which cart is right for me

[jeanniecogan]

Mike is letting me get a new cart.  i have my choice of a meadowbrook , medium priced, from silver penny,  a marathon four wheeler from Frontier, most expensive ,equestrian or a dressy easy entry fro Frontier equestrian.least expensive.

i have wanted a meadowbrook ever since i first saw one.  i love the marathon cart.  but the dressy easy entry is more in our pocket book.

should i get what i really want or be sensible .  things will be tight with buying land and building a house.  what would you each do???

 

[Marsha Cassada]

Sounds like you plan to do quite a lot of recreational driving in your new place.  If you have always loved the meadowbrook, I vote for it.

 

[Cayuse]

Does!the! Frontier easy entry cart have heavier tires?  I think I looked at the cart you might get from them and it had what they advertised as "go fast" tires and that.cart was nice looking.

Is weight going to be an issue for longer drives? Probably the meadowbrook is heavier.

I think MajorClem has.both a Frontier marathon cart and easy!entry cart, maybe she will have!some insight to which one is better.

 It is a difficult choice.  I personally would go with the easy entry if it had upgraded wheels because I need something super easy to access.  But if your dream cart is a Meadowbrook, I think you should have your dream cart

 

[Cayuse]

About the wheels, I didn't finish my thought. In fact, I never got TO the thought.   What I was trying to get at in a roundabout way is that if you show in combined driving, I don't think that after a certain level you can use wire wheels.  IDK how much you are going to show but I thought I would mention it in case the easy entry had wire ones.

Bear with me, lol. I ain't what I used to be...

 

[Northwolf]

You like to drive on trails, don't you? And you have two horses who can be hitched together as a team, so I vote for the marathon for future team driving. It's better for the horses back to drive with four-wheeled carts when you drive trails. And driving a team is always more fun than driving a single horse.

 

[jeanniecogan]

i had a team experience it didn't work out too well.  so that is out of the question

 

[Peggy Porter]

i had a team experience it didn't work out too well.  so that is out of the question

My only wreck thus far was with the pair; we barrel rolled down a steep slope. Both horses flat out, shocky, one on top of the other. I got thrown out, carriage rolled over my head. The horses were both ok, we actually hitched back up and drove another hour. Brave boys. I broke my elbow and cracked a few ribs, but after we got home I almost fainted realizing what could have happened. It was almost a week before I could bring myself to hitch up single, and almost a month before I hitched the pair. The boys acted like nothing had ever happened. They have the heart of a lion.

 

[Cayuse]

Peggy that is awful, how did you happen to roll?  What good boys to get back up and keep on trucking.  That says a lot to how much they trust you.

Jeannie, did you decide on a cart yet?

 

[Marsha Cassada]

My only wreck thus far was with the pair; we barrel rolled down a steep slope. Both horses flat out, shocky, one on top of the other. I got thrown out, carriage rolled over my head. The horses were both ok, we actually hitched back up and drove another hour. Brave boys. I broke my elbow and cracked a few ribs, but after we got home I almost fainted realizing what could have happened. It was almost a week before I could bring myself to hitch up single, and almost a month before I hitched the pair. The boys acted like nothing had ever happened. They have the heart of a lion.

Yikes!

 

[Peggy Porter]

Peggy that is awful, how did you happen to roll?  What good boys to get back up and keep on trucking.  That says a lot to how much they trust you.

We were driving along the top of a levee. The path was wide enough for a tractor, the sides drop down a steep slope on each side. At the bottom is water. Butch spooked at a pump ahead of us and made a quick right turn, dragging Kid down the slope, then back up to the tractor path. When the carriage followed, it was like “crack the whip” and just rolled over down the hill, pulling the two boys over with it. Luckily it had been dry, so not much water at the bottom. My daughter, who is a vet tech, was riding as a gator on the back step. She had gotten down and was going to their heads , but she went up the left side and Butch went right. She watched the whole thing. Pretty scarey stuff. 

 

[Cayuse]

Good thing you weren't alone.  And that there was no water!  Glad that you and the boys suffered no residual effects from it.

 

[MajorClementine]

I do have the Frontier Cart. It's the "Lightweight Trail Buggy" not the "Lightweight Marathon Style Carriage". So it's a bit bigger and heavier I guess. It's okay for a single horse on asphalt or other hardpac fairly level surfaces. It's pretty heavy for a single horse on a trail. The other carriage is only about 15# lighter than the one I have so I imagine it would be a lot for a single horse for long or trail type drives. I wouldn't ask Clementine to do 5 miles with it and we do that in the EE cart all the time.

My EE cart isn't a Frontier cart. It's a Kingston. One thing I like about the Frontier better is the heavy duty wheels. Though, I think Kingston uses them rather than the bicycle type wheels now. 

If it was me, I'd go for the Meadowbrook. I really want one too. They are so pretty. They make such a nice turnout when you get all harnesses up and that nice wood cart on. Beautiful. I looked at the "A Silver Penny" ones and they are so pretty.... Now you've got me thinking I need a new cart. My hubby may burry me in the backyard...... 

 

[Peggy Porter]

I have a Silver Penney wooden wheel, pleasure cart. It rides great with the elliptical springs. I have Trail driven, competed CDE, and done some pleasure shows with it. Not quite as dressy as the Meadowbrook, but only weighs 107 lbs. it has held up beautifully for many (15+) years, needs to be refinished but the wheels and everything else are still sound. One can also buy spoke wheels. Pam is wonderful to work with. 

 

[jeanniecogan]

wanted to let everyone to know i bought an ez entry cart in july.  i was in a hurry because my granddaughter was coming and i wanted to take her camping with me.  it is not a name brand but it has a different kind of springs and is very comfy to ride in.

 

[Peggy Porter]

wanted to let everyone to know i bought an ez entry cart in july.  i was in a hurry because my granddaughter was coming and i wanted to take her camping with me.  it is not a name brand but it has a different kind of springs and is very comfy to ride in.

Glad to hear that you got something that you like and that works well for you. You know we love photos!