Who DOES This 😣

[DMK]

Well… As for things like that shaft… Things break on carriages, it’s why smart people have a decent spares kit on hand. I’ve been on back step when the shaft broke at the end and we were 15-20 minutes from home, so we just tied it up best as possible and drive the pony home at a walk. He was only a few weeks hitched and I was more worried than him or the driver/trainer!

A friend was on marathon when the telescoping tip broke, they got out of the hazard, tied it up as best as possible and finished marathon, although not at her normal blazing speed (this was WC level drivers so not stupid newbs).

My worst one could have been sooo bad but I got so lucky. My right telescoping tip holding washer came unscrewed inside the shaft and as I turned a sharp left, the tip and the shaft just… parted company. And the freaking shaft dropped and stabbed the ground and almost lifted the front wheel up. Thank all the gods I had just started the drive and was still walking, and just walking right turns around some obstacles, it would have been super ugly if that had happened at any speed! Until that moment I didn’t even know it had a washer and a bolt inside the shaft. Now it has a healthy dose of thread locker on it as well as periodic tightness checks.

The point is that these things break, even with good welds and serious due diligence, even modern marathon vehicles that are part stainless steel and made for a beating. Driving isn’t a safe sport by any stretch! The fool with the wood shaft though… #faceplant (although I wonder if it would be safe/more durable of all the cracks were thoroughly sealed up with a strong wood glue and then banded? Glue+wood is stronger than most people think (until it gets wet)… Probably not, too much stress on cart shafts compared to independent carriage shafts

[firecracker]

Right, things can certainly break on any vehicle… but I can assure you there were serious maintenance issues at this company and this broken shaft was not an isolated incident. My point in bringing it up was to highlight the importance of properly maintaining driving equipment, because it’s such a critical safety issue.

As I’ve become more involved with driving (primarily navigating at CDEs the past few years), I have become much more safety conscious, because when things go wrong, everything can go to h*ll in a hand basket so fast if you aren’t well-prepared.

So glad you and your horse were okay with your telescoping tip incident! That sounds scary enough at a walk, and thank goodness you weren’t going any faster!