New User and new driver, Greetings!

[SappyAppy]

Hi to all, I've been reading along and trying to get myself a bit educated about mini driving. My daughter acquired a 38 inch appaloosa miniature horse gelding and we are preparing to drive him. He's very unique and was said to do logging and single and team driving before we got him.

We are lifetime show people who do english, western, jumping, various things, and do most of our own training. We have shown the mini in halter, over fences, mini trail etc. He's amazing and has captured many hearts. Nonetheless driving is uncharted territory for us so I'm sure it'll be quite the adventure! I just bought a cart that I haven't picked up yet, I think it's a meadowbrook. I'm researching harness now and trying to make a good choice. In the meantime we are getting him brushed up on ground driving with a training surcingle and just taking him up and down the roads etc. Pic of cart from the ad I bought it from attached. I welcome any input and all info and cautions anyone might have.

I'll be away from the computer for awhile but will be back on later, have a great afternoon

 

[Reignmaker Miniatures]

That looks like a very nice cart. The only thing I wondered is the length of the shafts. At 38" it is possible your guy will need a longer shaft (54" instead of 48") The only advice I can give you regarding a harness is don't cheap out when you buy a harness, you'll be glad you spent the extra $ the first time rather than having to keep spending trying to get things right. How comfortable the horse is and how safe you are depends a great deal on your choice of harness.

One more thing... Welcome to the forums and to owning, enjoying, and best of all, driving a miniature.

 

[SappyAppy]

I knew you guys were experts but I'm impressed! You were able to eeyeball the shaft length. If they are too short do you think they're are any possible modifications to make things work?

 

[Reignmaker Miniatures]

LOL, That was not an 'expert eye' that was just another driver thinking about her tallest horse possibly needing shafts that were longer and knowing that the mini carts usually come with 48" shafts and seeing the length of shaft in relation to width of seat suggested they were indeed 48". As far as modifications I would be inclined to send a picture to a manufacturer and asking them if anything can be done reasonably. I just discussed this issue (possibly needing longer shafts and the difficulty in swapping them out) in regards to a metal easy entry cart. The consensus is that on metal carts it isn't too terribly difficult but I can't offer any insight into changing the shafts on your wooden cart. I suspect a cart builder could make you a set of longer shafts which should be much cheaper to ship than an entire cart but how hard it would then be to change them without damage to the cart I can't say. Hopefully someone with some experience with a cart of that type will chime in and offer some insight.

 

[paintponylvr]

SappyAppy - Hello & Welcome from NC!! Great fun here.

Is that your horse in your avatar? Do you have other pics to share? You already do more with your little guy than I do with most (in public)! That's so awesome. Learning to drive is another dimension - do you have a trainer or an instructor whom you can visit with or get lessons thru? Just will make everyone happy and safe overall. There are several books and videos that will work for learning to drive and giving your guy a refresher, too!

I can't answer questions regarding the cart shafts in this case. I was one of the ones who gave a positive answer to swapping out metal shafts with wooden ones on an EZ entry cart...

I've posted several pics of "logging" with a team in "A loggin' we will go" post. I also have many pics of two ponies "logging" single... Great fun to put them to work and get stuff accomplished, too.

 

[SappyAppy]

Thank you so much for the welcome, I was thrilled to find this forum and knew i could learn so much.

I live near an Amish community so at least i have access to builder and repair professionals. I have no idea if this is remotely reasonable but I had wondered about just shortening to marathon length if they are too short. Just a highly uneducated thought, opinions welcomed.

I have a few friends with a moderate amount of driving experience to help us, plus possibly pointers from an ex Amish guy. My plan is to get started if we can, with a back up of contacting a nearby driving society for a trainer referral if(when?), we hit a snag.

I'm kind of thinking that a harness decision will be better made once i see how the cart will fit, and I'm planning to buy the best i can. The local wisdom is that nearby Amish shops will make good harness cheap, like 300 for beta, bio, not sure if those are the same thing, sorry. His comfort is my top priority, i really am sappy about the little guy and want him happy in his job.

How cool to see other minis doing a little logging, i had no idea that was possible until we got him. Your team is super cute! I have tons of pics and will post more soon.

I can't claim bragging rights for the showing we've done with him really, my dauter is 14, pure energy, and we show every weekend all summer anyway so its easy to throw him on the trailer.

 

[SappyAppy]

Oh and I'm located in Western New York. This is a very mixed bag type of a horse community which is awesome, no need to ever get bored!

 

[paintponylvr]

Oh and I'm located in Western New York. This is a very mixed bag type of a horse community which is awesome, no need to ever get bored!

That is SOOO cool! I'm jealous. It was hard to "break into" the horse stuff here (1995) - ponies were frowned on, women working with them were frowned on (?? - don't go there), I missed the good ol' cowboy type stuff I had grown up with and the attitudes here after being away (active duty army in Korea and Germany before during and after Desert Storm..., hubby also active duty & then a new family) and out of horses was difficult... Laws, insurance and attitudes here had vastly changed in regards to children handling horses and riding, too.

I left ponies for a while - was very discouraged and frustrated with a couple different registries - and children outgrew them and wanted to ride not drive, so got riding horses and RODE for years. Girls' now grown up and I'm back into the ponies and driving - I LOVE IT!! And while I started learning to drive in 1997 - I've gone "crazy" with it since 2009 and stillhave soooo much to learn. I now have a show cart and a leather show harness, but don't have any ponies close to ready to show, yet!

AS to harness - it's my understanding that the meadowbrook style cart like yours is heavier (I have a cart that is probably heavier since it is a farm cart meant for pulling heavy equipment. Mine can't be driven with my smaller ponies single). You can get bio (shiny, stiffer), beta (flat color, softer, more leather like in feel and appearance) or leather harness in a marathon style that would probably be better to carry the weight and be comfy for your horse... Several different companies - including just going local (Amish). I deal with Amish companies out of Millersburg, OH and love it. If you have that much available - see if you can try out some different harness and better yet - when ready to order - see about getting your little guy custom fitted. You'll appreciate the differences.

 

[SappyAppy]

I find it so sad that all kinds of horse people aren't better to each other. Our hooved friends give US so much happiness, we should be able to share it better don't you think?

I'm glad you found your way back to the little guys. I still love my pleasure horse and that will never change but it's so fun to work towards a new skill.

I do love the look of the comfy fit harnesses but not sure my budget goes that far. Hmmm.

 

[SappyAppy]

Here is an interesting harness, not sure I'm excited at the thought of Bio(now that I understand that's the stiff stuff), but this seems to be a great price for the more robust breast collar etc. What do you guys think?

http://www.gscart.com/harness.htm

 

[Field-of-Dreams]

I don't think you would want biothane. It's pretty, but will crack with age. I have a CDE harness out of betathane, and it's MARVELOUS! Even when a friend's pony brain-farted and exploded, it took a beating but nothing broke.

BEAUTIFUL cart! I have a natural wood meadowbrook, love it!

 

[SappyAppy]

I'm very excited about this cart, although I admit to nothing but prettiness driving my decision. I love wood, and I love the solid look of it versus the metal easy entry carts. I'm gathering, though, that the lighter easy entries are normally a better idea for starting out. On the positive side I think knowing he's done some heavy pulling in the past made me confident that he can handle the weight. My profile pic makes him look more refined than he really is, he's got some bulk to him even after losing some of the huge muscle mass he had when we got him. He was ripped and had a huge neck and shoulder, I assume from pulling the firewood cart loaded down.

I guess beta is a much nicer material all the way around, I'm tempted by any easy care options due to an already overloaded horse schedule, although I am a leather junkie. I am beginning to think to get a good but affordable harness I'm going to have to suck it up and clean the leather. I'm wondering if I should just drive him and the cart out to the Amish and have them make me something. I could always print a picture of the best I can find and see how much they will charge me for one like that? I just don't want to use my limited budget poorly and not have him comfortable.

I'm thinking about stripping and refinishing the cart to get the natural wood look, although pretty paint is nice too. But first I guess to get him put to it and see how we do, so harness first! I'm getting my cart picked up Sunday, so excited to see it in person.

 

[SappyAppy]

This looks interesting http://www.ttminihorse.com/tackstore/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=966

 

[Sandee]

As a rule of thumb for the length of the shafts (and that is measured from tip to cart), they should be the length of your horse plus 8 to 12". So measure you horse front to rear from point of shoulder to behind the tail and add inches. That's how long the shaft needs to be. Of course the bigger the "trot" of the horse the more room you want to leave. You don't want him to accidently kick the cart and freak out. I have driven a 38" horse in a cart with 48" shafts but since he is also a Modern Shetland he has a pretty big trot and it was a little scary.

 

[SappyAppy]

To my rather uneducated eye there looks to be enough room and the shaft length looks ok. Not that I know what I'm looking at really. This guys isn't a giant mover, just average I'd say, moves more like a stock breed horse than a Shetland or hackney.

 

[Reignmaker Miniatures]

From what I saw in your post with pictures I would say it looks like the shaft length is acceptable. I did see you were concerned about width and all I can offer there is that I drove my mare when she was tight in the shafts (after foaling and still a bit wide ) and she was fine. Driving helped her regain her figure and fit between the shafts better. I didn't ask a lot initially and gradually increased the work. Unless you plan to do lots of tight corners and hard driving right off the snug fit should ease as he gets in better shape and by the time you are ready to ask for more intense work from him he will hopefully be slender enough to be more comfy. If it doesn't look like he is going to slim down enough then I would look into cart modifications but changing a cart with wooden shafts would be much more difficult than if it was a metal easy entry.