Driving Pairs

Hello! I am a newer driver but am working with a skilled trainer. I have 2 great minis that are good driving horses and I want to get them going as a pair eventually so I can work them at the same time and have a passenger now and then. I will be having the trainer help me with this but I was curious for those of you that drive pairs what kind of vehicle do you use?

At the moment I just have a cheap little easy entry I've been using to drive them singles. I do want to upgrade carts and I know I will have to get them a team harness so if you have any siuggeations for a good, lightweight team vehicle for minis I'd love to hear your thoughts!

I have heard conflicting opinions on the safety of using the little easy entry carts for pairs driving and I'd like to do trail driving with them eventually, at the moment just driving in my yard and on the back roads here.

Two wheeled carts are not a good choice for pairs as a rule. And definitely a bad choice for off road use. The main reason is balance. With a single horses in a two wheeled cart, that is perfectly balanced, the weight will "float" in the shafts. However once you head out on the trail, the balance will fluctuate between the back and the belly of the horse, as you go up and down the hills. When you drive a pair to a two wheeled vehicle that up and down is placed upon their necks. If you are only going to drive in a nicely groomed arena, with a perfectly balanced cart, maybe. Bit you, the driver must be active to maintain that balance as the horse's change gaits up and down, stop, back and move off. Add a passenger and they must be active too. I prefer my four wheel vehicles anytime I have a passenger, just makes my horse's job that much easier.

Thank you BSharpRanch, do you have any specific suggestions for carts you like? If I upgraded to a 4 wheeled cart would I be able to use it for singles and pairs (weight)? They are both 34" (at the last hair on their withers) minis.

I have a team sports car that my Hubby and I built from scratch specifically for breed show obstacle. It seats one. I'm sure there may be a vehicle out there that could be both single and pair, and carry passengers, but I don't have any like that, so can't really recommend any.

I have a Tadpole built by Russ Hardwick. It weighs about 185 lbs. It has both a pole and shafts. I bought it for using with a pair and didn't consider using it with a single until I had a young horse that I didn't quite trust without brakes. He drove very well in the Tadpole as a single and seemed to enjoy pulling it. I tried it with another horse and he liked it too. Both horses are 35" top of withers.



I don't have a photo of the Tadpole with the shafts attached. The shafts are quite wide at the horse's rear and narrow with loop ends.

I agree with BSharp Ranch about using a two wheeled cart with a pair. The only really successful two wheeled cart set up is the South African Cape Cart. There are articles on line about it and the way it suspends the pole between the two horses' backs.

Thank you all for your suggestions. My biggest thing is id like to get into trail driving and maybe CDEs and would like to be able to take both horses (pairs). I weigh almost 200 lbs (lost 40 lbs and hoping to lose more) and am very conscious of my weight- trying to keep things as light as possible for my babies. Also want to be safe and sounds as though a 4 wheel cart is the way to go.

I agree with the recommendations on a 4 wheel cart too.

If you would like to train the pair before you have a new cart, you can also drive a single horse and ground drive the second horse beside the hitched one with an own rein. It's a little bit tricky to handle two reins (just like driving a tandem), so I suggest you to practice that without cart first.

I got a great little 4 wheel wagonette from Frontier Equestrian

http://frontierequestrian.com/product/frontier-mini-pony-size-lightweight-wagonette-pleasure-carriage/

My 38" mini mare pulls it alone no problem and I got the team pole for when I finally find her a teammate

Thank you. Out of curiosity is there a reason the mini vehicles all have tiny wheels? It seems like a larger wheel would be better?

I actually really like the marathon carriage they have, I wonder if you can get shorter shafts though? They seem quite large, I know mine are somewhere around 56" and they're long on my one short bodied mini.

The shafts as well as the team pole on these carts telescope to make them longer or shorter. I'm not sure what the shortest length is...

As for the tiny wheels, a larger wheel would have a hub that was much higher up. This would raise the height of the vehicle unless it sat down between the wheels. The carriages are more stable when they are closer to the ground as well as a better line of draft and the shafts low enough to fit the little guys correctly. That's what I figure anyway...

Smaller wheels also = less weight.

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Dominiak also has a mini sized marathon styled carriage. There is a woman in NY who imports these vehicles. I don't see the Mini sized carriage currently on her site - the others are quite a bit more $ than the mini is/was, but it's been a few years since I've looked. HIgh Hopes Farm

Carolina Carriage Superstore - Greer, SC carries different wagons (farm & amish style), carts & carriages

Hunter's Creek Farm - here in Southern Pines, NC has some nice ones at very reasonable cost

I understand that Frey Carriages makes a mini sized Marathon vehicle, too.

Roberts Carriage out of Canada also builds different types of carriages

Country Carriages USA - here in NC also is a dealer for vehicles made here in the USA, but not in the Carolinas (I think out of PA?)

Russ hardwick, mentioned above is in Florida.

A silver Penny Farm - has wagons but not the marathon type carriage.

Driving Essentials - is a dealer for the Glinkowski "mini Mix"...

I have a pic of a pair of mine with their spotted, trace chain, farm harness on pulling one of these (I think? - it may be the Dominiak, but I don't think so). I did a weekend packed full of learning with Kathy Bachelor of Mini Milers in SC. She may have moved into NC, you'd have to check. She sometimes has different vehicles for sale as well... There site hasn't been updated in a while and I haven't seen anything on FB lately from her feed (but I'm having problems with that, soo...)



Almost forgot about the Kutzman carriages. They are also distributed by folks here now - PnP Distributors

Possibly some other distributors in Florida - there is a HUGE driving contingent with Live Oak, there...

There is another builder of carriages, some of interesting design, in Canada. I can't remember the place and surprisingly I don't currently have the name/link on our website... I want to say they are the pony place - but I'm only coming up with links here in the USA, not what I was looking for. Found it - Patty's Pony Place

Here is a mini sized one - more farm wagons & carts than carriages - Sonrise Pony Farm

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I like my wooden farm wagon made by Pioneer Manufacturing out of Ohio (Amish country, Holmes County). I've had custom work done to it, it's been heavily used and abused and needs to be reworked into a non-wood product (like the Pioneer Forecart). Yes, those are working headlights and working turn signals on the wagon. It has a marine battery under the drivers seat. It also has a brake that can be set (the 40" shetlands can drag the non-moving wheels thru the sand when they really feel like it... )



We have a Hafflinger sized Pioneer Forecart w/ a pony sized tongue, meant to be used with farm equipment. So far, I've used it more often for trail driving and yes, to the issues mentioned above with a two wheel cart with the fact that this is a rather heavy cart. I got the larger size as I have ponies that are larger, too.



My girlfriend has the pony sized Forecart with the pony sized tongue and has used it more often with actual farm equipment.





There are other builders of Mini Sized farm equipment and wagons - I have links to some - very few have websites, I go to Draft Horse

Events where I've gotten contacts and in 2014 Vicki, her husband James and I went to Horse Progress Days when it was held in OH. White Horse Manufacturing is out of PA, EZ Trail is out of Indiana (all in Amish communities). We haven't been to any of the other HPG's - they alternate states - Horse Progress Days.

Also, this year, Vicki said that she used a 3 abreast hitch for the harrow and crumbler (if I heard her right?)... No pics, unfortunately... That is actually mine/Larry's harrow & crumbler - but it's lived at Vicki's the last several years while we've tried to get things set on our new property...

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All of the Shetlands pictured above are about 40" tall. GG is 41" now, Koalah's knifey withers DO measure 43", but her body is about the same as the 40" shets...