And a Reserve Grand Champion (woohoo!) with a score of 94.5 out of 100. Most of that is that my spicy redhead mare was feeling like a spicy redhead mare even after 25 miles and was a little slow to pulse
down.
Also I want/ need a better cart I think. This is a Kingston Easy Entry that my DH has done some modifications to. I’m not sure it’s sturdy enough to hold up to too many of these types of drives. I know I want to stick with 2 wheel and light weight but studier and with brakes. Any suggestions?
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Congrats! 
Man, I wish I lived near you.
That kind of drive is right up my 34" Little Engine That Could’s alley
On Club drives, his nose is always attached to the cart in front of us, no matter how big the horse pulling that!
& Walking? That’s for pansies! 
FWIW, my cheap (Chinese?) Easy Entry has held up very well on trail drives.
I upgraded the wheels from the wire-spoked bicycle ones it came with. < Original wheels in the pic.
Also had the bench seat replaced with a bucket type.
But that was for my comfort, with armrests & a cushier seat/backrest… & cupholders 
Take my advice re: brakes with a heaping🥄 of salt.
Unless you’re doing a lot of downhill driving, brakes won’t help you slow much, if that’s what you’re wanting.
They will keep the cart off her hind end on the downhills.
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So mine is a Kingston Easy Entry- I’ve replaced the wheels, the seat brackets and the shafts and I need to replace the seat because the laminated wood that is the base of the seat can’t hold the screws. Where I live is hills, hills and more hills. For those 25 miles we did 2900 feet of ascent. I board adjacent to a several thousand acre NRMA called Fair Hill where I do 90% of my riding and driving- nothing is flat so I feel like brakes would be very beneficial esp on the super steep stuff where we’re sliding some
PS IDK what the governing body for CTR is where you are but check and see if they have competitive trail drives maybe. Here it’s ECTRA but I want to say you’re in Southeast right?
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Sigh… I’m Midwest.
I’ll look, but doubt there’s any CTR nearby.
The Driving Club 3h South of me puts on a rated CDE every Fall.
I’ve volunteered 3X & learned a lot.
But that’s too far for me to go for 1-day event if I’m hauling the VSE.
I’m solo & toast when I come back from a weekend stay with the mini.
I will try to get to The Ntl Drive this Fall.
Lots of trail driving, water obstacles & a Cones course to play with. Plus 2 or 3 BNTs available for lessons.
Same distance/venue, but I stay 3 or 4 days.
Still exhausted when I get back, but I plan for that.
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UMECRA is probably your local org - not sure if they offer driving or not.
@tabula_rashah Congrats to Penny on her successful drive!
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There are Drives listed on the UMECRA site, in IL, MI & WI.
Nothing in IN & nothing closer than 3h 
But:
I know there are Mounted Orienteering rides at Potato Creek State Park.
I might look into that if they’d permit a mini & cart as part of a team.
We do share trails there, but I know some horses are not happy about carts. Or mini’s. 
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Our local NACMO rides allow driving… but seeing as our NACMO leader is also a person who had @tabula_rashah’s lovely mare, no surprise she is pro-driving.
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Great JOB!! and CONGRATS on Reserve Grand Champion! That is awesome!!! WAY TO GO PENNY!!
I would check out Bennington carriages. You need something were the welds are going to hold up to repeated stress. I would also look at getting pneumatic tires of that is allowed. (I am not sure what your rules say about that). I know there is a Bennington dealer in SE Pa. outside of Philly.
I like having brakes on the cart. It takes the pressure off of the horse to hold the cart/carriage back. Giving them a moment of rest (ish). Why make them work going down hill, when you can apply a brake.
I would not get a center seated cart, I would feel more comfortable in a bench seat so you can slide to the left or right if needed for weight balancing on uneven terrain. Plus, its nice to have someone along when training. Extra weight to help with conditioning.
The above is just my opinion on what I would like to have on a cart.
Weeee! You both looking like you’re having a great time.
Come up to Vermont, many of our VERDA and GMHA rides also have a drive offered. If you make it up this way, let me know, I’m usually out there volunteering!
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Thank you!
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I think my friend and I are going to try and come up to the ride/ drive at the end of October. I did the LD at the GMHA Fall Ride 2 years ago and loved it, but it’s quite a drive to get up there
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Thank you-
I will look up the Bennington carriages and in the mean time I’m having my DH do some welding, etc on my current cart to “toughen” it up a bit 
AFAIK pneumatic tires are allowed as long as they aren’t bike spoke wheels. Although I went back and looked through the all the pics from last two events and no one is using them. One of the main folks really promoting driving in ECTRA is also a judge (and one of Penny’s previous owners), I’ll have to ask her about the tires
And I agree on the bench seat definitely- we tried adding a centered seat to my friend’s cart and it felt very wonky lol. I like the extra weight for conditioning I’m going to use that one to get DH to come out with me more often lol
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That’s great! Hoping that will be my 5yr old mare’s first LD. It was a rough winter here so I’m feeling behind right now. We’ll see how the next few months unfold for us.
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Bennington, glinkowski and kuhnle are all exceptional choices, but they do come with exceptional price tags. You could check out Peter’s inventory at A to Z horse driving. He imports used carriages from Europe and they are generally more affordable. He also imports a lot of the pneumatic wheel carriages that people use for the sandy trail in Florida.
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I was going to list Glinkowski and Kuhnle, but I was thinking they may be too heavy.
Don’t forget about Martin’s Auction in October. There should be used options available.
There are also two private collection auctions in June and July as well: https://www.martinauctioneers.com//auctions/category/carriages scroll all the way down.
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Yes I would like to stay fairly light and two wheeled.
I have a lot of Amish harness/ carriage shops around me in PA and lower DE too. My friend and I make the rounds every couple months or so to see what’s popped up in used inventory lol
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CONGRATS! Awesome effort! Please tell me Penny’s breeding- I know that she’s an ASB, but who is she?
Thanks!
Thank you-
Radiant Roulette 2009 mare by Who Wants to Be a Millionheir out of Highland Radiance (Radiant Sultan)
I honestly know nothing about ASB breeding. A friend of mine owned her and did a lot of endurance with her (where she did amazing). We bought her to be my 12 year old niece’s step up from her pony horse but I (obviously lol) am enjoying her quite a bit too
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