Team in a cart

[RebelsHope]

Well my subject basically said it all. I got a taste of driving a team of Haffies. Oh my gosh was that fun! I would love to drive a team of minis. Of course I really want a wagon, but since my shaft of my easy entry cart broke I went back to the Sugar Rock Farm and noticed that they have a pole for easy entry. Has anyone driven a pair in a cart? It seems like it would feel unbalanced.

 

[disneyhorse]

Hooking teams to carts is not the best way to go. "Possible" and "Ideal" are sometimes two different things

Is your team green? If so, a nice heavy wagon is a better way to go...

Andrea

 

[Sue_C.]

Ditto what she said. LOL!

Most EE carts, actually most two wheeled carts, are not made to be driven by a team. The balance is almost never right, and it is hard on the horses. I don't think it needs to be a heavy wagon...but something with four wheels is so much easier for the horses; just make sure you get something that has cut-under wheels, or is otherwise made so it will not run up onto itself in a sharp turn.

 

[RebelsHope]

Thanks, I sort of thought that it wouldn't be quite right. In my mind it was just not working out even. I am working with a trainer and he does mostly teams. I have been toying with the idea of getting a wagon, so that probably is the way I will go.

I don't actually have a team yet. I have a red roan gelding with a flaxen mane and tail that I drive. I am not sure if I would ever be able to fine a match for him, just because of his odd coloring. I found a 31 in stallion that would be a perfect match for my stallion (obviously everyone would be gelded) that guy is trained to drive and my guy is not. I just am not sure if I want a team that small. I know that lots of people do, but I would rather have a team with my 34 in gelding or even my over sized 39 in mare.

 

[Sue_C.]

A pair doesn't have to perfectly match in colour, it is their stride and way of going that is most important. Not much good to have two pretty colour matched horses if one of them is dragging the other around because it cannot keep up. The draft folks have taken colour out of the equation "the easy way" by culling back in the beginning, and breeding for colour true horses.

I think you could mate him up fairly well with a silver bay roan perhaps...that opens your options a bit, plus grays have always been an acceptable second in a pair.

 

[MiLo Minis]

Thebiggest drawback to putting a pair to a 2 wheeled cart is the ease with which they can tip it over - it is an accident waiting to happen and just plain shouldn't be done. You could however drive a "pair" as a tandem in front of a 2 wheeled cart.

I agree with Sue - while a matched pair looks very pretty, the movement is most important. You could team a red roan with a solid sorrel or a red sabino as well.

 

[disneyhorse]

I will also agree that movement and TEMPERAMENT/WORK ETHIC is one of the most important factors for a team. Sure color and size are the icing on the cake that makes for a really flashy team... but I've driven some pretty awful teams. Nothing more miserable than having a long strided horse with a short strided horse. Or a horse that likes to go fast with one that is lazy. Or one stupid horse that likes to spook and jig around.

A team that works together is a joy.

Andrea

 

[hobbyhorse23]

I think you could mate him up fairly well with a silver bay roan perhaps...that opens your options a bit, plus grays have always been an acceptable second in a pair.

I'm using a silver buckskin as a neutral "gray" to go with my chestnut in a couple of years. You could use a silver black or true fading gray for the same purpose.

I will also agree that movement and TEMPERAMENT/WORK ETHIC is one of the most important factors for a team. Sure color and size are the icing on the cake that makes for a really flashy team... but I've driven some pretty awful teams. Nothing more miserable than having a long strided horse with a short strided horse. Or a horse that likes to go fast with one that is lazy. Or one stupid horse that likes to spook and jig around.

My two boys are completely different as one is a Western Country Pleasure mover with a low neck set and the other a potential Single Pleasure mover with a nice high neck set, but they love to move together in the paddock and I think their personalities will mesh well as a pair and tandem. Both are forward and brave with the older horse a bolder fellow and the younger less brash but calm and steady. The youngster will help take up the load for the injured older horse and the older horse will show the youngster how it's done. They already match paces when being led together and seem to love hearing their hoofbeats ring out in stereo.

Leia