Poo Poo Crazy

[Kelly]

I know some of y’all will POO POO my CRAZY idea but here is what I’m thinking….

A team of minis pulling a bike! I know and I’ve read that 4 wheelers are a preferred method of travel when driving pairs… but get this… a 2 wheel light weight bike! Easy to assemble/disassemble, fits in my van, light weight, weight off their necks, wheels far apart so I won’t flip! What else does a girl need? REALLY, what else??

Im NOT anywhere close to driving a pair yet, Breezy just turned 2! But it has definitely got me thinking. Stormy so chill, Breezy more go…. Stormy so calm, Breezy a wild child…. What could go wrong! don’t answer that LOL LOL …. I will definitely be wearing a helmet Willow

Hmmmm….. any thoughts on driving a team in a bike?? Shhhh…. Don’t tell hubby that another bike might be in his distant but near future!! HA!

 

[Dragon Hill]

I think the person you need to talk to is BSharpRanch. =)

 

[Abby P]

If you go to the Hyperbike Facebook page, they had a video posted a while back of someone driving three minis in tandem (although if it's three, is there another fancy word for it?). Anyway, three minis, one in front of the other, pulling the bike.

 

[BSharpRanch]

You can do a tandem (a wheel horse and a lead horse) in a cart. Three inline is a randem.

Tandem is very fun and challenging. Can be dangerous.

I drove a tandem through the driven obstacle class at our AMHA show this spring, was crazy and fun at the same time.

I've taken the boys out tandem with the longboard. (Super challenging).


IF you want to do a team (pair) on the bike, I'm not too sure how that would work because you would need a team pole and the way you sit up against the horses rear, I'm not too sure where you would put your feet.

 

[BSharpRanch]

Randem with three, tandem with two. .

 

[Abby P]

Right, your feet rest on the shafts, and no shafts when you're using a team pole.

 

[Kelly]

Good point!

Those pics are so inspiring! Hopefully one day I will get there, tandem anyways. Not sure if I would be coordinated enough for randem LOL that video of your tandem obstacle class was so amazing!


If I take my bike, I’d have to move the trees forward so the horses would be out of the way of the tires. I think there might be just enough room to add maybe sulky/roadster type stirrups in front of my seat or maybe something along the middle team pole?? What do you think? My seat has the ability to go way back, so I’m hoping the weight would be off their necks.




Then I found this pic. Yes, it is a dog but just another idea for stirrups. Might not be a good idea if we get going fast??

 

[rgsiiiya]

NOT crazy at all !!!!

I've seen that most the 'bike' cart makers offer a team pole option versus the single rails!

tandem is a blast! But will take a lttle xtra training for both the 4-legged, and the 2-legged participants

 

[Kelly]

Do you think my boys would need to know how to drive as a pair first? Then work our way up towards tandem? Or could i just start them as tandem?

Yall are getting me excited!

Do they even need to know how to pull a cart before starting tandem?

 

[MindySchroder]

The problem I see with this is the very fact that the bike is lightweight. Believe me when I tell you, you do NOT want a lightweight vehicle behind a pair of ponies.

Just out of curiosity... have you driven a pair of ponies? They are a lot of power, two brains coming up with GREAT ideas and they tend to feed off of each other. Things can go wrong in a blink and when they do go wrong they spectacularly wrong!

I for one would not drive a bike with a pair. Also, I have not seen ANY of the designers of the bike offer a team pole, as mentioned above.

I am going to drive my two tandem eventually but I would not drive them as a pair, side-by-side with my bike.

 

[Abby P]

Also, I have not seen ANY of the designers of the bike offer a team pole, as mentioned above.

I think they might have meant metal easy entry carts, i.e. "bike" style wheels? Just a guess.

I do have to agree, my one single pony definitely comes up with enough "great" ideas, and fast, I honestly think my pea brain would struggle to cope with two of him, especially if they were colluding. But maybe some people's ponies aren't quite as bent on mayhem.

 

[BSharpRanch]

Here's my experiences...
I HAVE actually driven a dorsal hitch, in fact 2. I've driven it single, pair and unicorn. It isn't easy or very safe, especially with green animals/humans. Can it be done? Yes! But I highly recommend getting a trainer for doing it.

If you were going to do a pair on a hyperbike, it would require a lot of modifications, a lot of thought, and a lot of precautions.

The horses would have to be way out front in order for you to be able to have any type of pegs for your feet. The ponies would need to be far enough in front of those pegs so that they wouldn't get squeered. Then driver safety, two trees and four traces= a possibility of getting tangled up. Good for thought.

As for if they should be taught as a pair first? I would get them going well as singles first. Then, once their personalities come out, choose the more forward for lead. I prefer the braver one out front, however if it's also the slower one it could create issues. My boys are a pair first and sometimes think they're supposed to be side x side, so it can be a challenge to keep them online.

I hope this helps.

 

[BSharpRanch]

I highly recommend the book Driving a Tandem. They're hard to find, however very worth every penny.

 

[Abby P]

Andy Marcoux is also a huge fan of the tandem hitch, and may have some articles/online lessons specifically about that.

 

[Dragon Hill]

I do not know anything about tandems or pairs, but just looking at videos, I think tandem would be harder to master for me. I think of it as a feather in your cap type thing. If I ever master driving single with two wheels, I would love to try a four wheeled vehicle. Although an off road long board would be tempting.

 

[Kelly]

A dorsal hitch! WOW WOW WOW! That is just beautiful! And looks extremely challenging, I am NOT up for that challenge any time soon.

I have seen the videos of BSharp long boarding and looks so fun but since I have never driven a pair before it looks like a lot of work and I dont really want to have to focus staying on the board. So that gave me the light weight bike idea. My horses are tiny! I was actually hoping for a little more “horse power” driving a team with a bike than a regular 4 wheeled cart.

Thank you everyone for taking the time to respond. Your feedback has definitely giving me something to think about

Thanks for the book suggestion and I will be checking out Andy’s website.

 

[betwys1]

I was intrigued by this sulky image from Kelly. It's the only sulky with independent suspension that I have seen. It apparently originates with Toad Hill Miniature Horses (Australia) and is an extremely efficient design. It looks like stainless too, so I bet it would be spendy. It would be a good choice over potholes or rough ground, I imagine; easy on the animals. Negative balance too!