So your line driving has been going well and you’re able to turn, stop, and your pony doesn’t try to turn around and face you. Awesome! Time to add on the next step, having them drag something!
While I tend to do everything by myself it’s often safer at this point to have a friend up at the head of your horse while you line drive behind. That way if there’s a spook someone is right at the head to calm things down before they get too wildly out of control .
You might be excited to purchase a harness at this point but you don’t have to. Here’s a way to make a quick breast collar out of a dressage girth and some bailing twine!
One thing you will need is a single (swingle) tree. This keeps the traces away from one another instead of pinching in on your pony when weight is added. You can pick one up from https://www.mydrafthorse.com/ they have them in mini size. If you’re using a “real” harness you’ll want to pick up some Chain Tug Conversions too. This will allow you to use a slot trace with a chain to a single tree for quick hitch. Dont’ want to spend the $, you can also make one out of a 2×4 with some eyebolts on each end and another in the center of 1 side to hook whatever you’re dragging to. See, so far teaching to drive is cheap!
Drag everything you can. LOTS of different things and weights. Anything to make noise too. This step can last a while to make sure everything is 100% before spending $ on a vehicle and a harness.
For reference the harness and vehicle I purchased for my mini is the ComfyFit Harness and HyperBike.