Thoughts on this "Chalo Sulky"

[lehughes]

This e-mail came to me from a friend, and it came to her as a question as well... but I found it so interesting that I wanted to include it here. Have others seen this?

Hey Laurie have you seen this before? I haven't. But looking at it I think the pull would still be coming from the front.
S

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Hi S,

Just wondering if you are familiar with this type of "drafting" cart. It is called a Chalo Sulky, and it is used for urban mushing.

According to the carting page my sister lurks on........ "Sulkies are easy to pull and safe to ride. They have comfortable seats and disc brakes. They are light enough for one dog to pull and are strong enough for four dogs to pull. Chalo sulkies are dorsal shaft sulkies. They have a single shaft that goes over the dog's back and hitches to his harness. When you sit in the driver's seat, your body is behind the axle of the sulky. Your weight lifts the tip of the sulky shaft. Dorsal sulkies provide upward lift on the dog, not downward weight. The dog is lighter on his feet than when he is not pulling the sulky! Chalo Sulkies give the dog freedom to run, trot, or walk while pulling you and the sulky."

They claim that it does not push down on the dog's spine or shoulders, but does give "upward lift". From the pictures, to me it looks like the harness would put "upward lift" through the dog's rib cage? Wouldn't that potentially do damage to the ribs, the spine, and maybe even compression on the chest cavity? Just curious what your thoughts are.....

[lehughes]

My reply was:

Hey!

So, I’ve not seen anything specifically like this! I did get to see some interesting contraptions when I was teaching in Norway - buggies of various types, but nothing like this. I think it looks pretty good actually, and based on this picture alone, I wouldn’t have any concerns.
I wonder what happens with the getting in / out of the contraption!

Thanks for sharing!

Laurie