My x-stallion is 32" and he drives. He easily pulls me or my daughter (around 160-175) in our show cart. As mentioned if the cart is well balanced it adds almost no weight. So basicly it's just the getting that first tug and after the cart is moving it's nothing. Hope your stallion isn't as lazy as mine. He can drive around forever but he just hates moving - period!
I drive my mare on rough gravel roads, up and down many long steep hills and across fields and pastures with no issues at all. She is about 33.5" and I am not tiny. My husband has a 30.5" gelding that he drives over the same terrain, he is a big guy, weighs around 230lbs and the little gelding never misses a beat once he has been driven some. We do keep it to short 1/2 hour to an hour drives initially and start by refreshing in the arena every spring for a week or two but really these horses are made for harness work. They can't carry much weight but they can sure pull an average adult in a cart with out any problems.
he is 17 years old and has sired many show horses (maybe a few more for me-fingers crossed!). Hopefully he is a gentleman-but if not-he can just make babies ...lol.... I did have one stallion that was a nut case- gelding him still didnt help- he thought he was macho man... I could not for the life of me get him used to a cart-
OMG - I just realized I saw your new boy!! He was in my barn (very well mannered!!!) while we unloaded a mare and foal here! Wow, what a little man he is!
On a cart with adjustable balance, I prefer to start with the shafts at the correct height for the horse and type of cart then change the balance until it's correct at that height.targetsmom said:
It might be a bit much for her right now if she's finely built and has never been out of an arena, but if you keep building her up slowly she'll be fine. They usually love going cross-country! My boys are both 33.5" and once Kody was conditioned for the MiniCrown he had no trouble pulling it up even very steep hills. Turbo is a baby (3 years old) and has only been hitched a few times and right now he thinks even the Frontier is a heavy monster and "impossible" to trot with when he's tired.Becky Horat said:
I think you're on the right track with taking it easy and working up to things slowly. I personally would never ask a single 32" mini to pull 500lbs (my 33.5" gelding had a heck of a time hauling more than 250lbs cross-country) but then again my gelding was not built very well either. Still, start out ground-driving and build his fitness then watch him and let him tell you how long he can go and how much he can haul. They're all different!
On a cart with adjustable balance, I prefer to start with the shafts at the correct height for the horse and type of cart then change the balance until it's correct at that height.Only for a show cart or jog cart would you change the shaft height to change the balance.
It might be a bit much for her right now if she's finely built and has never been out of an arena, but if you keep building her up slowly she'll be fine. They usually love going cross-country! My boys are both 33.5" and once Kody was conditioned for the MiniCrown he had no trouble pulling it up even very steep hills. Turbo is a baby (3 years old) and has only been hitched a few times and right now he thinks even the Frontier is a heavy monster and "impossible" to trot with when he's tired.Funny thing though, when I hitch him with the other gelding as a pair he can go all day with great enthusiasm! Sometimes they don't know what they're capable of until you show them. Once he's conditioned Turbo will be the more powerful of the two geldings by far; he just doesn't know it yet.
Leia
