2 horse kids but my older son is looking to make it a class by showing the shire mare next summer. This is the 4rd year we have done this and my sons second. Every year the kids get better and better. One of the boys is 17 and a darn good hand. The younger kids look up to him and really want to be like him. The most important thing is that the kids have fun. This usually means the parents leave the room. (Grin)

I will send you a copy of the rules if you want to get started. We spend a fair amount of time learning about harness and harness types. These kids can explain the parts of a harness and how it is different from another type. They know the cart parts and wagon parts as well.

A typical meeting starts with the kids warming up their ponies on the rail. We then line up and talk about any questions and what we went over last week. We then set out a course for the kids. A mailbox, a blue tarp, a sheet of plywood and any other horse eater we can find. A course is set together with cones. One of the favorites is 2 2x6's in an L shape. The kids try to put one cart tire on the 2x6's and make the corner. Try it sometime it is much harder than it looks. We set a U shape with poles and have the kids back into the middle. We then line the kids up and go over harness and wagon parts using different kids as the models. We then put the horses on the rail and have the kids play follow the leader trying to stay in the leaders tracks. We meet for about 1 1/2 hours total.

Good luck and let me know how it goes. KM

KM: How many sessions or meetings do you have? Do you meet at a private location or on public property?
Would you please send me a copy of those rules also? dfrederi@illinois.edu

We met once a week most of the summer at the fair grounds. The kids were supposed to practice what they learned at home. Most did and really made progress. The real leader is a good hand with a horse and taught the kids some horsemanship rather than just driving.

KM