Our "Mini Van"

[weebiscuit]

We have an old 1998 Mini van which only has 157,000 miles on it, absolutely no rust, and has never had a mechanical problem. So why sell it? Especially when it comes in SO handy! My husband built a double stall to fit in the back, and it can be put in or taken out with screws. We have been using this van to transport horses and we've even brought them home in it when purchased as far away from our Wisconsin home as OK, TENN, and OH!

This first pic is of the mare that was in the hospital for a week with the retained placenta. We just love her to pieces! This is on her ride from Ohio to her new home with us in Wisconsin.

The second pic is a gelding and a stallion together. The stallion was only a short two years old at the time, and these two happened to be best buddies! We were on our way to a nursing home.

On the bottom of the stalls we put rubber-backed carpeting, upside down. That thinner carpeting stuff. Then wood shavings. If they poop we stop and scoop it out and it can get pretty stinky! But oddly, they rarely urinate in the stalls unless we've been on the road for 8 hours or more.

We love using this when picking up horses or transporting horses, especially if a horse is buy itself. It's also much easier on gas than hooking up the trailer to the truck, and I'm always happier to have the horse where I can see it instead of by itself in the trailer. I tend to think they are happier, too, with people to keep them company, but logically I know they probably don't give a deuce about people and would rather have another horse next to them, LOL!

 

[gibsongrrl]

That is VERY clever and very cool. What kind of ramp do you use, and how do you store it in transport?

-Kristie

 

[wingnut]

What is your tallest mini's size? We have a Honda Oddessey but I'm not ready to turn it a horse transport yet, but am curious if ours really would fit.

 

[susanne]

Goof to see another horse van!

Our minis have always travelled hppily in our vans -- 38 inch Mingus rode quite comfortably in our '96 Windstar, so he thinks our current '05 Chevy Express extended van is the limo treatment!

My brothers are horrified that we would use our van this way. One told Keith, "You know, every time you put a horse in there, it loses value." Keith replied, "No...the horses are still worth just as much."

Both vans were/re our primary vehicles. We use a similar tarp, plywood, carpet and sawdust, and when we take out the horse stuff, virtuallt no odor remains.

 

[GrullaBlue]

I LOVE the idea of "mini" vans.... we have a truck and stock trailer (you can see the trailer in a background pic of Magic in his "headless horseman" costume in the costume idea thread. Just a plain old stock trailer. I've actually had people laugh at me when I pull up with a big crew cab dually (now we've downsized to an extended cab dually) with that trailer, and all that hops out of it is a little miniature horse. We used to haul a team of belgian draft horses in that thing! That's what it was originally bought for.

I had a Honda Odyssey once (like someone mentioned above)...but a much newer model...and was proud that I hauled goats in the darn thing...in crates, of course... but always thought it seems so pointless to run that big truck and trailer just for hauling little Magic around. We have other minis, but he's my buddy that we take trick or treating, and I've taken him for visits various places....and I'd love to just be able to throw him in a van and go. But...for now, all we have are two cars and the truck and trailer.......

Love what you all who've shown pics have done with your vans! I'm envious!

 

[GrullaBlue]

My brothers are horrified that we would use our van this way. One told Keith, "You know, every time you put a horse in there, it loses value." Keith replied, "No...the horses are still worth just as much."

Now THAT was funny!!

 

[Miniv]

Susanne that was a good come-back! LOL.

We have an old 1993 mercury villager van that we've been using as a "mini hauler" since we bought it 6 years ago. I've been wanting a mini van for this purpose for YEARS and the hubster fought and fought it. He kept telling me, "We are NOT mini van people!"...... NOW he LOVES it.

As someone posted earlier, it makes so much more sense economically when we need to haul only one or two minis, rather than using our (diesel)truck and trailer.

 

[wingnut]

It certainly would make my show attendance this year more do-able. Driving 2 hours each way to show one horse in 2 classes is going to cost me a fortune in diesel this season. And in the trailer, I was going to go ahead and take both of my two year olds even though I'm only showing one this year (bit off more than I could chew last year trying to do both). If we converted my van, I could do the whole thing by myself.

Hmmmm....wheels, they are a turning!

 

[CZP1]

I haul my mini w/suburban and trailer (good old 1975 model) to our driving club events and everyone thinks there is a big horse in there. I have a mini van but don't think my mini would get in it. We did haul our first mini in the back of a pickup with a cap on the back 12 hours from NY to NC. When we stopped for gas or the drive through everyone did a double take on a horse in the back.

Very cool set-up.

 

[Relic]

Has anyone run into any problems hauling them like that looks neat and would be an easy way to haul but l'm just wondering what would happen if one got spooked and acted up or there was an accident or you needed to slam on the brakes for some reason and they went flying forwards and out the front window..l know l think to much. So if l needed to brake real fast does the van stay on the road the same or would it wobble around and out of control..

 

[susanne]

With a brother in emergency vehicle sales, I'd never hear the end if we hadn't planned for sagety for horses cand people -- plus I have to worry about everything.

We built a removable barricade in our old Windstar. Our new van is a cargo van with bulkhead/safety cage and no rear or side windows. We have an area walled off as a stall, but I still want to do more. I've considered having my brother fabricate a telescoping framework for smaller padded stalls.

Another thing I am paranoid about is parking on a safe surface for then to hop out and climb in. Softfooting with good traction -- never asphalt or cement.

 

[weebiscuit]

That is VERY clever and very cool. What kind of ramp do you use, and how do you store it in transport?

-Kristie

My husband made a ramp of the thicker plywood, and we set it into the track where the side door opens. Then we just lay the ramp on the floor in front of the stalls, behind our front seats. The only difficult thing is that once the horse walks up the ramp we have to turn its butt around and have it back into the stall. That's not really difficult, though, and all the horses we've ever transported this way usually go right up the ramp without a problem.

 

[weebiscuit]

What is your tallest mini's size? We have a Honda Oddessey but I'm not ready to turn it a horse transport yet, but am curious if ours really would fit.

My horses are all 30" and under. I only have one mare which is 32", and she fits! What we did to prevent poop from possibly hitting the back window was duct tape a clear piece of heavy plastic on the inside of the back hatch door and then let it drop down into the rear of the stall.

 

[weebiscuit]

My brothers are horrified that we would use our van this way. One told Keith, "You know, every time you put a horse in there, it loses value." Keith replied, "No...the horses are still worth just as much."

ROFL!!! Good one!

I still drive the van. We were going to trade it in last year but decided that since it's 13 years old it wouldn't be worth much. But it has zero rust, is in excellent shape, and we figured we might as well just hang on to it and get another vehicle.

This comes in REALLY handy when you have to get a horse to the vet in an emergency! No need to waste all that time hooking up our trailer.

 

[weebiscuit]

I haul my mini w/suburban and trailer (good old 1975 model) to our driving club events and everyone thinks there is a big horse in there. I have a mini van but don't think my mini would get in it. We did haul our first mini in the back of a pickup with a cap on the back 12 hours from NY to NC. When we stopped for gas or the drive through everyone did a double take on a horse in the back.

Very cool set-up.

Can relate to the double takes! Each time we brought horses home from other states it was always summer, and when we stopped at rest areas one of us would use the john while the other waited in the van... but we'd open the sliding side doors to give the horses some air.

One time a little girl, maybe 5, was walking a few feet in front of her parents and she glanced into the van and saw a horse in she. She said, "Mommy! There's a horse in that car!" The mother said, "Don't be ridiculous!" And just then my horse whinied and that woman stopped dead in her tracks and turned around to peek into the van. It was funny to hear her tell her daughter she was sorry she hadn't believed her!

 

[weebiscuit]

Has anyone run into any problems hauling them like that looks neat and would be an easy way to haul but l'm just wondering what would happen if one got spooked and acted up or there was an accident or you needed to slam on the brakes for some reason and they went flying forwards and out the front window..l know l think to much. So if l needed to brake real fast does the van stay on the road the same or would it wobble around and out of control..

In the thousands of miles we've hauled minis like this, I've never had one spook. I don't see whey they would spook!

As far as slamming on the brakes or having an accident, wouldn't the same things happen if your horses were in a slant-load or stock trailer? Because I took the pics above right after we loaded them and before we got underway, you can't see the cross ties, but whenever we are moving they are cross tied.

Sure, I imagine they could go through the front window or slam into us, but the stalls are pretty secure. I have heard dozens of horror stories about horses in accidents while being in trailers. I remember one time when the floor fell out of the trailer and the horse half way fell through and was dragged for miles and miles before the owner realized something was wrong. Horse died, of course.

As far as breaking fast and worrying about the van staying on the road or wobble around, I'm not understanding why this would be any more of an issue with a mini or two in back than if the back of the van were empty. How would hauling a horse cause the van to go out of control? My horses weigh about the same as a good sized person. I never worry about losing control if I'm hauling a passenger.

 

[hobbyhorse23]

Has anyone run into any problems hauling them like that looks neat and would be an easy way to haul but l'm just wondering what would happen if one got spooked and acted up or there was an accident or you needed to slam on the brakes for some reason and they went flying forwards and out the front window..l know l think to much. So if l needed to brake real fast does the van stay on the road the same or would it wobble around and out of control..

I don't think it would wobble any more during an emergency stop then it would with a load of soccer kids in it.

As far as the brakes and frame are concerned, the horses are just additional weight!

I have larger A minis (33-34") and I personally wouldn't be comfortable hauling them more than a short distance without a permanent bulkhead wall to keep them from being able to kick or be thrown through the cab. Taking a sick horse to a vet in an emergency is one thing, regular horse hauling is another. For that I would want the bulkhead wall, some sort of divider between the horses like in a regular trailer for them to lean on during turns, permanent rubber matting and additional feed boxes and door well guards and such. I'm not sure I'd need a ramp unless I bought an unusually high van- the Chevy Express vans aren't too bad to jump in and out of on good footing. Then again my regular trailer is a step-up so we're used to that!

Having a van like that is my dream, and one I'll need to make happen in the next few years before I move out. I won't be able to take Mom's truck anymore and there's no way my Honda CR-V is hauling my steel two-horse slant load Morgan built with tack room!

The van will do double duty as a horse-hauler for nursing homes, vet visits and other short trips and for driving events and such the horses will go in the regular trailer, their carts in the van, and I'll camp in it when we get there.

Leia

 

[weebiscuit]

With a brother in emergency vehicle sales, I'd never hear the end if we hadn't planned for sagety for horses cand people -- plus I have to worry about everything.

We built a removable barricade in our old Windstar. Our new van is a cargo van with bulkhead/safety cage and no rear or side windows. We have an area walled off as a stall, but I still want to do more. I've considered having my brother fabricate a telescoping framework for smaller padded stalls.

Another thing I am paranoid about is parking on a safe surface for then to hop out and climb in. Softfooting with good traction -- never asphalt or cement.

The parking area should be level, of course, but unloading on asphalt isn't an issue because we don't let the horses just jump out of the van. We have a ramp of very thick plywood, and we tacked one of those rubber-back carpet runners upside down to it, so the soft rubber backing is facing upwards. Excellent traction for the horses. They just walk down it to the ground.

 

[hobbyhorse23]

One time a little girl, maybe 5, was walking a few feet in front of her parents and she glanced into the van and saw a horse in she. She said, "Mommy! There's a horse in that car!" The mother said, "Don't be ridiculous!" And just then my horse whinied and that woman stopped dead in her tracks and turned around to peek into the van. It was funny to hear her tell her daughter she was sorry she hadn't believed her!

Love it!

As far as slamming on the brakes or having an accident, wouldn't the same things happen if your horses were in a slant-load or stock trailer?

I agree. I've got a camera system in my trailer and watch how my horses travel and I don't think it would be any different in a large (emphasize LARGE!) van with appropriate headroom. I'm picturing mine set up like a European horse box.

Leia

 

[susanne]

In regards to slamming on the brakes or otherwise losing control, I would NOT be comfortable with an extended van with a short wheel base (back end sticks out way beyond back tire). Our Checy Express has a long wheel base, giving it more stability for hauling small horses onboard or bigger ones in a trailer. An anti sway bar is also a wise investment.

Wee Biscuit mentiobed the reason we first considered using our Windstar: we wanted to know we had emergency transport.

Another future purchase: a head bumper, just yo be exztra safe.