miniature tales
It’s All About
the
Drive!
Bobbi Hoenigman
Why do you drive?
How were you introduced to
Miniature horses?
I drive as a form of therapy for quiet unconnected time, a challenge to train with help
from members of the two local driving clubs,
clinics and beginning to show ADS. Lace
and I have a great bond, learning a lot from
so many people. I also look at the driving as
a way to get from point a to point b and drive
around the neighbor hoods, visiting and try
to introduce as many to minis as possible.
My dad and I visited NFC Miniatures in
Texas one year when he was visiting. I had
Quarter Horses at that time but as time went
by the Quarter horses and I, got older and
we had to make the decision to put them
down. My first mini was Briarpatch Ace of
Lace, a six year-old mare who was expecting her fourth foal. The foal did not make
it and I really had no idea what I had gotten into at that time. Lace needed a job and
I really missed riding. I had shown POA
breed shows years ago, trail road the Quarter horses, so I was looking for something.
Barbara Hibbard and I became friends and
I went to some mini shows, although they
were not quite what I was looking for. Barbara’s neighbors, the Gaus, competed in CDE
events and that got me hooked!
Driving a mini can bring its own
unique set of challenges. What has
been your biggest challenge and
what did you do to overcome it?
Biggest challenge for us as a team was learning driven dressage. Having never done anything like this before it was a real learning
curve, we are getting it but I may be in training level for the rest of my life! Trying to get
it all together for dressage, cones and mara-
thon is a challenge. Their little hooves move
so fast if you are in a 20x40 meter dressage
court so it’s over before you know it.
The other challenge was convincing myself
and some others that a small Mini can do a
full three section marathon if conditioned.
An event called, Cowboy Country in Stillwater OK (organized by OHHA) was the first
one we completed and another one, Blackstar (organized by Tejas Carriage)we also
completed.
How has your Mini enriched
your life?
Lace and I spent a lot of our first two years
together doing basics and then building our
communication from there. That is where
the bond comes in. After having horses my
whole life I have to say Lace is one of those
special ones.....they are all different but she
is special. I now have four minis and three
of them drive, that keeps me busy. I also do
therapy visits with three of my Miniatures
and that has changed my life in so many
ways.
What are your goals for you and
your Miniatures in the future?
We will continue to work on our dressage,
and do trail and pleasure drives. TCA is having a Trec this fall and I am hoping to compete in it if things work out. We also plan to
attend some other shows in Texas. We are
very lucky to have the ADS approved shows
that we do in this part of the country.
I would encourage everyone to explore the
possibility of doing carriage driving with
your Miniature. It is such a rewarding and
enjoyable activity to do with your Miniature.
Like Al Bulgawicz said in his ADS article in
the World magazine a few years ago....just
get out there and do it.
Photo credit: Tim and Stacy Branam, Digital Express Photography
22 Miniature Horse World
Au g u s t / S e p t e m b e r 2 0 16
Continued on page 24.