Cart Storage

[FjordBCRF]

In between my couple of barn moves over the winter, my cart has been stored at my trainers house in a shed. I just got a spot cleared at my barn for it to live and wanted some insight on storing it.

I have a pretty basic EZ entry:

And this space between the barn and one of our smaller sand turnouts that it can live.

The person I bought the cart from was from my first barn, and they stored it in a similar type of spot in something like this. It’s worth noting, the tent took a beating over several years of being in the Great Lakes region with rain, wind, and snow.

SO and I were tossing around ideas; would a tent like that be better than tarping it? Tarps would be less expensive and easier to replace if need be, but I would think it would be a little more work. We were thinking as long as the shafts were wrapped and secured tightly, we wouldn’t have to worry as much about water pooling with rain, or have something like pool noodles over the shafts and tarp the seat part?

I have a sawhorse the cart shafts rest on for storage as well.

Would love any insight and creative ideas!

[2DogsFarm]

Indoor storage is better, but if you have no other option, make sure your wheels aren’t directly on the ground. Tires can rot from ground dampness.

I inherited several heavy plastic pallets I use for my mini-size carts.
Bonus: they have indentations my wheels fit into so no movement on the pallet.
Whatever you use, chock your wheels.

Tarping will be a PITA every time you want to use the cart.
If you can get that shelter, I’d go that way.
But make sure it’s securely anchored so wind doesn’t make it a parachute

Pool noodles don’t fit around my mini shafts, I had to slice them down one side.
I’ve seen rifle cases used on horse-sized shafts & IIRC, cases for ski poles.

[FjordBCRF]

Unfortunately outside is our only option. PITA was my response to the tarps; not that I would love spending a couple hundred bucks every so many years for the tent replacement…but at least that is reasonably accessible. I have extremely limited experience driving/storing equipment like this that I might not be thinking big enough at first thoughts

[2DogsFarm]

For me it’s because my budget for Driving stuff is Mother Hubbard - ¢ not $
Gotta take the best care I can with what I have.

Lucky for me a 2 car garage & 1 car means I have a “Carriage House”.
When I had 2 vehicles, my Easy Entry cart (mini version of yours) lived in my barn. On wood pallets, covered with an old blanket.
Now that & my wood Show cart are garaged. Show cart gets a Movers blanket, shafts on a pair of stools.
I’m wanting to get a Marathon* carriage & that will make a tight fit as Faux Grandson’s Graber Pony road cart is in there too. Along with assorted pony tack & a big Husky cabinet (his).

*This {droooool}:

[FjordBCRF]

Oooooo very nice!!

At least for now, driving is down the list for me as is the money I can spend on it. I enjoy the mounted activities the most and with him being 6 now, we’ve got a lot going with training, learning working equitation and getting out on the trails.

HE likes driving though, I think that’s probably his forte, so I don’t want to let it completely go to the wayside either. We’re not in a great spot for road driving with being off a 55 mph; it doesn’t phase the Amish but I would prefer cars not FLYING past. We do have a full size dressage indoor and a little bit of property to putz around on. Once I get ramps for the truck, we could take the cart to several of our parks and drive the trails there. That’s a lot of effort though , but he’d probably enjoy it.

[2DogsFarm]

Look for a Driving Club local to you.
They’re everywhere!

My nearest doesn’t really share my aspirations to do CDE, another some 3h away does, but too much distance for me
The nearer Club is very social, potluck lunches are a part of most drives.

And, there’s strength in numbers.
When I drive with my club, auto drivers seem to notice we exist.
Which does not guarantee the occasional fuckstix (thanks for this term to another COTHer ) roaring past us on roads, but the company of other horses helps support one who might otherwise spook.

We do a lot of drives at a local County Park that welcomes us, keeps miles of trails mowed for carriages & even adds new ones. All for free.
Another State Park charges a minimal fee, but has camping sites, day parking for trailers, paved & wooded trails & a small General Store.

Riders are welcome on all drives, several members alternate (including me).
Hope you & your guy can hook up with a similar group.

FWIW, I volunteered at a rated CDE & the Fjords coming to the vet check off the Marathon course all looked - & vitals checked out - like they just strolled over from a walk in the park.
Nobody got held.
Tough little chonks!

[FjordBCRF]

@2DogsFarm

Look for a Driving Club local to you.

I am connected to one! I took a bunch of driving lessons with a mother/daughter duo and also a clinic at their place with Bob Giles. They are very active in the local driving scene as well as travel out of state for competitions.

There are a couple scheduled drives in September/October at couple of very close by parks. That is definitely on my radar. I went to one last year just to watch that was done at nearby historic village and it was really cool seeing everyone all dressed up and going through the town in carriages!

I need more time and more money

It’s a pretty cute view behind a fjord

IMG_2965

[DMK]

Mine are stored in a 10x10 canopy style tent like the kind people use for art shows and so far, so good, or at least it’s as dry as any non climate control storage. But I do have mats as well (and all my carriages are in frequent use).

I would totally do one the storage tent you posted, except I’d put down some gravel with a mat over it when the wheels are. That will do a decent job of draining off the moisture

[FjordBCRF]

Awesome thanks! I just ordered the storage tent an hour ago. Good call on mats/gravel. I was going to put a tarp on the ground so it had a barrier, but those are really good suggestions.

[RMJacobs]

I had a canvas outbuilding (technically a garage) where I stored my easy entry cart. DH hung a section of 2X4 from the frame to prop my shafts so I could keep them off the ground. I lived in a very dusty area with high winds, so I threw a barbeque cover over the seat and wheels. We kept the door of the canvas building rolled up all the time because it was the path into our tackroom, but if we had closed the door, we could forgo covering the seat and wheels.

The canvas building or tent is so much easier than wrestling with a tarp. Mine let me walk around three sides of the cart.

We also used one of those canvas buildings for our hay storage. I got very tired of rolling the door up in order to get hay. We did not want to be in there with the door down because skunks liked living under the pallets on which we stacked our hay. Surprisingly, the horses didn’t mind having slightly smell hay.

This picture is the hay storage. I don’t have pictures of where we put the cart, but it was the same building, just using only half the frame and the canvas wrapped back to make it much shorter.

I had it in a carport for a while, which also worked well.

Rebecca

[RMJacobs]

@2DogsFarm

make sure your wheels aren’t directly on the ground. Tires can rot from ground dampness.

Never thought of that, because dampness is never an issue in Colorado!

Rebecca

[RMJacobs]

I see you already ordered the tent; cool! Just for grins, here is how we stored both the carts in the carport (plus the mower deck, plus a bunch of hay):

When my Hackney pony had to be retired, we went down to just one cart, plus we added a car, so I lost my cushy cart parking area for the remaining cart. Who ever heard of parking a car in the carport? Harrumph.

Rebecca

[2DogsFarm]

@FjordBCRF

need more time and more money
What Driver doesn’t!
It’s a pretty cute view behind a fjord

Agreed😀
But a mini isn’t far behind

Good to hear you have Driving Buds!
My Club drives are not at all dressed up
Think: jeans & t’s
Though we will be carrying the flag at a local show & will get gussied up for that
Gussied:

[FjordBCRF]

That is impressive storage! Well done!

[FjordBCRF]

The mini butts are so teeny!! AND adorable!

[RMJacobs]

Thank you! For a while when I had only one cart, the hay was elsewhere and we parked a small car under the cart shafts. That was fine until the rope that kept the shafts up broke. Oops. Poor car. It stayed dented, got passed down from DH to DD, then it got destroyed on the freeway when DD was driving it. She no longer cared about the dents from the cart shafts. Luckily, she and her boyfriend only had some short term injuries.

Rebecca

[goodhors]

I would third the tent decision. Better and more covered than tarping a vehicle. The gravel and mat under are good ideas, reducing moisture rising from the dirt. You might consider a secondary cover, like a plastic patio furniture covers that are real handy for carriages. Come in many sizes. Also waterproof car covers work nicely, easy to pack for trips away. Perhaps just a driver’s sear cover. Leather seats take forever to dry out! Local upholstery shop might make a Nagahyde one for you. Get ties on it, to keep it on in the truck.

We have used homemade sawhorses, a pipe welded to an old disc, with a pipe crosspiece, so it looks like a T, to hold shafts off the ground. Not heavy to move to one side to pull carriage out.

[RMJacobs]

@goodhors

We have used homemade sawhorses, a pipe welded to an old disc, with a pipe crosspiece, so it looks like a T, to hold shafts off the ground. Not heavy to move to one side to pull carriage out.

I had the amazing ability to swing the two by four holding the shafts out of the way, only to have it swing back and try to hit me in the face. Luckily, I have reasonably fast reflexes, and it never connected with my face.

Rebecca