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AppyLover2

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I will be moving from Florida to Missouri in the near future. I need advice on moving horses.

I need to find a list of "horse hotels" or over-night boarding facilities between point A and point B. I'm thinking I'll need to spend 2 nights on the road to go this 1,000 miles (does that sound right?). I know a lot of you travel with your horses, and may be able to point me in the right direction. For you Florida people who go to Nationals (isn't that in Oklahom or that general direction?); what is your route and your lay-over points??

Do any of you know of places to board?

Do any of you know the name of a book that lists horse hotels (or something similar)?

Would also appreciate any "travel" tips you can give me. I will be moving 2 minis and 1 biggun.

I really need some help here guyz. Difficult to plan a trip when I don't know what's available out there.

Thanks in advance!
saludando.gif
 
Small horse press has a list of places across the country that you can overnight horses while traveling

Kay
 
Hi

I used to travel from CA to TX for the Nationals. The last year from CA to TX., I stayed over each night until we got there. I think two nights.

I feel that the trips made prior which were "straight through" trips were a lot easier on the horses and us, than loading, unloading them each night and morning. It was more tiring to us, so I would imagine the horses as well. The stress of horses in new environments as well.

Just my thoughts and experience tho., but if I traveled again like that I would drive straight through. I had a another person with me, usually much younger to help drive. We would alternate sleeping and driving in the truck. Stopped to eat/gas up at the same time, feed the horses. We always used very wet beet pulp on our trips and fed hay.

Good luck on your trip............arghhhhhh, moving and moving horses! Now that is a big job.

B
 
A trip of a thousand miles with todays interstate system is not like driving was years ago. If I was making this trip I would ask myself if it were not in everybodys best interst to do it all in one day. If you do the math its only about sixteen and a half hours with the wheels turning. That would actually turn into an eighteen to ninteen hour stretch of actual time. If you do some serious thinking you and the animals might be better off biting the bullet so to speak to do it in one day. No doubt it would be a long stretch but when you look at some of the pitfalls of a multi day trip with stopovers, Well ? Aside from the additional cost of the multi day trip there are health risks for the horses being unloaded in strange surroundings, granted it might be minimal but the chance is presant. Just adding my opinion as food for thought.
 
I would say go straight through .... if

* If you have more than 1 driver (driver fatigue would be a bigger worry than your horses !!)

* If the roads are smooth

* If you water them a couple of times (some might not drink at all...don't worry)

I hauled to Nationals last year - approx. 12 hours - watered once, gave SMALL amounts of hay periodically. At each gas stop we were there approx. 15-20 minutes so they had a few minutes to relax/pee (and since I get only 10 mpg with my old truck and have a small gas tank we were stopping often). They were in good condition when we got there. As others have said, offloading and putting them up for a few hours in a strange place is actually harder on them than just keepin' on truckin'.

One additional point - I bring a large covered bucket (4 gallons) of water from home because some of the water enroute tastes weird.
 
I too have heard that the most stess horses experience on a trip, comes from loading and unloading. Leave them on and do it in one go. I made a 16 hour trip to move here and left everyone on board, and did it in one straight go. It sure worked out very well for me. Not one animal stressed.

I did not do it the "smart way" - I drove the whole trip myself, by myself. If you have help, take it!!!! It took me 10 days to recover from that trip. I had been awake for close to 60 hours. The horses were fine on the very first day. They only had to stand on the trailer for 16 hours, with feed and water the whole time.

Another tip: Start putting something in your water, NOW. Cool-Aid, electrolytes etc. SOMETHING. Then, when you get to the new place, put that SAME stuff in the water. The horse will never realize the difference. Then you can gradually put less and less of "whatever" in the water, and they will never even realize the water is different. They will continue to drink enough, and no stress.
 
We will also be driving straight through to both AMHR Nationals and AMHA World. My trailer is set up to easily feed and water the horses at stops and my daughter can also drive part of the way. If I feel the need to stop and sleep I will use the that time to do my feeding. Good luck on your move, hope it all goes very smoothly.
 

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