Question regarding shaft size

[War_Admiral]

I have to admit that I can totally see why Mr. Hackaninny did not work out for your differently abled friend. Road ponies can be really ungovernable - in a word, absolute BRATS - and no way would I recommend one for a challenged person. Because they’re so light and they are “blood” ponies, their reflexes are incredibly quick - probably 3 to 4 times as quick as a Haffie’s. And again, they’re a lot like TBs in that when they say “no”, they say no BIGTIME! Even with Commander at age 30, there were still moments when 3 people (all of us large) could NOT contain that little b*gger and threatened to hog-tie him and sit on his head! :lol: (I kid, I kid. He sure did hate clippers though!) The thing that makes them worm their way into one’s affection is that they are small, so they’re not really all THAT scary - you usually just end up laughing.

When you do take him out of the arena for the first time, please do it ground driving (NOT hitched to a vehicle). And please have someone walk alongside him on the near side. Road ponies are always “headed” to and from the show ring, and I found with Commander that he really needed that security blanket the first few times. One other thing I discovered was that it’s a bad idea to have the header use a longe line (even though that would be standard practice in carriage driving). 'Mander was a lot like HRH Avery in that he knew all the equipment and knew what it was for. Put a longe line on him and he would - LONGE. Because that’s what he thought he was supposed to do! And being a Hackaninny he would longe VERY fast! :lol:

They are an interesting retraining challenge, to be sure. (And it IS retraining, again, very much like retraining an OTTB.) But it’s a challenge I have to say I’d take on again. I enjoyed my little Commander when he was here and miss him a lot.

[BackyardDressageMom]

Thanks so much for the advice and concern. Coincidently I’ve never heard back from the Hackney’s owner for the trial drive so maybe it all worked out for the best. The search continues.

I’ve also contacted our local Therapeutic Riding Center where I previously adopted a retired 3rd level Dressage horse and now continues to do “therapy” by teaching my special needs foster children to ride. The center also offers drving (unfortunately it takes about a 1yr to get an appt), to see if/when they have a driving candidate ready to retire from active duty, that would be perfect for us. I’d know he’s be very safe and trustworthy and a nice well deserved retirement with just an occassional drive might suit both of us well.

My friend does use a wheelchair (she also does have use of her arms), but she is able to transfer herself. When we drove at our friends she was fairly easily able to transfer to the easy entry cart with a 10h pony. That was a perfect height. I’ve seen the larger carriages that accomodate the chair, they are VERY nice but I’m trying to absorb all the costs for her with a low budget. She most certainly does not consider herself disabled and therefore loves to be able to leave the chair behind. I told her I’ve found some handicapped driving groups online that she may benefit from talking to but she just doesn’t relate to them yet.

My mini’s -I intend on driving them Single. The reason for asking about a 4 wheeled cart would be for a couple of small children to ride around the ring. I myself am technically in the child height/weight category (5’ tall, 100pds).
The mini’s are 36" tall, the gelding is built like a perfect mini Fijord the mare is a very small refined palamino. They are 4 & 5yrs old, very, very, calm and previously used as therapy animals in hospitals and nursing homes which I plan on continuing. Is an easy entry cart the best for me to start with?

thanks