Wyndover Farm

09/06/2026

Lautrec's 4th Drive
September 5th, 2026

With competition season wrapping us in a couple weeks(for us), I'll have more time to focus on Lautrec (Limited Edition Just Chillin', Sec A Welsh Mountain Pony). Quick background:

I bought him May of 2024, a few months before his 3rd birthday. I purchased him from a wonderful woman who originally purchased him to be her driving pony, but an auto accident destroyed her plans with a lengthy recovery. During her recovery, he learned his manners but was pretty sheltered, living in the middle of woods on Vancouver Island, BC. He had a younger brother (whom he picked on mercilessly) and a mare in an adjoining paddock so he didn't learn his horse manners.

He tends to be overly dramatic in his responses. He's very sensitive to sounds. Like sneezing will make him startle. When we've driven him in an open bridle, he's so focused on me behind him that he'd walk off a cliff. (I say this because at some point someone always asks, "maybe if he can see what's making the noise...")

I focus on in-hand and longline dressage for the first few months of development, when starting my own ponies, or ones who will be sold. After about 6 months, we attempted 'the tire' but he was NOT ready. He was way too concerned about the noises behind him (this is in an open bridle AND blinkers).

We went back to our groundwork and began ground driving him off property and exposing him to every new thing we can think of. There are tons of videos of the work we've done and the challenges we've had.

We dragged him to Captain's CDE events in the summer of '25 and he does great in the competition environment. The obstacles (I ground drove him through them) didn't concern him, at all. He got a little wide eyed at some of the colorful cross country jumps but walked on with a little encouragement. I think once he embraces driving he'll love CDE. He loves going, he enjoys the change of scenery.

For this drive, I've got longer/wider shafts on him b/c we did Pip's 4th drive, just prior to this. (Pip's a 13.2hh Icelandic Pony my intern, Lena Voronovich is training to drive, with my guidance and oversight). In drives past, I used the curved shafts, which touch his sides. I was curious if he'd be less concerned without the shafts on his side and apparently.....he IS less concerned....or he's getting used to driving. Either way, I'm going to continue with this shaft configuration for the next few drives b/c we are doing both ponies at the same time.

09/05/2026

Ground work Comparison with Lautrec (Limited Edition Just Chillin' - Sec A Welsh Mountain Pony)

I made this a while ago but it's a good one.

This is a comparison of the types of ground work, lunging, double lunging, ground driving, and longlining. I demonstrate and discuss the differences.

09/04/2026

Here's a bit of my longlining session last week.

I'm practicing my rein handling when changing rein. I do this same exercise as a weave (6 cones on a 10m circle). I do this in harness, as well.

This is me practicing, not me teaching. This is helping with the stiff/counter-flexion I was seeing at the last CDE.

I drove my practice cones course, today, and was getting lovely longitudinal and lateral bend.

09/02/2026

09/02/2026

A few folks have asked about the sliding side reins I use on Captain. I learned about these from my mentor, Joshua Allison. He learned it from his mentor, Michael Wakefield. And Michael learn this from Heike Bean.....who literally wrote the book on it, "Carriage Driving: A Logical Approach Through Dressage training."

"Because the sidereins "slide" through the bit at every step, they encourage a soft jaw and flexion without jerking the bit. A green horse finds comfortable contact and begins to develop his topline muscles correctly; the schooled horse can still benefit from occasional use of sidereins as a refresher, or when some particular resistance has developed. And for the problem horse who has been in harness for some time and needs to have his muscles, his attitude, and his behavior patterns completely rebuilt, the sliding sidereins are invaluable."

In my case with Captain, I used them consistently until he was consistently rounding down and reaching for the bit. The only time he returns to his star-gazing frame is when he gets excited and wants to zoom without direction.....we have a bit of, "I don't want to listen to you when I'm having fun" going on. Because I'm working through counter-bending in obstacles when he gets excited ("a particular resistance has developed"), I'm using the sidereins to reinforce his need to reach for the bit even...ESPECIALLY WHEN we're snaking through obstacles.

I set the length of the sidereins with him standing with his natural headset. So at this point, there is zero pressure on the sidereins. I use paracord because it's thin yet strong. I use carabiners at each connection point on the saddle, and I use tiny clips to attach to the bit. Note that I caught the pic when he's yet to respond to the sidereins to show that they DO NOT FORCE A FRAME! There is NO TENSION.

PLEASE NOTE: metal clips on metal bits can create a vibration that can give your horse a headache. I use rubber/polymer bits for this reason and because they are more forgiving for clumsy rein handling. (you can also wrap your bit with bit tape). You can achieve the same configuration without the clips, provided the cord runs unimpeded through the bit and girth rings. I use clips so I can easily add and remove without having to feed the cord through the rings.

These can be used in hand AND in harness. If you're using them when you drive, capture the cord in the strap between the buckle and the keeper on the neck strap, to keep them from getting caught on the shafts.

I'm editing video, now, that shows these in action.

09/02/2026

Wyndover Farm is looking for your best carriage-driving (night)mare (or gelding) to join us for the 2026 City of Ferndale (Government) Zombie Fun Run in Ferndale, WA on Saturday, October 10th.

We're looking for a select few turnouts (pony/horse(s) pulling a cart/carriage with a driver and groom) to join the Wyndover team on our procession through Ferndale culminating at the Zombie Fun Run where our possessed ponies will drive fear into the hearts of the Fun Runners on their run down 2nd Avenue!

Message/email me with questions.

09/02/2026

Wyndover Farm driving ponies will be joining the festivities! Look for ponies in costume along the 2nd Avenue leg of the course!

The City of Ferndale’s 4th Annual Zombie Fun Run is returning this October, and we need volunteer zombies to help bring the course to life... or death!

We’re looking for individuals and groups who want to dress up, get creative, and help give runners a fright along the course. Gather your coworkers, sports team, club, friends, family, or organization and join the zombie horde!

Interested in volunteering as a zombie? Email [email protected] to get involved.

More event details and runner registration information will be announced soon. Stay tuned!

09/01/2026

LOLA'S FIRST ROAD DRIVE!
August 31, 2026

90 minute drive in 12 mins of video. We did a 'county block' (1 mile long by 1/2 mile wide rectangle). MOST of the video is 10X but I've included the entire video, 1. So you can see how she handled the entire drive, 2. Her former Momma and breeder is following very closely, so I want her to see the entire thing....here ya go, Holly Lynn. 3. She will eventually be sold to a BEGINNER driver. I want to make sure she is SOLID with whatever her new owner wants to do. She's being trained and developed for Combined Driving Events but that's just a small percentage of the time we spend driving.

To me, one of the best ways to acclimate your pony to new and scary things for marathon is to hit the road! People put flags, and windchimes, and blow-up decorations, and broken down farm equipment, and gnomes with no homes, and........so many potentially scary things right there for us to use to train our horses.

One of my BIGGEST pet peeves, which drives me ABSOLUTELY bat-sh*t crazy, are 'trainers' who 'train' a pony to drive but never leave the arena ("well, they drove him on the driveway, too"🙄). They teach the pony to pull a cart, in a quiet, contained environment but they do not teach them to be a driving horse. They don't teach them how to handle a stressor with a cart attached.

Any pony I sell is exposed to as much/many new experiences I can pack into their training. I also put at least a 100 miles on them OUTSIDE the arena.

I showed the video at normal speed for any road changes or "spooks" so you can see her at her very worst.....but there's really no "bad". Nothing exciting....but don't take my word for it. We walked MOST of the trip with just a bit of trot, she was great for everything. I continue to drive her in a rubber mullen mouth bit.

Also, the GoPro is on my head and you'll notice my head is on a swivel. I want to catch anything she may react to BEFORE she sees it....Like the KILLER MINI MOO!! The ditches on the side of the road are a good 3-4 feet drop from road surface. A pony backing or jumping sideways (in response to a stressor) could very easily end us up in a ditch deep enough to cause serious injury. This is why you'll see me tapping her on her back (to get her attention back on me, not to drive her forward), when she's momentarily distracted by the baby steak. When possible, I like to stop them and let them see there's nothing to be afraid of. In this case, I do NOT want to stop her and let her take it in the scary animal BECAUSE if she did escalate, an accident off the side of this road could ruin her if it did not kill us.

We also stopped on our journey to visit Magic Mike and his parents. Valerie James Frank was out driving Mike when we stopped by....they'll likely join us for future drives. So, many remember Mike was here, a year ago. He's an Amish trained/abused Standardbred/Welsh cross. When he came to me, he was very fearful of the whip and would fear kick. It didn't take long for us to work through the fear and get his parents going safely on the box. Now he goes very well, riding and driving. He's looking great and had lovely manners while we stopped and chatted (edited to exclude our chat). WTG, Valerie!

08/29/2026

Finally have had the chance to take Captain over to the archery range which is one of my favorite sets of trails. But until recently we lost our access to the quiet side road and so I didn't feel comfortable going out our front gate onto a 50 mph road with Greener ponies

08/28/2026

Lola
CDE Pony Bootcamp
Practicing Training Level Test B
August 26, 2026

I decided to try my Driving Essentials gig harness on her, and see if it may look better than her ComfyFit harness with this Bellcrown Gig Cart, I think it does. I'd use it for dressage and cones at the EI Driving Fall Driving Trial Sunny Meadows Farm, in Rochester, WA. September 19-20.