Smart Cart on rolling terrian

[drivin*me*buggy]

Oh great...now you all have me wanting an Aerocrown....

Angie

who already has a Frontier

a Pequea Easy Entry cart

a Hyperbike

and obviously has a problem collecting carriages LOL

 

[shorthorsemom]

Oh great...now you all have me wanting an Aerocrown....

Angie

who already has a Frontier

a Pequea Easy Entry cart

a Hyperbike

and obviously has a problem collecting carriages LOL

Oh Angie, I can totally see how much fun it can be collecting carriages. You have my dream cart though, I wanted a hyperbike in the worst way, but have some physical limitations that made my trainer cringe at the thought of me entering and exiting the hyperbike and the leg position required.

My cart line up was the Hyperbike, Aerocrown, mini bellcrown, smartcart and G&S cart. Ask Leia about all my emails. I can see how easily someone can collect carts... I put my lovely little meadowbrook for sale with full intentions of seeing it leave to go somewhere else ...before I purchased a new lighter cart...and then I went up the road to Carriage machine shop "just to window shop and kick the tires or so to speak...." .I drove there to look at the mini bellcrown in particular giving no thought to the Aerocrown... then while I was sitting in the bellcrown looking around the cart garage....... Off in the corner was this sweet little Aerocrown sitting there and it had burgandy wheels.

If only it didn't have the burgandy wheels, I might have been able to resist, but I swear it was whistling from the corner for me to come over and give it a try.

The nice young amish man who played horse was so patient while I oogled this really cool cart. It had a seat that was different from the photo I had looked at on the computer but it fit me like a dream. I got in and out of the two carts about 10 times each... back and forth...

The young man also showed me the bellcrown even showed me a cart size-adjusted for someone short ...But then the Aerocrown was still calling "Pick me, Pick me". ... I remember saying.. hey, I wonder if it will fit in the back of my SUV..... sigh we tried it...... it did fit. LOL, I knew I was in trouble then... it fit me and it fit my car...the rest is history.... I knew I couldn't use the excuse that "it followed me home" to my husband, however he was a good sport when I got home and explained what happened in my windowshopping trip. Said something like, "really nice enginering, that's what you are paying for. I almost fell over.

I still have my meadowbrook for sale, but am considering keeping it to use for "pony rides' for my kids once my boy is fitter, for now, the aerocrown is perfect for my sort of chubby rather out of shape boy that is pulling a driver that is the same, sort of chubby and rather out of shape...

.. Now if it would only stop raining and if my boy's short farrier foot trim grows out.. sigh, maybe I can get somebody to play the horse so I can play with my new cart again...

New toys, gotta love them. Adair

 

[drivin*me*buggy]

Adiar,

Do you know if Carriage Machine Shop usually has them in stock? I am thinking of taking a ride that way this summer- about a 4 hour ride for me- just to visit the Aerocrown in person.

I was trying to think of how I could pair down these cart- but I love them all LOL

My Frontier was my first cart...where it all started 12 years ago when I had mini donkeys and trained them to drive- so that's gotta stay...it's a sentimental thing...

Then my Pequea...it has soul- and it was my birthday present to me a few years ago...and it is so pretty...WIsh fits beautifully in that cart...

The Hyperbike is just fun! And it makes Buck's job so much easier...and it is almost like riding...and even my hubby thisnks the design is cool..

SO the aerocrown....hmmm...have to come up with how I can justify that one...LOL some women collect purses and handbags....not me...tack and carriages are more my style...

Angie

 

[shorthorsemom]

Hi Angie, I called steven before I went and he said he had one bellcrown in stock. He literally just walked across a little courtyard and opened up a door and looked in a small out building to check. He told me to call the day I was coming to be sure they would have still have one and it didn't sell yet.. I didn't even ask about the aerocrown, just saw it when I was looking at the minibellcrown.

I would call before you make the trip. It is a simple place. A few buildings, one working shop, small office, typical Amish business. We walked to an out building and there were the two carts in with a bunch of really fancy gorgeous full sized big horse carriages. It looked to me like they keep one basic type of each carriage in stock and rely mostly on orders to customize.

If I wanted bigger wheels or a different color on the wheels they would have had to be ordered. They had plenty of shafts on hand and he bent mine on their machine a bit to adjust them to my measurements of tugs to the ground.. so they would be the right height for my boy to be level. I don't think it takes long to get a cart ordered even if you custom order a lower seat height, I thought he said 3-6 weeks. Driving essentials is only about an hour away from me and they often have a bellcrown or aerocrown cart in stock in their showroom, but I called them and they did not have anything that day.

The price is the same whether you use driving essentials or Carriage machine, but I wanted to meet steven because he had answered so many questions for me already, but I do like dealing with Jan at driving essentials too. Carriage machine has an inventory list on line that looks to be updated frequently, but it said everything was sold the day I called and they had two in stock so I am not sure who keeps up the inventory list for them.

Same price on the cart whether you get marathon or stock shafts, but I went with the ones that I could use without modifying my harness. They sell a wire spares basket if you want one, and you can also remove the floor on the aerocrown and put in stirrups for CDE driving. They can also put on a dash to fancy the cart up, but I was going for minimum weight. I got a lighter cart and went on a diet and lost a bunch of weight and my boy thinks he is in heaven. Oh the things we will do for our little horses. cheers.

 

[brasstackminis]

I am so glad I found this thread! I have been getting really into the CDE driving these last few years and decided to upgrade my EE cart for my shetland. I went onto the ADS website and looked at the chart there with all of the measurements and decided that my EE cart would fit my Modern Shetland perfect if I just bought new, bigger, wooden wheels. I had to order a new shaft for them too so they would clear my seat. I hope I dont regret it....I haven't gotten them yet! I am really excited about it.

I too thought about the smart cart...especially when I see those air shocks and all. I do love my cart from Heindle Engineering. Super adjustable for long legged peeps to us shorties and way comfortable for my roads. I have also used the Fred Flintstone breaking system in a pinch a few times. All I can say is I am glad I was driving a mini!!!

When I took lessons from Tom O'Carrol and asked him about the SmartCart, he told me it was too heavy for CDE minis. I have lots of friends that have and use them in CDE's but my minis seem to be lacking in the endurace aspect no matter how much I drive them. So I decided against it. Now I have decided to only pleasure drive the minis and to show my Shetland in the CDE's. Mostly because between all the driving minis, the shetland and the 3 Welsh pony driving guys, I just needed to feel less pressure!

My Heindl cart has lots of wiggle room for the horses and fits really well, but it is a road cart...super comfy though. I thought about getting an Areocrown too, but I decided to invest the big bucks on my matched pair of buckskin driving welsh ponies. We'll see if that was a mistake or not in a few years. In the meantime I am driving my shetland and a single welsh pony in modified EE carts. I'll let you know if I like the new custom wooden wheels in a few weeks!!!

Karen

 

[Ann knight]

Thanks Karen for your input .

I have decided on the Aerocrown. Good luck with your "team" , it sounds like fun but way too much horsepower for me

, at least for a little while ......Ann

 

[hobbyhorse23]

Matched buckskin welsh driving ponies??

Dude! Can't beat that.

I found some old notes of mine on the Aerocrown a couple of days ago btw, and the prototype weighed in at 102lbs., complete with shafts, stirrups, floorboards and seat. That's about twenty pounds lighter than most the other carts.

Leia

 

[ClickMini]

Welcome to the club, Ann! You are going to love your Aerocrown!

 

[shorthorsemom]

I love my aerocrown. I am so glad I choose it. My boy is loving it.. Between going from a meadowbrook to an aerocrown and losing 23+ lbs on the driver, my boy thinks he sprouted wings.

 

[R Whiteman]

"When I took lessons from Tom O'Carrol and asked him about the SmartCart, he told me it was too heavy for CDE minis. "

I know that I said, "I give up..." but please bear with me one more time. Did Tom O'Carrol say that the Smart Cart was too heavy for ALL CDE minis, or was he referring to your mini specifically? I think we need to be really careful of making that kind of generalizations about something that is soooo subject to personal opinion. We all have opinions, some formed in fact and experience and some formed by our idea of what looks nice and some formed by reading or listening to the opinions of others who may or may not have the specific facts or experience. No one cart fits every horse, every driver. That's why there are so many out there. Personally I love the Smart Cart and there are a couple of carts that I wouldn't own if they were given to me. Others feel just the opposite. I have my reasons and they are based on experience and having actually seen and driven the carts in question. The opinions of many of the other writers on this strand are similarly formed in experience and fact. Leia looked up her notes on the Aerocrown. Fully loaded it weighs 102. My Smart Cart, fully loaded weighs 115, a 13 pound difference. That's a fact and if 13 pounds is a big issue then stay away from the heavier cart, but do not tell me or others driving the Smart Cart that it is way too heavy for us to be using with our little horses. Mine have pulled it over hill and dale, winning CDEs at both training and preliminary levels and come in with stats that bordered on resting levels.

Dorothy

 

[ClickMini]

I do have to agree with Dorothy here. There are MANY CDE minis up here that use the Smart Cart and are extremely successful. I have successfully driven my minis with the Smart Cart. Although it isn't my current preference, there is nothing not to like about the Smart Cart. I would probably get it configured a little differently if I bought one again, particularly I would have the singletree dropped, but it is an extremely well-made piece of equipment. I do think my minis pull the Aerocrown more easily, however, that is probably due as much to the lower singletree and other configuration differences as anything. I also believe that the Aerocrown will have a big advantage in water hazards, as when you come into water with the solid floor of the Smart Cart it exerts more drag than the Aerocrown with a dropped floor and the stirrup configuration. Having said all that, my Flirty won at Prelim with a Smart Cart behind her, she is 33.5" tall, and she won at ever hazard except one where I got a little lost in the middle of the hazard costing us a second or two. And she was certainly not in the best condition of her life! So the differences are small between the carts. Both of the vehicles we are discussing here are very nice pieces of equipment.

Now, would we like to discuss 4-wheeled vehicles? Because I have one of those, too. LOL!!!

 

[brasstackminis]

Dorothy,

I did not say that no mini horse could possilby compete in a SmartCart. What I said is that when I asked Tom O'Carrol which cart HE thought I should buy and mentioned I was looking at a Smart Cart, he told me that HE thought they were too heavy for minis to pull in a CDE. Was he thinking minis under 34 inches because that is what was at the clinic as far as minis went??? I DON'T KNOW. My mini that I was driving at the time was a Araby built (not drafty or QH in bulk) and was 34" I decided against it, even though many of my driving and CDE friends have them. I am not dissing them...just telling what I was told. I also stated that I like the shock systems on them and that MY MINIS were kinda whimpy in the stamina department. I have a friend who has a 32" mini gelding that could pull 2 large men in any cart for 5 hours and still have plenty of go at the end even if he is out of shape. An opinion was asked for and I gave mine. I am sorry it was not the same as everyone elses, but that is what makes life interesting right?

Karen

 

[Elizabeth Pannill]

I competed in a Pleasure Drive this weekend with Magic ( 36.5 " ) and my SC . There were 3 of us competing with SC at this event and both the other minis were A size. One was probably about 33" and fine boned. I watched him move with the SC and he seemed to have no problem . The terrain was mostly flat but some deep sand and there were a few small hills. Magic was fantastic on the Pace but he came in to fast -the SC is no problem for him . I am 5'7" with long legs and a Frontier type EE really cramps my legs but I find the SC has plenty of leg room. Check out the picture of Magic and me on the Pacific Carriage web page.

Magic loves his Smart Cart

Elizabeth

 

[Minimor]

At 115 lbs I don't consider the Smart Cart too heavy, especially since it pulls so easily. One thing I do love about the Smart Cart is the leg room--I'm 5'8" & need leg room, and the SC has it--it would have room for those longer legged than I am. Combined with that the seat is deep & comfortable--far better than the standard EE carts.

For anyone driving the smaller ponies as well as Minis, the SC is great, because it works on the ponies as well.

 

[brasstackminis]

So I know that the SmartCarts do not fit the 50" Shetland that I have, so is there a SC equivelent for the larger mini/sm pony guys for CDE use?

Karen

 

[ClickMini]

I think a lot depends on the horse. My 33" Araby-type gelding has a problem even with the Aerocrown, unless he has a collar on. Whereas my 33.5" mare can pull either no problem. So I think it needs to be on a case-by-case basis what is best for the horse.