My carts shafts connect at the top of the seating area, so to speak. I saw a Bellcrown this weekend and noticed the shafts connected at the bottom of the toe board. Does that shaft placement improve the comfort for the horse/pony?
The shaft placement has some affect on balance for the horse, but it is more about a trade off of lateral stability with visibility.
A lower seat makes the cart more stable but leaves the driver looking around the horse (not really a problem with smaller equines).
A higher seat gives the driver better visibility, but the carriages can get top heavy making them easier to flip.
I’ll also add the lower seat placement is more Meadowbrooks and road carts. For higher seats they are the gigs and dog carts which are considered more formal vehicles and they are generally driven by more experienced whips. These types of vehicles are also commonly used with tandem hitches where the need for visibility is important
Thank you for your help. Now I will have to go look and see if the seat height is lower on the toe board model verses the dash board model. I wasn’t aware of that. I thought it might affect pulling ability/comfort for the equine.
Pulling is affected by the placement of the singletree. It is easier to pul the wheels up over bumps with a low singletree. A high line of draft can make it harder as the animal has to pull through the object rather than being angled to pull up over an obstacle. Of course the singletree is often in line with the shafts, but this isn’t the case 100% of the time.
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Thank you CERT! Exactly what I needed to know.
You’re welcome!
