Reality check: How many carts & harnesses do you own

[targetsmom]

OK: I will fess up first:

4 carts (1 Jerald show cart, 1 Graber show cart, 1 EE, 1 wooden wheeled cart for ADS)

4 harnesses (3 entry level show harnesses - 2 with breeching, 1 sport harness just received this week)

5 bridles (i.e. one extra)

Minis that drive: currently 4: Princess, Ruby, Buckshot, and Fizz - all can be seen in the gallery on our website; 2 are shown driving in my avatar.

Your turn....

 

[Jill]

I think we have:

• 1 Lutke show harness
• 2 biothane "pretty" harnesses
• 1 beta biothane "fun" harness
• 1 mini open bridle
• 1 Houghton show cart (plum w/ a lavender stripe)
• 1 wooden easy entry cart w/ patent wrapped shafts
• 1 metal Frontier easy entry cart
• 1 metal (unknown brand) easy entry cart
• 4 driving minis (and at LEAST 3 who need to learn)

 

[Charley]

One gelding drives,

One harness,

Three carts

 

[Shari]

Only have my Country Road Card... my mostly Zilco harness and a leather work harness. One mini trained to cart. (Had an EZ entry carts first...one for the fjord gelding and one for Maggie... I sold them so I could get the CRC)

I however... drool over many, many carts. Specially Wally's antique one!!!

And I have always wanted a custom marathon Freedman leather harness!

 

[MiLo Minis]

1 very old Freedman show harness still in remarkable condition

2 Ozark Mtn leather Carriage harnesses

1 nylon harness

1 biothane harness

2 leather working harnesses

many many parts and assorted pieces of leather harnesses (girths, bridles, backstraps, croupers, breast collars) to make sure I can fit any size Mini or pony one way or another

2 metal wire wheeled easy entry carts Mini size

1 metal wire wheeled easy entry cart Pony size

2 wooden wheeled wooden carts Mini size

1 Graber show cart Mini size

1 wooden Meadowbrook style cart pony size

1 4 passenger wagonette small pony/large Mini size

14 horses at the moment that can drive.

 

[R Whiteman]

Your turn....

Okay, I'll play:

One four wheel wagon, 3 jerold show carts, 3 Smart carts, one EE Jerold, 4 more EE training carts, ! amish made road cart, Sorry lost count of the harnesses but there is one for everyone and two pairs harnesses.

Horses on the place: 18 Horses that drive: 14 including the newest, a Full Size riding horse (the only one without cart and harness, but that will be remedied soon, I hope) Number of drivers: 3 Hmmm....

It's an addiction, you know.

Dorothy

 

[Kendra]

Um ... 3 show carts (a Jerald, a Wilform and an "other"), an easy entry (easy exit, I won't use it), and an antique roadster bike. And then there's wagons ... there's Grandad's parade wagon, which is green, then the white one my mom uses for shows, and the black one that Grandad just finished building last summer. They're like the draft hitch wagon's. And the stagecoach (very cool, built in 1920 to one half scale of the original Wells Fargo blueprints), the bundle rack, a chuckwagon (or maybe two), the "Queen" wagon (a fancy passenger carriage with doors and a surrey top), the purple wagon (carriage with purple velvet seats and purple wood), oak wagon for a little bit bigger ponies, two more wagon's grandad built that can convert from a four wheel to a two wheel and are used a ton for training (in their four wheeled form). Oh, and very frightening chariots that we've never hooked horses to that came in a package with some driving horses. And I might have forgotten something. This is why there's no room to work my driving horses inside.

We have over 20 driving horses.

 

[RhineStone]

Three minis that all drive in some capacity. (Two big horses, one drives, the other is coming 2; and a Am. Shetland Pony that drives.)

Four wooden miniature vehicles, all that we have built:

Blue Phaeton Cart

Meadowbrook Style

Show Road Cart for A horses

Crummy Road Cart (our first cart we built, pattered after someone else's. It doesn't have a lot of leg room and therefore is not much fun to drive in, but it works well for kids and breaking horses.)

Two miniature horse harnesses, both Driving Essentials that we train and show in: (Would LOVE a Presentation harness someday!)

One A size Essential

One B size Essential Plus

One mini Freedom Collar

Tandem Parts - traces, trace carrier, rosettes, terrets, keys, etc.

One open mini bridle for training

Collection of LOTS of bits in various sizes and configurations

One horse-size Smucker's Deluxe harness with Better Fit saddle (LOVE IT!!!)

One horse-size Freedom Collar

One small pony Driving Essentials Plus harness

Two horse-size Meadowbrooks (we are rebuilding one into a Gig)

One pony Phaeton Cart

One horse-size Runabout

One horse-size Poj-Con Marathon Vehicle with new marathon tugs for harness, b/c it has closed loop shafts.

(Hey, we can't spend it all on the minis....)

 

[rcfarm]

I have

2 easy entry wood and a metal

new wood cart from Silver penny( just got it today)

Jerald show cart

harness have 2 show

2 working

and a new one for cde, from Country Carriages

horses

mini gelding

shetland gelding(work in progress)

pregnant mare- that drive

1 stallion that will go into traing next month

Dream cart Smart Cart saving up for

 

[Ginia]

I'm willing to play, since I now know others out there are "into excess" also

- Metal Easy Entry cut down from pony size but well-balanced and with one or two more "tweeks" fairly comfortable

- Wood Road Cart (local Amish made) comfortable, well balanced but "squeaks a lot" (any suggestions?)

- Miniature-sized buckboard, currently has just shafts, I want to get a team pole made for it this year

- Getting ready to order wood EE cart from Silver Penney

- 2 sets of biothane single harness

- One set of betathane Chimicum pairs harness with pieces to convert to 2 single harnesses

- One set of very old leather pairs harness I bought last fall at an auction, in unbelieveably good condition considering it's age. Took LOTS of cleaning up, but whoever put it in storage all those many years ago knew what they were doing - really greasy mess to clean but leather and stitching are all supple and sound.

I'd love to know more about it, it has sort of a brass "frame" for want of something better to call it, that buckles across the front of each breast collar. About 3 of the small straps that buckle from the neck straps onto the breast collar need to be replaced, but other than that it's "road-ready". The old gentleman who's sale it was is in his late 90's, and according to the auctioneer he showed fine-harness ponys back in the 40's and early 50's. I've looked thru all the printed driving stuff I have here, looked on the internet, etc., and the ONLY photo I've found with that kind of breast collar contraption was in a reprint article from an 1893 publication. If any of you know more about such, would you either post here or PM me? It's been so cold I haven't taken it to the barn to see how it fits minis, but I'm fairly certain it will fit fine.

-One set nylon single harness

-5 horses, one gelding and 2 mares broke great for trail driving (pleasure to me, but you might think that means "show pleasure". Not there yet!!! One mare that drives ok, but still green enough it's a little challange.

-One mare that is a match for the gelding, doing some ground-work but not hitched yet.

 

[whitney]

4 minis 3 drive, Misty Blue my newest one just finished ground school and the snows came.

NOW 3 carts Graber show/CDE cart, EE cart AND sulky yeeee hawwww!

Show harness have no idea the maker, and what Ginia refers to as my collection of dog collars a nylon that I've used to break 2 of the three. Will be purchasing a synthetic SOON.

 

[hobbyhorse23]

Oh, I've got you ALL beat on the crazy factor!!

Over the last five years I have purchased one Edgeman Easy Entry cart, one Hyperbike, one Houghton show cart, one handmade metal training/show cart from Canada (traded for the Houghton that didn't fit), one Graber closed wheel show cart, one Bellcrown Minicrown, one Frontier Easy Entry and we briefly had a Bellcrown Aerocrown here for performance testing. That's a total of eight carts, four of which I still have as I finally sold the Edgeman last winter and the metal show cart just a few weeks ago.

I have an Ozark Mtn. Carriage Harness, an Ozark Mtn. Deluxe Rolled Leather Show Harness, a complete Camptown Sport Harness with an additional sliding backband sport saddle from Chimacum, enough pieces to put a tandem together, several open bridles, kick straps, surcingles, etc.

Total driving horses? ONE

Insanity? Priceless.

Leia

P.S.- I've got more than enough stuff to get the new youngster started in the next couple of years but since he takes silver to Kody's brass, that means another CDE harness, another show harness, another (different) show cart and eventually a pair cart and set of pair harness. Yipes! Total driving horses? Two.

 

[whitney]

Leia you are in FACT priceless. Because you try them all and share your knowledge, so the rest of us may benefit. THANK YOU!

 

[RhineStone]

- Wood Road Cart (local Amish made) comfortable, well balanced but "squeaks a lot" (any suggestions?)

WD-40. Springs tend to squeak, especially in between the leaves and the bolts holding them together. Sometimes you have to spray a little, bounce it and see if it made a difference. Then try a different place. Singletrees can also squeak. If the wood is squeaking, put a little Murphy's Oil there.

I CAN'T STAND a squeaky cart! :arg! When we first built my Phaeton Cart, we didn't test drive it too much before we took it to it's first carriage show. (Didn't want to risk scratching the brand new automotive paint - $$$

.) My first class, it squeaked so much, I couldn't hear the judge's calls from the announcer! I had to guess what gait was called based on what everyone else was doing. (Still placed 2nd.

) When I went back to the trailer, I set my husband on the job of fixing the squeaks. We keep a can of WD-40 in the truck box (along with all sorts of other carriage fixing tools).

 

[Sandee]

Leia and all you others that are over run with carts, I have one thing to say - You're cart hoarders! LOL

I have 3 horses, at present, and they all drive.

I have 1 Graber "A" sized show cart , 1- Lignite not-so "easy entry" cart "B" size, 3 harnesses that necessity requires be used for training and show.

I'm looking for a Shetland (B size AMHR) horse to drive and will then need another cart and harness. I have always admired the Viceroy carts and would love to have one - oh, and a horse to pull it of course.

 

[RhineStone]

Oh, I've got you ALL beat on the crazy factor!!

Total driving horses? ONE

Insanity? Priceless.

That's about as bad as the seven saddles and ? bridles I have for one riding/driving horse! One saddle seat, three hunt seat (in different sizes), one Aussie, two different-sized western (used primarily for trail riding), and one dressage saddle. I told my husband that they all have different purposes...

, just like Leia's carts! He is one hunter, and has...how many guns?

 

[jleonard]

Wow, I'll have to share this with my dad. He thinks I'm taking over his garage as it is, and I don't have nearly as much as everyone else

I have 3 harnesses: a very crappy nylon harness that I bought before I knew anything about driving and never use anymore, an Ozark pleasure harness, and my Chimacum sport harness.

Then there are 3 carts: my first cart that my neighbor made me out of a large garden cart (goes with the other thread nicely,lol), an easy entry, and a hyperbike.

I have 2 minis and both drive.

I also have a Welsh filly that I'd love to drive in a couple of years, but buying all the equipment for her would be too expensive. However, my neighbor who owns her half sister is now thinking that her pony would be an awfully cute driving pony, and mentioned the other night that we could go in togeather to buy an cart and harness to get them started, so the collection may grow!

 

[Ginia]

Thanks Rhinestone, W-d 40 and Murphys Oil soap are on the list now for the next trip to town. I didn't realize how much that roadcart squeaked until Whitney and her fiancee came to visit last fall. My hubby videotaped our drives out in the field, and you couldn't hear much of anything else. Now if you can clear up the mystery of the brass frame on the breastcollar this will be a REALLY good day inspite of the blowing snow outside.

 

[Katie Iceton]

I have 2 carts currently, 4 harnesses (one is used fo parts) and one horse that drives. I am however bringing up a youngster who the opposite of Leia requires everything Brass...of which I currently have all chrome hehe. However he already has a harness I purchased on sale well before he was even home

. His own cart though, may have to wait a while. I will probably buy a showable easy entry for him.

 

[kaycee]

hmmm! 1 jerald sulky with wood wheels and brass fittings,1 jerald sulky with wire wheels, 1 jerald racing sulky(never used but someday), 1 sleigh, 2 amish made wooden carts, 1 hayrack(minisize)!, 1 hitch wagon(all oak), 1 buggy(made by same person who made hitch wagon-just bought a colt for it, now i have to wait for him to grow up. former owner always drove b/w's),a training cart, a full size training cart, a racing sulky frame-needs wheels and seat.

2 double harnesses(was going to have a four-up, at least 5 single harness for minis, 1 full size single harness, and bits and pieces.

two completely retired driving minis(one turns 30 this year), 1 driving horse-full size, 1 mini driver.

guess it is going to be a busy summer traing drivers!