Which cart would you choose ?

[jegray21]

If you could buy a meadow brook or a G & S trail cart which one would you get? Thanks!

 

[Katiean]

I think it depends on what you are doing with the cart.

 

[Shari]

What I have, A Country Road cart. OK... I would add a Hyperbike.

 

[Elizabeth Pannill]

If you could buy a meadow brook or a G & S trail cart which one would you get? Thanks!

How big is your mini ?

The meadowbrook might be to heavy for a A size mini but the suspension ( leaf springs ) would be a smoother ride than the coil springs on the GS cart. What type wheels ? The GS cart comes with pneumatic wheels unless you get the trail cart . If you might do CDEs then I would stay away from pneumatic wheels ( they might not hold up on rough ground ) The Meadowbrook can be ordered with wooden wheels.

If you can spend a little more you might want to check with Frey Carriage in Wisconsin . The owner just announced that they are coming out with a mini size Spirit cart . Check out a picture of the horse size Spirit Cart on their web site. www.colonialcarriage.com It is said to be priced around $1995

A little less than the Pacific Smart Cart but similar look and ride.

 

[KellyAlaska]

I am not sure what your budget is for a new Mini horse cart but you may want to take into consideration the shipping costs. The G&S Trail cart breaks down into 3 boxes that he ships (UPS I think?). If the other cart is a wooden cart it will be quite a bit more expensive to ship. I am considering the Mini Crown and the GS Trail cart at this point and I think due to our location the G&S Trail cart is a much more affordable shipping option. He can even ship the cart to Fairbanks Alaska for less than $400 which is amazing! Also the trail cart breaks down easily and the shafts are removable so that should make storing and traveling quite a bit easier. I spoke to the guy at G&S today and for a Mini cart with the 24inch metal wheels he thought the weight would be around 120lbs so depending on the size of your mini you might want to find out which cart weighs less. At G&S he can also add a break for an additional $75 which is way cheaper than any of the other carts I looked at. I agree the springs under the seat is not an ideal suspension and I don't currently own this cart so I have no idea what the ride will be like. He did mention that you can upgrade the seat and add a wider back rest which seemed to give a more comfortable ride. As someone who is in your same position I know it is really hard to choose. Good Luck!

Kelly

 

[jegray21]

I have three ready for training level cde later this year...I have a training cart but I need a cart I can use at the shows. they are 32" 33" 35" I have around 1,000.00 to spend and just can not decide where to go with it! I have read a lot of the threads and can't seem to make up my mind. Ahhh! we are only going to do CDE

 

[jegray21]

I am not sure what your budget is for a new Mini horse cart but you may want to take into consideration the shipping costs. The G&S Trail cart breaks down into 3 boxes that he ships (UPS I think?). If the other cart is a wooden cart it will be quite a bit more expensive to ship. I am considering the Mini Crown and the GS Trail cart at this point and I think due to our location the G&S Trail cart is a much more affordable shipping option. He can even ship the cart to Fairbanks Alaska for less than $400 which is amazing! Also the trail cart breaks down easily and the shafts are removable so that should make storing and traveling quite a bit easier. I spoke to the guy at G&S today and for a Mini cart with the 24inch metal wheels he thought the weight would be around 120lbs so depending on the size of your mini you might want to find out which cart weighs less. At G&S he can also add a break for an additional $75 which is way cheaper than any of the other carts I looked at. I agree the springs under the seat is not an ideal suspension and I don't currently own this cart so I have no idea what the ride will be like. He did mention that you can upgrade the seat and add a wider back rest which seemed to give a more comfortable ride. As someone who is in your same position I know it is really hard to choose. Good Luck!

Kelly

that was a big help...I think because of shipping the G&S is going to be a better choice. I am going to go with the trail cart. now colors! geeze and I thought saving the money for the cart was the hard part..

 

[Sue_C.]

Well, this should answer the question, I HAD a beautiful meadowbrook, but it was too heavy for my new driving mare, so I sold it and bought the mini "A" trail cart with the 24" metal and pneumatic wheels...with the brakes as well. The brakes I haven't put on yet...but when the weather warms, I will get them on.

I did find the seat, although beautifully done, quite slippery, so made a little seat cover from waffle material. I am going to make a low-sided wedge for it, for safety, as well as a drop, which will fancy it up a bit for presentation; and am considering having a friend make me a brush guard. I have to design it first, and am not sure which I prefer.

 

[hobbyhorse23]

Neither- I don't like how high the single tree is positioned on the G&S and I would not buy a Meadowbrook for CDE. Ever.

Too heavy and for no reason at all, really. You don't need fenders, fold-up rear entry seats or any of that stuff.

If you want that look, get a road cart! Same thing really but gets rid of all the heavy, clunky, bulky extra parts and looks much more in-scale to an A mini. Cheaper, too.

For dressage and cones, pleasure shows, and versatility in switching to breed shows I'd be looking into the Graber ADS model cart. If you need one cart to do all three phases and do it well I'd personally be going for the Bellcrown Aerocrown. Anything you could put marathon shafts on and that offers a lowered angle of draft.

I wrote an article several years ago on selecting a cart for CDE and trail driving for Miniature World Showcase magazine and have a copy of it online but cannot post the link on LB. If you're interested send me a PM and I'll be happy to forward it to you.

Leia

 

[KellyAlaska]

I agree the Bellcrown carriages are very very nice but the Mini crown which is less than the Aerocrown is $1795 not including shipping. In an earlier post she said her budget was around $1000 but if you can afford the extra $800 plus shipping I agree the Bellcrown carriage is the way to go. If not and you have to maintain your budget of $1000 lets talk about colors and seats for the G&S carts. I am so glad that Sue (I think I am just going off of your screen name

chimed in with her G&S cart seat experience. She responded to a post that I had about a month ago and I appreciate the heads up with the seat. I spoke with him yesterday and brought up the seat thing and he does offer other fabrics but the Marine Vinyl is what he uses as the standard seat. He did mention that you have to be careful what you clean the seat with never use Armor All or other cleaners that might make the seat slippery. (Sue I am not implying that you did this so please do not take offense it was just something he mentioned.) I can totally see where vinyl could be really slippery and that is why I asked. He is planning on offering a wedge seat for his vehicles in the future.

As far as cart colors most of the colors tend to be a little bold for my taste and when I enquired about the hammered finishes he did say that if for some reason you scratch the cart it is difficult to match. There is a spray paint he mentioned that does work but I think black seems like the way to go. I really wanted a deep purple/blue but that was not an option. If you go to the photo gallery link you can see some of the color combos that people have chosen in the past. One thing he did get excited about and you might want to consider as an extra would be Single tree spring loaded trace holder. I am new to driving so I don't know exactly what it does but seemed cool and was an additional $25 (I think). Again I am no cart expert and I am not trying to sell you the G&S cart but since I spoke with him yesterday I figured I would chime in with the answers to the questions I had. If you have not spoken with him yet I highly encourage you to give him a call. He is super friendly and is more than happy to take the time to answer any of your questions. He has tiny Mini's as well so I am sure he can give you advice about fitting multiple sizes.

Kelly

 

[RhineStone]

You don't need fenders, fold-up rear entry seats or any of that stuff. If you want that look, get a road cart! Same thing really but gets rid of all the heavy, clunky, bulky extra parts and looks much more in-scale to an A mini.

My "meadowbrook" that we use for CDEs I actually call a Meadowbrook Style cart, because the springing system is the same, but we specifically left off the fenders, rear-entry engineering, etc. to keep the weight down. So it is not really a true Meadowbrook (but the ride is still AWESOME) BUT, I still wouldn't use it for a horse less than 34". There is too much cart for the horse.

I agree with Leia's idea of using a Graber for an A horse. It and the like are probably the most versatile style cart for a little horse (but you will look like everybody else...

Oh, give me a B horse anyday....you are just so limited with A's (ducking and running.....

). I would get it stained for when you smack it against a post in a marathon course so you can touch it up....or get a Bellcrown and don't worry about it.

Myrna

 

[hobbyhorse23]

I agree the Bellcrown carriages are very very nice but the Mini crown which is less than the Aerocrown is $1795 not including shipping. In an earlier post she said her budget was around $1000 but if you can afford the extra $800 plus shipping I agree the Bellcrown carriage is the way to go. If not and you have to maintain your budget of $1000 lets talk about colors and seats for the G&S carts.

I agree, which is why I said that was my personal choice. What I really wanted her to focus on was the lowered draft angle and the ability to put on marathon shafts. Those are the two biggest factors that improve a training cart into something comfortable for marathon.

He did mention that you have to be careful what you clean the seat with never use Armor All or other cleaners that might make the seat slippery.

This is sound advice for any vinyl seat.

One thing he did get excited about and you might want to consider as an extra would be Single tree spring loaded trace holder. I am new to driving so I don't know exactly what it does but seemed cool and was an additional $25 (I think).

He is referring to these, which are $13.95 a pair and easy to install.

Instead of using a piece of rawhide cord to secure your traces, you simply lift the spring-loaded piece, slide the trace onto the singletree, then let it snap shut behind the trace to keep it from slipping off.

I agree with Leia's idea of using a Graber for an A horse. It and the like are probably the most versatile style cart for a little horse (but you will look like everybody else...

Mind you, I said the ADS cart Graber makes. That's a little different from the show cart and is what Kateland Farms sells and uses on all their horses at Walnut Hill. Lots of different stain options, single tree in line with the shafts, rein rail, wooden wheels, and I'm sure you could make it unique pretty easily! I'd love to have it in Brewster green with brass and gold pinstripes for Kody, ebony stain with silver striping for Turbo, various seat colors, maybe a seat back...

Don't get me started!

I like it because the proportions are the same as those on a large-horse road cart so it looks much more traditional to me.

Oh, give me a B horse anyday....you are just so limited with A's (ducking and running.....)

.

Hehe! I actually agree- I just decided a long time ago if I was going to bother to have a miniature it was going to be a true, tiny, adorable miniature. If I'm going to move up I'm moving all the WAY up to a real pony I can ride back to the barn!

Leia

 

[Sue_C.]

I don't like how high the single tree is positioned on the G&S

That is true, and I had the same problem with my Meadowbrook before simply taking it off, and putting it back on, underneath the bar...I am planning to do that with the Trail cart as well. I will have to shorten the whipple tree by about 2" to do that, but it is plenty wide as it is.

OMGosh, do I ever know not to put armoural on a seat. A friend did that to one of my roadsters once...thinking she was making it all clean and tidy for me as I was getting my horses ready...lets just say that was one very tricky barrel-race.

Personally, I don't like those spring loaded holders...I have seen them fail on other people's carts several times...whereas the cord has never in all my years of driving. I also like the brass or stainless hooks, but they require a round ended whipple tree.

 

[Elizabeth Pannill]

My trainer bought the smallest GS cart for a 30 " mini they had in training . There are 2 trainers and both are experienced professionals -having competed in major events. They were not looking forward to using a cart with coil springs since they had just trained 3 minis -all 3 came to training with Pacific Smart Carts

but they say the ride is smooth and much better than expected. They are driving on smooth level ground .

They said the owner of GS Carts was super to work with. I have seen the cart and thought it looked VERY nice ..much nicer looking than a Frontier. I think the GS Trail Cart with the metal wheels would be the way to go since you want to compete in CDEs . You may be even able to dress it up with a wooden dash later . I would get a black one.

Elizabeth

 

[RhineStone]

I'd love to have it in Brewster green with brass and gold pinstripes for Kody, ebony stain with silver striping for Turbo, various seat colors, maybe a seat back... I like it because the proportions are the same as those on a large-horse road cart so it looks much more traditional to me.

Ooo...

:yeah

If I'm going to move up I'm moving all the WAY up to a real pony I can ride back to the barn!

Yup. Agree with you there. I have a brand new sm. pony harness and cart right now and no small pony, because I bought the harness when I was going to put all this time into a 47" pony only to find out that his spookiness was partly due to some eye degeneration.

I did show him before I found that out, and he was SOOOO much fun (other than his flakiness..) He has the speed of a big horse and the agility of a mini! SOMEDAY I'm getting another pony! Problem is... so are a whole bunch of other people. The Sm. Pony division was the largest division at Walnut Hill, and it's hard to compete against all those rich old ladies and their imported ponies!

Personally, I don't like those spring loaded holders...I have seen them fail on other people's carts several times...whereas the cord has never in all my years of driving. I also like the brass or stainless hooks, but they require a round ended whipple tree.

I like a hook end singletree. The deal with the spring loaded holders is that you can't keep them up when you aren't using the cart. Always put them back down and only lift them to put the traces on.

Myrna

 

[jegray21]

Great info thank you! I am going with the trail cart with the wooden dash added. I would love the bellcrown but it is just too much more money for this time around...Pretty sure black is the way to go this time. Does a darker stain wood go ok with a chestnut? I doubt this will be the only cart I buy we all know one cart just is not enough

 

[RhineStone]

Does a darker stain wood go ok with a chestnut?

Chestnut like "liver chestnut" or chestnut like sorrel? I find that more "orange" stains go better with sorrels, and "red' stains go better with bays and darker horses.

Myrna

 

[REO]

Leia is there a reason why you can't copy & paste your article here?

 

[hobbyhorse23]

Leia is there a reason why you can't copy & paste your article here?

It's about five or six pages long and the only version I have with the pictures formatted in is a PDF file the publisher sent me.

If I uploaded it to a free website somewhere, one with no sales or miniature horse connection at all, would you as a mod allow me to post a link to it here? The article itself is allowable by forum rules, it's just that I've got the file hosted on my personal web domain which I'm not allowed to link to.

Leia

 

[REO]

Sorry I was late in getting here to answer

Of course!! You can do that, or copy and paste each page into a thread.

Sounds like some great info to share!