Have you seen what Robinson's are selling?

[Wally]

..a pony cart, a "fun" pony cart for a Shetland! Now scuse my higgorance, but, would Esther, or Miriam or ALF work out this one.

What Shetland would fit into a cart with shafts 53cm from the ground and shafts 152cm long? It'd be a very funny shape!

There seem to be no tug stops only breeching D's but if they are they look far too far forward, if they are tug stops they look too far back.

But for £130, flat pack what do you expect?

53cm is about 21 inches, I think the biggest pony you'd get away with is 30 inches, please stop me if you think I am barking up the wrong tree. But a 30 inch mini with shafts 152cm? Does anyone know where they are made??

[Esther.D]

Heard of them via a driver on another board (they weren't terribly impressed either) but not investigated.........

A dacshund shaped shetland is needed here methinks :D

[Daffy Dilly]

Maybe you could put two shetties in it? One behind the other..

Just a thought, I know nothing about driving :o

[Wally]

Err, no, that won't work the vehicle MUST fit the wheeler before you can even begin to add a leader.


Just a thought, I know nothing about driving

That's the problem, it seems neither do Robinsons, someone will buy one of these without much knowledge and try to get a pony to pull it when it looks badly designed.

[Daffy Dilly]

Perhaps a few people could send them an email? Or send a letter to H&H/other equestrian magazines?

It worked with the hats places like Aldi were selling, they ended up taking them off the shelves. :cool:

[Wally]

Aldi were selling riding hats???

I missed that one! :rolleyes:

Maybe I am being unfair to Robinsons, but the dimensions they give are very strange, perhaps it is a misprint!

They really need to specify what size Shetland it is made to fit!

[jinglejoys]

Ahh a Goat cart at last! :D

[Wally]

I'm not sure it would even fit our goats, Sethie and Dingle Dangle are bigger than some of the Shetlands.

[Mossy]

have not seen the pic, but somebody must have designed it. From your description words fail me.
PS Is it Molly shaped? :D The original dog cart!!!

[Wally]

Actually yes, It might fit a Molly dog!

Even Whiff's Shafts are 130cm and she's 34 inches her shaft height is far, far higher than 53cm.

if we cross Mollydog with a Dachshund we might get something which would fit it! :D :D

[Miriam]

Spotted that got all excited till I saw it was a shetland cart. Can't really make up my mind if I like it or not. Am I getting picky?

Ooo Wally just read even further down this thread (remind me to read all the posts before posting) now I know why I was unsure of it

[april]

a sheep cart????? :D

[Chip]

I saw it and at first was quite excited..........then I read the measurements................then I looked closer...................then I just turned the page :(


I didn't know Aldi had the hats taken off the shelf, I thought they and Lidl just sold them all. :rolleyes:

[artemis]

Saw the cart, but didn't think cos I still think in feet & inches :D I think I'll tell them.

[artemis]

I emailed Robinson's to tell them & the reply I got back was that "It bends to fit a larger shetland"!!!!! :eek:

[Miriam]

What do they call a larger shetland :eek:

[Wally]

Err, which bit "bends" to fit a "larger" Shetland? If it bends how does one stop it bending when you don;t want it to bend. How does the novice driver know when the shafts have "bent" enough?

How do you shorten the shafts to fit the tiny pony the shaft height is det up for?

They never returned my call, I must speak to them.

As I say, even Andy who is 42 inches, only has a shaft length of 140 cm and he's about as big as they get......and a few cm off that shft length wouldn't hurt.!

[sidesaddlelady1]

..a pony cart, a "fun" pony cart for a Shetland! Now scuse my higgorance, but, would Esther, or Miriam or ALF work out this one.

What Shetland would fit into a cart with shafts 53cm from the ground and shafts 152cm long? It'd be a very funny shape!

There seem to be no tug stops only breeching D's but if they are they look far too far forward, if they are tug stops they look too far back.

But for £130, flat pack what do you expect?

53cm is about 21 inches, I think the biggest pony you'd get away with is 30 inches, please stop me if you think I am barking up the wrong tree. But a 30 inch mini with shafts 152cm? Does anyone know where they are made??

Nothing against Robinsons in principle but you do need to know what you are doing when shopping with them

[Wally]

It is a bit irresponsible of them to sell something to someone who may well get into a lot of trouble using it.

They need someone on the end of the phone to answer questions and advise properly.

[linz20]

just spotted ths thread, i was going to buy one but then i was speaking to pam and well, she had a look, measured one of ours guess what? it wouldn't suit ours at all!
Where did they measure it?
Fancy putting that in a catalogue before doing the research!

[ponylover88]

hmm Wally, you can drive my rabbit!:p
shes a reasonable size, think she'd pull it!!:D

[Purplenero]

Hi, I've been reading this thread with great interest.
I bought one of these carts from Robinsons for my husband and our 34 inch shetland, Pepper. It seems to fit her and she loves it.
Can anyone tell me how to attach piccies to this and I will post one of her and her cart. The experts out there can then tell me whether it fits her like I think it does.

[Purplenero]

here's hoping I've got right.....http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f395/Purplenero/Picture008.jpg

[Wally]

If you take your traces up with your breeching straps it will stop them hanging down as low as they are. Also they need to be shortened by several holes,There seem to be no tug stops! and your breeching looks very tight.

The balance of the vehicle doesn't look bad at all, does the seat slide once you are in? Once two of you are sitting in or one of you ( when off roading) the shafts should float in the tugs. If you feel any bouncing it may be that you need to take your tugs up a hole, if you find the shafts point up you need to take them down a hole. No weight should be constantly on the belly band.

A handy way to tell if you have everything right is:-
A) the tug buckle when the horse is pulling on the flat should be in the centre of the pad,
B) Harness up, pull the cart back so it is as if the horse is pulling, the traces will be tight, Now you should be able to get 4 fingers between the breeching and his bum. The tug buckle will be in the centre of the pad.
C) Do the belly band up tight enough to give 2 inches or so play in the shafts.Keep an eye going downhill, if he is in danger of banging his hocks take the breeching tighter and the traces longer.

It looks not bad, I'd want tug stops welded on once I'd got it set up for my pony, it really does help. For a cheap and cheerful training cart, almsot disposable, it would be intetresting.

Does it have red rear reflectors?, If not get some fitted if you are going on the road, it is a legal requirement. I have some of those really cheap LED flashing red cycle lights, shine out really well and make driver look.

[Wally]

Just been told by a friend that it does not come with reflectors so it is NOT road legal without them. Do Robinsons point this out in their blurb? Bit naughty if they don't!

[Purplenero]

No Robinsons don't say that is not road legal. Thanks for letting us know. Pepper has only been in the cart twice so far but we have been very pleased with how un-fazed she is by it. Thanks for the pointers on fitting it properly we'll see to those.

Atleast you now know that Robinsons carts will fit a 34 inch pony (well 33.75 inch)

[Wally]

It doesn't look bad at all, The dimensions they gave me over the phone bear no resemblance to the cart you have there! Goodness only knows where they are measuring it from.

Did you know you can get Shetland pony under halters specially for driving which are far better than a headcollar on a little pony. Esther.D makes them and you can get them from Libby's too.

Shetlands, by nature seem very keen to drive, (some arn't :D :D) most seem to take to it like a duck to water. Our little stallion has just hit the ground running and is bombproof.....so far!

[Esther.D]

Yep I do them, you can also get them from Plas Equestrian as well as Libbys :)

[Purplenero]

Purplenero's hubby here - Thanks for the advice, when pennies allow we will contact Esther D for an under halter (didn't know such things existed!).
The picture shows Pepper pushing backwards so probably isn't the best example of the harness fit, I will take another picture this weekend (time permitting) if you wouldn't mind critiqueing it please Wally.Also do you know of a site that has a diagramatical image of a cart pointing out tug stops and the like, so I can work out where they need to be welded on.
As you are probably aware I am very new to this, hence not familiar with all the terminology yet, thanks again for all the help!

[Wally]

Leave it with me......

[Wally]

If you look on this picture you can see just where the shaft is on the top of the chair there is a brass tug stop, the loop that your shafts rest in should be hard up against this when the horse is standing or pulling on the level. The buckle which holds the loop on the strap which goes over his back is your Tug buckle, this should be in the middle of the pad when pullin on the flat or standing. You can buy fancy ones and put them on with a few self tapping screws or weld a small one on.

[Wally]

Does this work?

[Purplenero]

Hi Wally, yes that works. Thank you. so much to do - so little time. You've been very helpful to us novices. Thank you again

[Wally]

No problem, have fun, sure you will though!