I ordered my cart!

[Abby P]

All I meant was that you can't tighten the set screws by tightening the nuts. It may very well be true that the nuts will do as you suggest, if you tighten them separately after having tightened the set screws.

 

[Cayuse]

My shafts get loose on my Kingston every once in awhile. Never been able to figure out why! But I still love my cart !

 

[Willow Flats]

I took this picture yesterday of Annie who is 37" in a Kingston cart. It's hard to see in this photo because I was sitting up in a cart next to her in the shade and thought of your question, but there is about 2" of clearance between the single tree and the shafts. Is the single tree installed with the prongs facing up?

 

[danettedm]

I didn't have any of those problems. I went to the warehouse to pick mine up and he took everything out of the boxes so I could take a look at it. Not sure what you mean about the single tree hitting the shafts. Did you put the little straps around them so they don't swing too wide? There were two straps that came with mine. I have even used dog collars before on another cart. I can take a photo or a little video of how mine swing tomorrow if you need me to. Just let me know.

Hmmm I didn't know what those straps were for. Probably won't use them though.

 

[danettedm]

My shafts get loose on my Kingston every once in awhile. Never been able to figure out why! But I still love my cart !

So good to hear. I've only had mine a few days. So far so good!

 

[danettedm]

Next question: At first I thought the shaft loops should go behind that peg on the the curved shafts, but now I think they are better in front. How are you doing it?

 

[Abby P]

I think the peg is meant to keep the shafts from coming out of the loops, the loops should be in the highest point of the curve. If the horse is further forward than that such that you have to angle the loops back to reach the peak of the curve, then you might need to shorten your traces.

 

[danettedm]

I think the peg is meant to keep the shafts from coming out of the loops, the loops should be in the highest point of the curve. If the horse is further forward than that such that you have to angle the loops back to reach the peak of the curve, then you might need to shorten your traces.

Thanks for the reply. I will do some more adjusting tomorrow.

 

[danettedm]

Next question: At first I thought the shaft loops should go behind that peg on the the curved shafts, but now I think they are better in front. How are you doing it?

After losing a

My shafts get loose on my Kingston every once in awhile. Never been able to figure out why! But I still love my cart !

I had a nut get loose and fall off after a 3 mile ride. I got some locking washers and that did the trick!

 

[betwys1]

My shafts get loose on my Kingston every once in awhile. Never been able to figure out why! But I still love my cart !

I looked at the picture of a Kingston cart in this thread. I notice that the nuts used there are lock-nuts - with a circle of plastic pressed into the nut. This prevents them going loose. Even better than a lock washjer, and available at a hardware or auto parts store mear you!

 

[Standards Equine]

Finally got a picture of my new set up. I absolutely love the Euro-collar and the bridle that has a clip over the crown piece so I don't have to pull his poor ears through anymore. But it's set as long as it can go and the blinkers sit higher than I'd like. Maybe I'll send it back to get it fixed...
Phillippe is still very reactive to sounds. He also tends to want to bolt forward when we turn. He's nearly 3 and is still gaining exposure and confidence. Maybe taking him to a clinic so we can work through some issues would be in our best interest. Doing the lead and drive set up here seemed to really help his comfort. Regardless, I love the new equipment!

 

[HersheyMint]

Phillipe is so handsome. You both are looking good

 

[Standards Equine]

Phillipe is so handsome. You both are looking good

That's my daughter in the picture... lol!!!

 

[Abby P]

So I FINALLY hitched Rowan today to the new cart! I only drove for about 5 minutes around the barn, because it still needed some additional balancing. He was super patient for all the futzing and putting everything together but after an hour of it I didn't want to ask him for any more. There's too much weight in the shaft loops right now but other than that, it seems to fit us both great and was quite comfortable for me. My traces are just BARELY long enough, they're on the last hole, but that's OK. So, we're finally off, like a herd of turtles.

 

[Willow Flats]

Yay! Glad you had time to get started! How tall is Rowan? I ended up getting straight shafts for Rocko's cart because I was afraid the curved shafts would come up too high and not balance as well. Annie has the curved shafts but she is 37" and they work great for her. I can't try out hers on him because she has the longer curved shafts, but I was thinking of ordering the curved shafts for him because the straight are not good for tight turns.

Waiting to see how you like them. I am kicking myself because I sold my old cart with those shafts on it. Should have switched them out first and then I'd have some to try. But on that cart because the curved shafts reach upwards I had to have the tugs way high on the last hole to make that cart balanced. (Not a Kingston cart but I used their shafts on it.)

Hope you aren't as busy at work as you were and get more Rowan time!

 

[Abby P]

Thanks, Willow! Rowan was 37" last time I measured him, he may have grown a tiny bit - so between 37-38". So he's definitely a larger mini like Annie. Right now the whole thing is angling slightly down in front so I'm first going to try lowering the shafts, then if there is still too much weight in the loops, move the seat back a little more. Right now the shafts are on the second-to-highest setting, there are three more holes to lower them...not sure exactly how much less horse height that would compensate for though, depends on shaft length too, shorter ones would change less at the ends with each hole up or down. Wheel size plays into it too I imagine, I have the 18" motorcycle tires, so smaller tires would help a lot for a smaller horse, I would think.

I do have to say though, even on my tiny short drive I did notice that it was so much easier for him to pivot the cart. I started to go one way and realized that it was being blocked by the tractor so I had to back and pivot and it was so nice to see him do that without getting jabbed in the neck!

Work has not slowed down at all, unfortunately, I'm going in 6 days a week more often than not right now and between that and the commute and the barn being kind of out of the way for me, time has been very limited! I think I will get promoted soon and that might come with the possibility of working from home a day or two a week, so we'll see. And I'm looking into finding boarding that is nearer to my commute route. Luckily Rowan doesn't backslide with down time or I'd be starting from square one all the time!

 

[Willow Flats]

I'm hoping you get a promotion and some work from home days!!!
Just an FYI- I have the seats all the way back on both Annie and Rocko's carts and they are balanced nicely.

 

[Abby P]

Thanks, that is good to know! I had to move it almost all the way back on my Hyperbike too, so I won't be surprised if I need to move it a little more although it's almost all the way back already.

 

[Abby P]

Just an update - I have driven three times in the cart now. But today, I reaped the benefits of several small stupid things I had done (or not done). The good news is the cart is well-balanced now with the most recent adjustments I made. So that's good. The bad news is that I set Rowan up for failure today. I was there early in the morning (not usually when I go, but was waiting for the vet) so I had extra time and decided to drive him. It was going all right, he was a little sucked back and not wanting to go forward at the walk, which is fairly typical. Apparently the two donkeys that live in the paddock next to the arena either never noticed the cart before or just didn't realize I was in there, because a few minutes into the drive they shot out from behind their shed and scared the bejeebers out of Rowan. He bolted a bit but I got him stopped in just a couple of strides and we went on, but he was even more sucked back after that, even backing up once when I asked him to walk on. Anyway, he got going, but then for some reason (bugs, perhaps, the big flies were out) he gave a kick and his leg went over the shaft. He bolted for real that time and I got to experience the "easy exit" feature of my easy-entry cart. Ground is hard because it's been so dry, and who knew grass could give you road rash...owww. Anyway, he went a quarter of the way around the ring and stopped, he'd already fixed his leg by then. I got him sorted out and got back in the cart and just drove for a minute at the walk so we didn't end with the crash. He was a little scraped on his leg but nothing major, the vet was there for his teeth and checked him out quickly so he's fine. The shaft is a bit bent but hopefully I can bend it back good enough.

So the main dumb thing I did is not to put the kick strap back on when I adjusted the harness for the new cart. That's already back on the harness now. The other thing that might have helped is maybe if he had blinkers on I would have seen the donkeys before he did and been able to avert that scare and then he wouldn't have been so primed to bolt a second time, so the blinkers went back on too. Also, wear your helmet even if it's just a minute spin in the ring! I didn't hit my head, but I hit everything else pretty good.

I feel like I let him down, because I should have done everything to make things go right since I know he's already at baseline a little anxious in the cart.

 

[Kelly]

Holy crap! I’m glad you are ok!! They say the only hard thing about riding horses is the ground, I guess that is true with driving too Dont be too hard on yourself, you didn’t let him down in anyway, it’s a good learning experience for everyone. Now you know and make improvements going forward Every time I try something new I already know that either I’m going to get hurt or my horses are going to get hurt, but we all LIVE & LEARN and keep on trucking

Which reminds me, I should probably get a kicking strap for when I hitch Breezy to cart, he is a little more on the anxious/wild child side of things.… I’ve gotten pretty spoiled with Stormy.