Not sure how familiar you are with driving. I will write like you have not much experience.
I
would start the horse on long lines as already suggested. Do you
have a harness and cart? You want to drive the animal with the
lines going along his sides, not thru the rein terrets on his
back. He can turn under the lines up high, get tangled up.
Lines down on his sides are like shafts, he stays between them and
can't quickly turn to tangle. Buckling the loops that carry the
shafts on harness saddle down to the overgirth, can give you a place to
run the long lines thru. This will keep the lines in place pretty
well.
Doris Ganton has a book out, which I think is titled
"Teaching the Horse to Drive". Often available used on Ebay, or
locally from the Michigan Horse Drawn Vehicle Association, at :
http://016f785.netsolhost.com/board.htm
I
think Nancy Caulfield has the books. You could give her a call,
which I think is faster than Email. She also has minis.
Not sure where in MI you are located, but there are several
beginner clinics in the MHDVA Calendar that could be helpful to
you. All are being put on by knowledgable folks.
Not MHDVA events, they just track all driving stuff to keep us
informed of activities.
I would start and progress the animal
like it is untrained. Get it used to YOUR commands out on the
lines. Maybe the original handler said "giddy-up or walk-on or
just clucked" to start him moving. Have him responding correctly
to you, before advancing. Whoa and stand still is the BEST
driving gait, make sure he is VERY good at it. Willing to stop
immediately from any gait, in any situation.
Use your whip
with gentle touches, to aid animal to respond correctly, move forward,
step sideways when asked/touched with stick. Think of whip like
your riding legs. A good whip is light in your hands, easy to
hold and balance. You need enough lash to reach him out there on
the lines, so he doesn't give you the "horse laugh" at requests.
I find regular lunge whips to be very heavy, and use my driving whips
with a long string as lash. Much lighter to manage AND still
reaches the horse out there.
After he is good on the lines,
listening, then you can advance to dragging a tire, then on to dragging
poles as shafts. All the steps needed to get ready to
hitch. A refresher course is always good after a long time
off. Time together will make you both confident in each other as
well.
A well-trained animal will progress quickly and show you
how well he understands the directions. If he doesn't understand
you, it is better to teach him on the lines than in a
vehicle. All drivers don't have the same expectation levels in
their driving animals. Some want a leisurely response, while
others expect a crisp reaction to commands, no delays.
My
animals have to reach a high standard, because I want them VERY
reliable in all situations. This is a much higher level than when
I was younger, thought I was immortal then!!
Resist the
urge to hurry. Minis are very accepting in most cases, can
fool you in how much they truly know. They need good basics, to
be solid, just like taller animals. We start with open
bridles, then alternate the blinkers now and again, so he knows what
they are. I want ours seeing everything we are doing up to
hitching. At the second cart hitching he is permanently then in
blinker bridle to focus his attention forward. He knows what is
going on, nothing to be scared of. Blinkers make him reliant on
the word commands, he can't read my body language anymore, no
anticipating or "helping" his driver.
Don't overload him, so he
won't try to move the load. They do seem to give up
easily. Always let him be successful in moving what you
ask. We do the same with our young horses, slowly increasing his
working loads. Makes him brave because we don't let him fail when
asking him to go forward.
Your animal is probably not
fit yet, so build up his body in the training. Don't let him get
too tired to listen during training. Short sessions to start,
build on it.
Good animals are built slowly. Daily work, 3-5
days a week, is the best way to progress quickly. Short sessions
so you both are having fun. This is not a 30-60 days training
series. He needs to be confident, solid so you can rely on
him.