New Buggy

[Eohippus]

Ever since I got my gelding I wanted to drive and every since my first drive in my easy entry cart I've wanted to buy some sort of buggy/carriage replica (if not actual antique) and have him drive that. Well I, as an early Christmas/Solstice present to myself, got one!!! I'm so excited and LOVE it. I need to have some repairs done on it: the original shafts broke in a garage door vs. cart shafts in truck accident by the previous owner, oops! (I have the broken originals though and a replacement that has enabled use of the cart still), the wheels should be done/replaced, and there some paint that needs to be touched up but I could not pass this deal up! I thought the cart would be heavy but its actually not that much heavier to pull than my EE. It was awesomely built. The old owner thinks it might be an antique so I have to check around on the cart, see if I can find a brand/label/mark of identification on it somewhere. Anyway, here are some pictures; my guy loves to pull it, he likes it better than the EE, which surprised me but hey, I'm ok with that!

Its a "piano box buggy" and even is complete with a little boot (trunk/box with lifting lid) in the back. And yes, I drive bitless (this bridle is my cross-under with circle-x piece to prevent too much pressure on the face, but I also have a side pull) but please don't comment on that part. I know most people on here are very strongly against driving bitless but thats not what this post is about...

And the harness is weird fitting in this picture (I know), we had to make some modifications on the shafts but hadn't done them yet in these pictures.

And because Kia decided it was her rightful place to "drive" Avalon and be the princess in that seat... (Don't worry, I was holding him on a lead rope + the reins while someone else quickly did this shot! We play it safe because even the calmest most bombproof horse is still susceptable to a bee sting )

 

[MiLo Minis]

Congratulations! It's a lovely little vehicle and I bet you will have tons of fun with it! I love buying my own Christmas presents - I always get myself exactly what I wanted!

P.S. He doesn't look badly hitched at all!

 

[REO]

It's WONDERFUL!

Congrats! Lucky you!

I'd love to find something like that!

 

[Eohippus]

Congratulations! It's a lovely little vehicle and I bet you will have tons of fun with it! I love buying my own Christmas presents - I always get myself exactly what I wanted!

P.S. He doesn't look badly hitched at all!

Thanks! The clips for the breeching were really far up making it so I could put the shafts as far forward as I would have liked to. He seemed to pull a little better this way though, I just don't know how ok that is.

I hear ya on getting your own gifts, especially when it comes to horse stuff!

 

[RhineStone]

I would actually call that a Runabout since a buggy has a top, but yes, the rest of the vehicle would be along the lines of a Piano Box. A lot of horses like to pull four-wheelers over carts because the only weight they have on them is the shafts. Is there a reason the seat tips back?

Have you driven a not-cut-under vehicle before? Make sure you take wide turns so that you don't jackknife it. I can't tell from the photo, does it have roller irons on the box so the wheel won't catch as easily? And always drive with a whip with this vehicle. You need to make sure that your horse goes forward. Backwards is very bad if you can't control it. My husband almost dumped our Runabout when our big gelding got impatient, pulled a balking incident, and decided to back up really fast in the line up at a show.

We have roller irons on our box but Spider backed so fast that Chad said he could still feel the wheel catch the box and torque it. At that point, you don't care who is watching, you clobber the horse or you end up in a pile! Thank goodness it was after the placings were in! They walked the rest ot the time and Spider was fine. Sometimes, you pick your battles....

And for anyone else reading, this vehicle is NOT a green horse/green driver vehicle. Start with a cart as the OP did.

Myrna

 

[Eohippus]

I would actually call that a Runabout since a buggy has a top, but yes, the rest of the vehicle would be along the lines of a Piano Box. A lot of horses like to pull four-wheelers over carts because the only weight they have on them is the shafts. Is there a reason the seat tips back?

Have you driven a not-cut-under vehicle before? Make sure you take wide turns so that you don't jackknife it. I can't tell from the photo, does it have roller irons on the box so the wheel won't catch as easily? And always drive with a whip with this vehicle. You need to make sure that your horse goes forward. Backwards is very bad if you can't control it. My husband almost dumped our Runabout when our big gelding got impatient, pulled a balking incident, and decided to back up really fast in the line up at a show.

We have roller irons on our box but Spider backed so fast that Chad said he could still feel the wheel catch the box and torque it. At that point, you don't care who is watching, you clobber the horse or you end up in a pile! Thank goodness it was after the placings were in! They walked the rest ot the time and Spider was fine. Sometimes, you pick your battles....

And for anyone else reading, this vehicle is NOT a green horse/green driver vehicle. Start with a cart as the OP did.

Myrna

I pulled out the wagon/carriage/horse pulled vehicle encyclopedia done by the Smithsonian. I thought about a Runabout but the body style is more of a Piano Box, and while it was common for a buggy to have a top it's not a requirement. A lot of buggy styles actually don't have tops (Coal box buggy, buckboard buggy-different than a buckboard wagon). Really high status (doctors, higher class) and sunday buggys were the only ones with tops. The seat tips back because if it didn't it would be verrry uncomfortable to sit in, your knees would be too high and rides wouldn't be fun. It looks as though the original builder did that one purpose. With out a horse infront of it the buggy really does look like a full size horse buggy with everything to scale so there are some modifications for miniature horse and rider comfort.

I've driven a similar style vehicle before so I'm not too worried. While I don't show in driving classes we're not green so I'm not worried

And yes it does have the rollers but the rubber on the left wheel isn't as secure/some glue has become loose and if it hits just in the right spot on the roller (because of a too tight turn) the rubber starts to pops off so you have to quickly correct and go straight or if you didn't catch it in time get out and fix it (its on the list of repairs, which keeps this new toy from being used right now!)

 

[RhineStone]

while it was common for a buggy to have a top it's not a requirement.

Ok, I'll grant you that. I did find some examples in some of my CAA stuff that acknowledges that.

A lot of buggy styles actually don't have tops (Coal box buggy, buckboard buggy-different than a buckboard wagon).

Well, that would depend on the designer. There were many styles of Runabouts, so one illustration doesn't necessarily mean that is how that every one of those vehicles were. Many builders would build their own version of a particular vehicle. My guess is that the illustrations used in ID books are generally the most common form of that vehicle (or one that was available for photographing.)

Really high status (doctors, higher class) and sunday buggys were the only ones with tops.

I don't think this is the case at all. A Piano Box, as well as a number of other American buggies, was very much an everyday-use vehicle. Yes, a top may have been somewhat of a "luxury", but it was not at all a status symbol. Even Almonzo Wilder had a top on his buggy, and he wasn't "higher class", just a bachelor that made his buggy that way!

I would compare it to a car with air conditioning nowadays. Not exactly "bells and whistles" but definitely a good option.

The seat tips back because if it didn't it would be verrry uncomfortable to sit in, your knees would be too high and rides wouldn't be fun.

Yes, if your knees are too high, you will definitely feel unbalanced driving. I wonder why he didn't just make the seat taller, though, and still kept it flat.

 

[Eohippus]

With a taller seat it wouldn't look right, it would look out of proportion and be a little unbalanced/not centered so that would probably require spring on the seat, which, it does not have. I like the tilt* (typo of title earlier lol) I for it comfortable and unique

 

[Marsha Cassada]

Pretty snazzy!!

Also am enjoying the information about vehicle styles in the post.

 

[MiLo Minis]

I would actually call that a Runabout since a buggy has a top, but yes, the rest of the vehicle would be along the lines of a Piano Box.Myrna

I actually had a full size horse McLaughlin runabout that had a top on it. Not all of them came with one as I have seen others that didn't have one but I would imagine that the gentleman that ordered mine orinally back in 1905 wanted one and likely paid extra for it. When I was researching the vehicle I came across "Runabout - essentially a buggy without a top commonly known as a runabout but the term "driving wagon" was often applied." ~ American Carriages, Sleighs, Sulkies, and Carts edited by Don H. Berkebile

Road wagons are also buggys without tops.