Bought new cart

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TMR

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I bought this gorgeous wooden cart this weekend or at least I think it is gorgeous.
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I am petty sure it is set up for shetlands Is it possible to dowsize it for a 33" mini. I know I can get smaller wooden wheels for it. It has 30" on it, but could go down to 26 or 24". The shafts are 60" long and 30" wide at the cart and 20" wide iat the tips. Is this even possible or should I just be looking for a new horse. LOL. Also, any ideas who manufactured it?

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What a beautiful cart!

Congrats!

I don't know what the rules are but I've always heard the bigger the wheel the easier to pull.

Sounds like the shafts would be to long but the can ususally be cut shorter if needed.

I'd question the weight of the cart itself.

And if the cart isn't too heavy maybe you could make a different set of shafts or just cut down the current ones if they aren't too wide.

I'm sure some of the more expereinced drivers will be of more help.

Good luck to you.

Please post more pictures of you gorgeous turn out and keep us posted on your progress.
 
Very nice cart! Weight would be my concern as well.

You might need to up grade, 33" might not be able to pull this.

Think - I need a shetland pony!!!!
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Beautiful cart, but I think it would be much easier to buy a shetland to fit the cart as opposed to trying to downsize the cart to fit a 33" Mini.

definitely I see a Shetland in your future!
 
I don't think the weight will be much of an issue as it is not that heavy a cart..suprisingly. I am not sure if the shafts will be way to big though. I will definitely have to get smaller wheels which isn't a problem. The mare I am looking to drive is an older style mini...quite the tank.LOL. But, will she look goofy with the shafts longer and wider. Of course, getting a shetland wouldn't be out of the question, except all of my fencing is only set at 35" tall specifically for minis. I would be concerned of a little jumping out, going on.
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There are a couple of things you could do to fit this to your horse. you need to level the shafts, and measure to the ground. this will give you an aprox shaft hight. compare this to your horse to see how much you will need to do to make it right. if I were to alter this for my horses Id make new shafts. where the shafts curve down to meet the axle you could cut it shorter to lower the shaft hight. the shafts would probably need to be bent to achieve the right with . a wood worker could make it for you. and with new shafts you could always restore it if you bought a shetland someday. DR.
 
I hadn't thought about shortening the other end to lower the shafts. The shafts right now measure 32" to the ground when level. I figured going to a 24" wheel from a 30 would lower the shafts @ 4". Is that right? (8" difference 4" top and bottom of wheel ). Or would it be better to leave the wheels the way they are now and just lower the shafts at the axles? How will that affect the balance or does it?

Is the shaft length and width going to be a major problem? My thinking is that the width at the back wouldn't be an issue, it would just give her more room to move around, but maybe that isn't the correct thinking. The tips which should be at her shoulder is only a oouple inches wider than a mini cart is usually built at. Is this correct thinking or am I way out in left field.
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The only thing I'm thinking about is if you buy new wheels and mess around with cutting the shafts and refinishing where you did your work, you could easily buy a new EE cart for the money you're going to dump into this one. Plus, when you cut the shafts, they are going to be really wide for the mare (which can cause problems with her in the end). If you love the cart, buy a horse to fit it (be almost as much as repairing this one) and get you a smaller cart for your mare.
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I already have an EE and a Superior show cart, I just happen to love the look of this cart. Stupid I know
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If its not doable, (is that a word :DOH! ) Well, if it won't work than I will have to either buy a pony or fall out of love with it. I just would like to try and make it work if it is possible. I have always wanted a natural wood cart like a meadowbrook, but ones that are fancy and nice are $2000 or more and I can do alot of changing on this particular one for that money.
 
You could very well have a balance issue if you shorten the shafts. I have a cart its probably 3-4 inches too long in the shafts for my mare. I was told by the maker of my cart, that to shorten the shafts it would totally throw it off balance and new shafts were extremely expensive, with the design of my cart it was pretty much rebuilding it. so I chose just to leave them a little long, it makes a difference to her and how she moves in the cart with a shorter shaft vs a longer shaft even as little as 3-4 inches. When she turns the shafts poke her in the neck, she doesn't move quite as freely in the longer shafts as she does the shorter shafts.

Karen
 
Well, if you don't want it........
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I got a shetland that needs a cart! Heehee!!!
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Could you just harmess the horse in the shafts where they are supposed to be and let the excess shaft be behind them? Does that make sense?

Keri- Selling it isn't out of the question if I can't get it to work, but wouldn't shipping it be high? Maybe I can find someone who has something like it in mini stye that will trade. Probably not with my luck :DOH! It took me 10 years to find this one LOL
 
Ive seen places that sell shafts that are unfinished. and yes a move from 30" wheels to 24" will drop aprox 3". [ half the distance from 30 to 24".] But with wheels costing as much as they do Id think a pr of custom shafts will cost much less than wheel replacments. As far as cutting off the shafts it should not change the ballance of the cart "much". as long as the shafts are still somewhat level, the only real change is the weight of the shaft material removed from the shafts. I think Id read that Boinky custom bends her shafts on the carts that she makes. [ to get the width corect.] so if you or any of your family are in any way related to "McGuiver" Or a wood worker It doesnt look imposible to me to lower this to fit. I think if it were for Me Id look at doing it in a way that I could change it back if I wanted. good luck DR.
 
I sold a haflinger jerald cart to a friend and she pared it down to fit her minis. I will send you her name/email by PM and you can ask her for tips. She was very happy with result. So I know it can be done if you have time and talent
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While wooden shafts occasionally 'can' be shortened, it is important that they be shortened from the 'rear'. Your cart has drop heel shafts, and it doesn't seem feasible to me, from the picture, to try that. You MIGHT be able to order a shorter drop heel shaft, but that would entail dismantling the cart--and, you would STILL need to make the shafts closer together where the tug loops hang.

Wheels are mighty expensive, and would also need finishing. You'd need to be sure they would 'match' the cart's axle set-up and hubs.

I wouldn't try to 'cut down' this pretty cart, if I were you. The MOST important feature of a two wheeled cart is proper BALANCE, and THAT could well be thrown completely off by 'messing about' with what would amount to extreme' changes.

Does the cart have a seat that adjusts forward and back? If it doesn't, it would be even MORE likely that you could mess up the balance by messing around with trying to 'shrink' it for a notably smaller animal than it was designed for.

In a two-wheeled vehicle(cart), there should be VERY little 'downward pressure', i.e., weight, on the shafts where they pass through the tug loops, when the 'load'is IN the cart(load meaning driver!)--you should be able to stand between the shafts and 'hold them up' with one finger. The shafts should 'put significant weight on' the tug loops ONLY when the cart is empty, and when the driver/any passenger gets in or out; otherwise, when the 'load' is properly seated, the shafts should 'float' in the tug loops.

You can SEE this happening, and it happens best with an open tug and holddown straps, not wrap straps. You can also see it NOT happening,and the weight 'dropping onto' the tug loops(and therefore, fully onto the (usually narrow) harness saddle, and therefore, your horse's BACK!) when you forget and LEAN FORWARD while seated in the cart...the balance is as easily 'disrupted' as that!

This fact BEHOOVES drivers to always be aware of how their position in a cart can disrupt proper balance, and result in DISCOMFORT for their horse(as the nearly ENTIRE weight of cart AND driver/passenger is NOT going to be pleasant when transmitted to a 2"or so wide area of the horse's back-and that's what happens when balance is 'off'!) Many newer drivers have NO idea of this phenomenon, but should learn about it, for their horses' benefit. Sit up straight and all the way back (reasonably) in the seat--not necessarily 'leaning back', just sitting up straight.

This can happen in ANY kind of cart...from Frontier EE to 'name' brand show ring cart--I have SEEN it in both. I had a student several years ago, a substantially-sized man. I had to CONSTANTLY remind him to 'sit up', straight back, and all the way 'into' the seat, of a show cart-or he was putting an uncomfortable pressure on his mare's back...

My advice would actually be to take the cart to a KNOWLEDGEABLE cart builder for a professional evaluation of whether it would be 'successful', from the horse's point of view, to make the changes you propose--or, as others have suggested, just look for a larger driving pony--one the size the cart was built to fit!
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[i cannot IMAGINE 'cutting down' a cart that was for a 13-14+ hand draft pony to PROPERLY fit a miniature, even a big B....it might 'look' OK, but I'd surely be concerned about the genuine comfort of the miniature being asked to pull it...how it LOOKS after alterations is not what's really important....]

Margo
 

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