Progress towards making a driving pony

Oct 192009
 

I found that the girth on Paisano’s harness finally fits Vinnie. He must have filled out. In fact, I measured him today and he is 13.1 hands. He HAS grown! I moved the harness over to the new barn and tried it all on Vin, then ground drove him yesterday. Pam came by just as we were finishing up, so she snapped a few photos and took a short video in his paddock.



I also spent a bit of time sanding down the cart. I removed the seat and backrest. That took some use of a small sledge (one of my favorite tools) and a hacksaw, along with drilling out rusted screws. My wonderful husband was able to remove the bolt holding on the singletree too, so now the frame is entirely stripped down. The only downside to the day was that the rust treatment I had saved from painting my trailer would not come out of the can, despite much shaking, swapping out spray tips, soaking them in mineral spirits and anything else I could think of. I might have to use something else. It’s too bad, as this stuff worked really well.

I also stopped in at a local bicycle shop to see about new wheels. All they had were ultralight, single thickness, alloy rim wheels. I think that I need something a bit more sturdy than that. And less expensive! I guess it’s back to the web to search for heavy duty, inexpensive 26″ wheels.

I'll have to make new seat and backrest. These are destroyed.

I'll have to make new seat and backrest. These are destroyed. I want to make the back taller and the seat a little deeper anyway.

And lastly, in preparation, Vinnie had his teeth done today. He had a few points, but otherwise a good bite. I asked how many caps he has left to loose. When Dr. C counted, he found that Vinne has one less tooth than normal in each row! It’s consistent on both sides top and bottom. It does not hurt his mouth or chewing at all. He was just born that way. Paisano’s teeth were done as well, but we didn’t think to count them. I’ll definitely ask about Lily’s when she has them done in December. Spanish Mustangs sometimes have one less rib and a missing or fused lumbar vertebrae. I wonder how many have four less teeth!