The Small Travois

In the video I shared of Zorro’s first hitch to the travois I mentioned using a smaller travois that doesn’t drag on the ground as a small step towards dragging the travois, for those horses that are more claustrophobic. I had someone ask for photos of that travois and shared them on Facebook. There were quite a few people interested so I thought I would share it here as well.

There was some confusion on the Facebook post, I think by people who have just started following me, about this travois. Many said “That’s a great idea but I use a travois that drags on the ground.” LOL! Yes so do I! This travois is not meant to be used instead of the dragging travois but as a step to the dragging travois… if your horse needs it.

So please don’t get this travois mixed up with the big one. In my opinion no horse should be hitched to a cart without dragging a travois or a tire or a sled or a stone boat, something (!) before being hitched to any vehicle for the first time. As Parelli says, “Prior and Proper Preparation Prevents Poor Performance.”

This Travois will hang off the back of the pony and not touch the ground. Some ponies are more claustrophobic than others and putting them straight to the big travois is too stressful. For those ponies use this small travois as a stepping stone to the big one!

I slide the ends through the shaft loops. Then I tie the back up with a nice soft length of rope, here I’m using my orange 10′ yacht rope, that just hangs off their butt. If you are going to do some galloping and cantering with this on the pony then I suggest also connecting the traces back to the cross piece. Because, just like this, it can work it’s way out of the shaft loops. If you want to be able to remove it quickly then don’t attach the traces for now.

So that’s the little travois. Don’t forget… this is just a smaller step towards the bigger travois!