I get questions about which affordable easy entry cart people should buy. Which one did I buy? Though I have many blog posts here talking about my EE cart, showing photos of it and discussing it, I thought maybe I should have a post that is ONLY about it. Just so I have a blog to send people. I answer the same questions 4-6 times a week so it warrants a post for sure!
**Firstly, I'll say, I ONLY recommend this cart for minis and small ponies. I have a friend, here locally, that bought one for her large pony and it did NOT hold up. While driving at a clinic, across flat grassy ground, one of the shafts just bent. There wasn't any rhyme or reason for this. It was very upsetting to my friend AND her lovely mare.
I drove my Kingston cart for 2 years. It held up to trail driving, mud, sage bushes, rocks, driving in my pasture and on logging roads very well. I kept it clean and well greased but it really did a fantastic job.
I bought the Kingston EZ Mini Horse Cart w/ 53" Curved Shafts and 18" Motorcycle tires. When they are talking about the tire size they are measuring only the inside rim. When you measure with the rubber on the tires are about 24" tall.
In this above photo the cart is exactly as I bought it. At that time they didn't offer the C springs under the seat. The cart I would now purchase is the EZ Entry Mini Horse Cart w/"C" Spring Steel w/53" Curved Shafts and motorcyle tires.
(If you are on your phone I suggest you look at their website on a computer. Not all the products will show up on a phone or an Ipad.)
Sky, in the photo above, is 37" tall and quite stout. She falls in the Mini C size for most of her harness.
Because of the driving I do I decided to upgrade my cart with a suspension kit. (If you are interested in which suspension kit please send me an email. I do not have permission to share a link here.) As you see in the photo below you can't see anything different about the cart with the addition of the suspension kit but it made ALL the difference in the ride!
At the time that I added the suspension kit I also added sliding footmans loops. Because on the old style of curved shafts the footmans loops were too far back making it unsafe when driving on hills. I did email the owner of Kingston Saddlery and explain a better placement of those loops and they moved them! So, as of now, when you purchase a cart like mine, your footmans loops will be correctly placed. From what I hear the C spring makes for a much better ride as well!
I used this same cart for Sky, 37" tall. Then Mikey who was 42" tall. That is the tallest pony I would use with this size cart.
Then I had a chance to buy a used shaft kit. Again, if you are interested in which shaft kit, email me! I switched out the shafts as well. That made this particular cart cost around $1200. But I did the upgrades over a year and half, spreading the cost out.
I have since sold this cart and the new owner is having a great time with it. She has a miniature horse mare who is about 36" tall. I'm so happy to see someone using it after all I put into it!
Zorro and I are far happier with the Hyperbike... for now. I would like to get a pairs vehicle for both Zorro and Sky to pull sometime in the near future. But that's a blog post for another day!