Time to choose a cart

[KellyAlaska]

I have a stocky 36 inch pony and I bought the smart cart which turned out to be way too heavy. The ride is amazing and it seats two and will fit up to a 44 inch pony.(super adjustable) I purchased the hyperbike this summer and my pony seems to pull that one much easier. It has a super wide wheel base which is great for unstable trails. The ride is not nearly as smooth as the smart cart and it does seem to be quite a bit louder as well. My pony stands ok which makes getting in and out not my favorite experience but over all I like the hyperbike. Take a look at the Aerocrown I think that might be the best of both worlds. Super smooth quiet ride without all the weight.

 

[Foxhaven]

Just spent a half hour talking to our local distributor for the Bellcrown/Aerocrown. Very knowledgeable guy, in fact he is a driving trainer to boot (so I might have checked off TWO to-dos with that one).

Unfortunately all I have determined at this point is that my budget keeps going up...

So if I need one cart to do it ALL that might NOT be the Hyperbike... Ugh.

 

[hylights]

Hi all,

Can I jump in and ask a couple questions? Bill your boy is gorgeous, how tall is he?

I had an oversized mini years ago that I adored, started her in driving but stupidly traded her for a full sized horse, worst move I've made in horses. I have now found a home for said large horse and am going to look at a mini stallion, he may only be 32" and that's the only worry, I was thinking I wanted one 34-36" but this guy looks so nice in photos I have to go see him.

I had a wooden easy entry cart for the biggie and didn't like it, but mini's don't look like they have the bounce when trotting that the bigs have maybe it wouldn't be so bad.

I like the look of the Fox Lane carts, and the Frey Sprint and I've looked at the Ahonen.

But alas closest to me would be a Bellcrown dealer, if I wanted to actually go see and bring home a cart. What is the difference between a Aerocrown and a Minicrown?

Thanks,

 

[KellyAlaska]

The frey carriage looks almost exactly the same as the Pacific smart cart. Even the website pictures look the same. If it is the same cart as the Smart cart you need to consider the size of your horse or pony. It is very adjustable and a great ride for the driver but it is very heavy for everyday use. If you are planning on driving in a flat place you will not have a problem. As soon as you introduce hills or additional passengers my pony starts to struggle. He is a stocky 300+ pound stallion that is a tough guy so I think a finer smaller horse would really have a hard time. The weight is hard for him to stop as well if the ground is uneven. The difference between the Mini crown and the Aerocrown is the seat size. The Aerocrown seats one and the Minicrown can seat 2 small adults or 1 adult and a child.

 

[Foxhaven]

Hi all,

Can I jump in and ask a couple questions? Bill your boy is gorgeous, how tall is he?

...

He is 34".

Speaking with a Bellcrown distributor yesterday, the difference between the Aero and the Mini is not only the seat size, but the spring rate (though the Aero can be gotten with heavier springs) and the cart weight (about 20 lbs more). They are super well made, the wheels are tough but it rides like butter I am told, and the distributor would fit the cart to my horse with special attention to the draught line. He recommended closed shafts for maneuverability.

He has almost nothing in stock, they typically place the order to the customer's specifications so I doubt you will come home with a cart.

From what I see of the Frey, it uses coilover springing while the Bellcrowns use torsion bar. If done well either is fine, at least from my 4x4 experience. Torsion bar tends to be rising rate which is a benefit (more resistance the further it compresses). Dunno if that is true of the Bellcrown.

It seems like the Aerocrown would do it all, but a few things give me pause:

1) $2200 or so delivered. Depending on options. Ugh.

2) 90 lbs or so. With a B size mini, that might not be too bad. But with an A size, and living in the mountains with hardly a level place at ALL, and wanting to do forest road driving that would likewise not be level, I really am not sure it would be a good choice. He will certainly be in shape after a while... but I want him to enjoy it.

I'm stuck. Or as someone put it... in a gumption trap.

If I want to show I don't think I can really use the Hyperbike except in limited events. But for most of the recreational driving I plan on it would be ideal. If I have to buy a show cart as well, the budget starts to scream.

 

[Barefootin]

We are also shopping for a Marathon cart, more like 3 or 4 carts.

Talk about a budget buster. Our problem lies in that there are 6 of us wanting to do the CDEs. The horses range from 28" minis to large ponies. With drivers 5'10" and 250#(with a mini naturally) down to my daughter that weighs less than 60#(of course she has the large pony). Used Marathon carts in the sizes we need seem to be non-existent. Good luck on your quest.

 

[Reignmaker Miniatures]

I have had the same type of dilemma you face, do I get a cart suitable for the recreational driving I do or for the showing I do. I settled it by considering the type of showing and how much of it compared to recreational driving I expected to do. I ended up with a basic easy entry (well several actually but thats a different subject lol) to use with horses from 28.5 to 34" My horses face plenty of hills and other than my driveway that is particularly steep and long even the little horse handles the weight of cart and driver well. I have done cross country (at a walk but over rough ground) driving, road driving and arena driving with an easy entry with no issues. I have entered breed shows at the local level and done driven dressage and cones courses all with one of these carts. My plan is to use the EE until I can afford to purchase a smart cart for showing and eventually a hyperbike as well. My theory is I can't have exactly what I want right away but I can 'make do' until I have saved enough for what I really want. Spreading out the expense without having to put my plans on hold. I have done the same thing with harnesses. I started with one very well made harness that I readjusted for each horse and gradually added a quality harness for another and then another. At this point I have 2 horses who do not have their own harnesses yet and one of those is in the planning stages now and should be ordered before next spring (barring some financial issue that delays it lol)

 

[shorthorsemom]

My aerocrown is pulled by my chubby short stumpy legged 32 inch boy. His conformation is less than ideal but I love him to pieces. He can pull the aerocrown with no effort up and down hills and all type of terrain and he doesn't struggle one bit.

When I pull it around empty it seems heavy, but with a driver and hitched properly it has excellent balance and it floats nicely for my boy and he pulls it with no effort even when he is not in shape.

The shafts are removable and it fits in a honda pilot with no effort. the shafts are a pain to adjust the first time and it took both me and my trainer shifting and moving and tightening the nuts and then untightening and starting over before we were happy with them. We marked the adjustment with some black tape for easy alignment so we didn't have to do the adjustment majorly again.

I do not have the closed shafts. They required a different hitch up and I didn't want to spend any more to adjust my harness so I went with traditional shafts. The shafts have tug stops built in. There are footmans loops built into the shafts as well and you do not have to add anything.

The seat to the floor height and leg length of the stock aerocrown was shorter than the bellcrown. In the bellcrown my feet dangled and I would have had to have the seat custom lowered. I drove to the shop to buy a bellcrown and came home with the aerocrown.

For lack of a polite description as an added note... big bottomed folks don't have as much room in the aerocrown seat. In the bellcrown I felt like I could slide on turns and I preferred the tighter single seat of the aerocrown to the bellcrown bench seat where some folks have added wedges on the bench seat so they didn't slide in the seat on tight turns.. I didn't think my boy would ever be able to pull two folks anyway so I went with a single seat. There are two seat options on the aerocrown, the high back one with the arm rests is very comfortable.
On the aerocrown you can also remove the floor and add stirrups for less weight for cross country. The aerocrown pivots awesome and is a terrific cart for cones, my boy loves cones. You can also get a dash cover to fancy it up for dressage. They come with different color wheels. I chose burgandy.

The price tag is daunting and I have actually felt guilty owning my cart, however it really is very nice. If I don't start driving more I plan to sell it, they maintain their value very well.

Hope this all helps. Took me forever to pick a cart I liked and I made a couple of boo boos along the way.

Here is me and my boy and the aerocrown in photos and a close up showing the cart from the back and the seat design.

I got my cart from Steven Stoltzfus from Carriage machine shop in pa. Amish distributer. Same price as driving essentials by the way.

 

[drivin*me*buggy]

I love my Aerocrown!!!

 

[shorthorsemom]

Hi Angie

 

[drivin*me*buggy]

Hi Adair!

Adair gave me lots of info o her Aerocrown when I was cart shopping...well, at the time I had 3 carts-an Frontier easy entry, a wooden Pequea cart, and a Hyperbike.....all fine carts and fit different niches...but my 'heart' cart is the Aerocrown-hands down. I drive 2 different horses-soon to be 3- and they work well in the aerocrown..

Angie

 

[Foxhaven]

My aerocrown is pulled by my chubby short stumpy legged 32 inch boy. ... He can pull the aerocrown with no effort up and down hills and all type of terrain and he doesn't struggle one bit.

Wow, great information and it addresses my biggest concerns. Thank you!

RockyMountainCarriageSales.com directed me to a local Aerocrown customer who called me back last night. I think he may be my intro into some local driving clubs and activities to boot. He confirmed pretty much the same thing you said... he gave me a +1 on my (novice know-nothing) training so far, and what I plan to do to introduce Legend to a cart.

Legend is really making this easy on me... credit where credit due.

The customer also has an Aerocrown with a bench seat (somehow) so I know I am not locked in to single seat only... should my son and his wife get on the stick and make me some grandbabies...

LOL

This is gonna be fun, I can tell...

 

[shorthorsemom]

On novice horses and the aerocrown.. although my boy is not a novice ,, he throws in a buck sometimes. He got a leg over the low shaft of the aerocrown once and had himself a bit of a spaz and I was sorry I had skipped my bucking strap, My old bucking strap I used on the meadowbrook I had was way too short. The bucking strap fits kind of weird on the low shafts of this cart too. Just thought I should mention the low shafts, ideal for getting in and out quickly, but not so much fun during a bucking event. The good thing about the low shafts and the ability to exit quickly is an advantage as when my boy got in trouble I could get to his head very quickly and bring him back to sanity before any damage was done. love the one second entry and exit of this cart.

This is just some added information. I highly encourage novice folks to work with a trainer. had my trainer not been there when my boy had his leg over the shaft incident it could have resulted in more than just a spaz.

I have had many lessons and still consider myself a novice and my boy lets me know it on occasion by testing me to be sure I am paying attention. For now my driving is shelved due to no time to drive, plus an ignorant shooting neighbor that enjoys setting off ground shaking bombs just for fun, however when I was driving a few times a week, the aerocrown was awesome and very comfortable and fun.

Best wishes. So nice to have a horse that you love so much to play with and train.

 

[Foxhaven]

Yep, I noticed the low shafts too. Almost an EE. Thanks for the caution. Thankfully I have not known Legend to buck. We will see if that changes. His SON on the other hand... is a little coltish pickle of a cutie. I would expect ANYTHING from him.

From what I am reading, the shafts are part of what makes the cart so easy to turn for the horse.

 

[paintponylvr]

I truly don't think you would ever find any one vehicle to do everything. There is just too much to consider and each type of event has developed vehicles to fit within their event structures.

I'm different. Partially due to my size and partially because I like them, I have mostly larger Shetlands. I have learned and now really enjoy driving pairs - due to my size, I can do more with a pair than with a single. That said -

I happen to like an old, no-name training sulky jog cart. It was originally meant for training much larger Hackney ponies, yet even with my weight, I've found that I can balance it easily and though I get a sore back at other times, I can enjoy trail driving in it for hours at a time. I've used it with ponies that are mini sized - 34" measured as minis - on up to 12. 2 hh hackney ponies. Even tho the mini sized Shets are way out in front of the now installed singletree, it seems to work well. Earlier this year I had it refurbished to replace the shafts, add a wooden single tree and the tires were updated from bicycle type to heavy duty frames and no-flat rubber inserts. It's much less shock absorbent, but no more flat tires out on the trails. I wish I'd thought to have the shafts shortened when I replaced them to better fit my smaller equine. But I didn't and eventually I probably will (after I sell all the larger 1/2 Shetland crosses). I use it for trail driving - up and down hills (some steep enough to even give dare-devils and hunt riders pause), thru water and both long-trotting and galloping.

Here is a pic taken of a 1 1/2 yr old filly in 1997. This was one of only a handful of times she was driven before being leased out 2 years later as a riding pony after Sierra showed her for a year. No, I don't advocate heavily driving a horse at this age...

Here is a pic of that same cart with the mare I bought it with -

The same cart with that first little mare years later. Yes, that is an UDDER - she's a heavy milker! Her colt is running around somewhere.

and the cart since it was updated with new shafts, footman's loops, wooden single tree and HD wheels & solid tires - pulled by a 1/2 shetland granddaughter of the original Hackney mare this cart was purchased with in May 1997.

I have more pics of some other carts - have to do another post. Will be a while, have some errands to run and horses to feed.

 

[Foxhaven]

WIth a pair of decent shafts, a good singletree, and some good cart wheels... I could MAKE a jog cart. That might make up a pair of vehicles that would get just about all of it done.

 

[Foxhaven]

Well, I pulled the trigger. Ordered an Aerocrown with colors matching my dad's racing silks.

Jack Bloss with RockyMountainCarriageSales.com is a fine man in the old school sense. He used to drive Morgans, has many championships, and teaches and trains driving now.

The price includes home delivery and fitting the cart properly to the horse. I figger I will pick up a great deal directly, and 'between the lines' as it were.

As they said back home.... HOT darn.

[edit: no that is NOT what they said at home but that is what the forum board edited it automagically to read... you fill in the gaps]

 

[paintponylvr]

WIth a pair of decent shafts, a good singletree, and some good cart wheels... I could MAKE a jog cart. That might make up a pair of vehicles that would get just about all of it done.

Don't forget the spring! Mine is well sprung - it's held up for years w/ me bouncing on it (LOL)

I don't know if I have a pic of the spring.

AH, here's one... You can kind of see it.

None of these photos really shows the spring very well. It doesn't have an actual axle and I've been surprised it's held up so well.

I've had one bad ride/wreck in it when I was first starting - pretty amazing that I returned to driving as it was SCARY - but not the pony's fault when we hit a ground wasp nest that swarmed up and attacked her. We spent some wild time w/ big, ol' me and that cart airborne as she raced around our 5 acre pasture. Thankfully, I'd spent a LOT of time ground driving her and our youngest daughter had started riding her right as she turned 2, and this was late in her 2 yr old year. I was able to get her running in BIG loopy circles around our round pen as she raced, bucked and squalled. Then one time we all went up in the air and we didn't land flat/right, but on our sides w/ her legs straddling both shafts - twisted. I've never managed to get up from such so fast and start getting buckled harness loose! Neither of us was really injured other than some scratches and the wasp stings. However, both of us were scared spit less and I was never able to get her over it and drive her again. Just bringing the harness out would make her start shaking - starting the next day - even though I rehooked her that afternoon. The gentleman that I'd been working with the year previous was having heart problems and in/out of the hospital - so that pony went to strictly a riding pony and I went to driving my stallion only for a while...

Since 2010, it's also been flipped over a couple of times - though not with me in/on it. That probably added to the stress of the dry rotting that was happening in the shafts. Then when Bit took exception to a stallion while out on a trail drive. She had a complete meltdown at one point - started "screaming" and striking out with her front hooves any time the stallion "said anything" - even though he was either at the front of our group or the back -while I was at the opposite end. That was interesting to deal with and everyone else thought it was hilarious (there were 6 of us that day driving in various carts). I thought she'd completely lost her mind! When she started bucking - 3 leaps forward/bucking and she connected with the circle bar - almost snapping it in 1/2. WE were quite a ways away from our trailers this time - I PRAYED - and she settled (she was very sore!) and behaved better the rest of the way back. I didn't do any more cantering/galloping - afraid the "stress" would destroy the cart. I kept it thru the summer/fall/winter before I was able to find someone who could repair it for me...

***

While this cart injured we went trail driving again with the same friend - I borrowed her Jerald show cart. OMG - It was HEAVY. Found it also to be a LOT wider than mine thru the shafts, the shafts themselves were much larger in circumference. It did have a basket that was NICE (she takes it off to show in Roadster classes) and the seat had basically the exact same set up as mine did... She did say it was a bit large for her boy (who was about the same height as my girl, but wider so able to accommodate it better). I wonder if it is actually meant for a much larger pony, I simply don't know. It's a show cart meant for no breeching and it has no single tree either. So, I had breeching with hold back straps and I did put them on it - but they weren't effective. You can see in some of the pics that it is being stopped by the saddle, not the breeching. The width also was heavy on the shaft carriers. It flat wore out my little mare (40" tall) - even though she was in pretty good shape. It did ride nice for me but was hard on her. Think she was glad to use our little ol' jog cart again!

Going down and around at the Moss Foundation - Southern Pines, NC. We drove for about 2 hours. We usually try to have our ponies in shape when we start hauling out as I don't like hauling an hour or more away only to drive for 30 minutes...

I think the longest amount of driving I've done was 5 hours in one go (no going back to the trailer to unhitch/unharness for a rest). We weren't prepared enough for that one, I will plan better for next year... That one was actually just as hard on me as it was on my ponies - we drove our vehicle pulling the trailer about 2 1/2 hours to get to the trail drive and then drove back home the same day! Next time, we go down the night before and camp on cots in the horse trailer... The ponies were in better shape than I was - they bounced back easier.

 

[paintponylvr]

I've not seen a Bell or Aero crown in person (well, I may have) yet, so you will need to post photos.

The only other carts that I've owned are a Jerald show cart (purchased used and smaller than the one in previous photos) and two different ez entry carts. One was a Frontier, I believe, and the other is a mini sized, less expensive one. Oh, and the Pioneer Forecart (for driving my pairs up to 13 or singles up to 14.2) - meant for farm work and I've used it as a training vehicle with the pairs and as a cross country vehicle (nice ride for a farm cart with awesome springs, large tires and brakes).

When I had my sulky refurbished, I took the mini sized ez entry up, too. I had wooden shafts, a single tree, heavier axles and the same type of tires/wheels as the sulky. I WISH I'd had it redone in the spring area - would have been nice!

Here it is before being refurbished - I think Stuffy is 36 1/2 at the withers but could be wrong. Need to measure her again...

And after it was fixed up:

 

[diamond c]

one of my winter projects is to buildan easy entry cart. (thats all my budget will alow ) Thanks to Paintponylvr's pics and others I've seen on here and others I have a good idea of how I want, and need it to be. Thanks to all.