Trailer issues

[LazyRanch]

Myrna's new (GORGEOUS!) pony has brought up a topic I am currently wondering about:

How are we all getting to shows/events/competitions?

Currently, I am driving me and mine to various competitions in a standard, steel, 2-horse straight load, bumper pull. The trailer is too heavy for my Dodge 1500 V-6 to pull on long distances, so I got a bigger truck.

We have looked at miniature horse trailers, and decided to pass on them. I am too danged old to be shoving carts up a 5' high trailer's back end - winch or no winch. The EE cart's shafts won't fit inside the trailer, unless it's 6' - which most mini trailers don't seem to be.

We have looked at low profile horse trailers, stock trailers, stock-combo trailers, inline trailers and vans. We thought we had a perfect trailer, when my coach, and several people who have allowed me to drive their horses and ponies, have all tried to talk me into driving horses - they can compete at higher levels, etc. So, now I need to consider hauling my Quarter horse and a marathon carriage. This totally changes the dynamics.

I have enough trouble getting the danged EE cart at 80 pounds up into my truck bed - maybe getting too old for that. On those rare occasions when I take both horses and both carts to a clinic, competition, etc. it's a fight to get them to fit in the bed (short bed with tool box), and I don't even want to discuss unloading them and reloading them at the end of the day, then re-unloading them at home. I got ramps, thinking "that's easy." The HyperBike is fairly well mannered. The ee cart has twice yanked me off the tailgate and on other occasions, where I have got it rolled down to the ground, it has taken off without me! Point being, I don't ever see me loading a full sized marathon carriage into my truck bed!

So, we started over with longer stock trailers, with no tack compartments, 3-horse trailers, and stock combos that we could put carts and carriages of both mini and full size into. I am thinking a 16' stock with a center gate. I can have tubes welded low for short dividers, welded in for hauling the mins, pull out the shorties and replace with full divider for big (1) horse. Center gate will separate carts/carriages from horses.

I would love to hear from anyone competing both minis and regular sized horses. How do you manage getting everything safely there and back? Is it preferable to load carts/carriages up front, or horses up front? My first thought was load horses in back, in case there was an accident, but?

Any advice? Thanks

Cheryl

 

[ironbessflint]

Years of CDEs have only taught me that I need to win the lottery. Norm there (if not a custom semi rig) is a 4 or 6 horse head to head, with carriages/quad in the front and middle and horses in the back. That's still assuming a tack room in front for harness and gear, and then hay stacked around the vehicles. That setup worked well when we were hauling two horses and two full marathon carriages all over US and Canada. That was all on somebody else's dime though, and I can't afford the truck or the trailer for that setup!

Here in my real world, my plan is s a 2-horse trailer with hay rack on the roof, and cart/carriage in the truck bed. My trainer has a 16' stock with center divider, and she can just get her full horse size road cart into the front (with shafts angled up over the divder gate). Another friend managed to widen the door to a walk through tack area and she can just wheel her cart in the there, with shafts removed. It's a challenge for sure!

 

[BBH]

I have just gotten into driving/cde type events in the last year. Right now i am using a stock trailer with center gate and i can carry two carts in front, close center gate and then two minis in back...This works well but it have no dressing/tack room and have to carry alot of stuff back and forth from barn to trailer each time we haul. Having looked at alot of trailers new and used and have a wish list and an in process now of trying to find a solution that is affordable. I have also carried a cart in the back of pick up and it is a pain to unhook and try to find someone to help you unload, rehook at end of day to head home after reloading cart. right now a set of short ramps works great for getting the carts in/out of horse/stock trailer.....I just want more storage space.

Would love to hear what others do........

 

[Elizabeth Pannill]

a few years ago I was able to order a Wrangler trailer - they are now out of business but did custom mini trailers. Mine has 3 mini dividers in the rear , a center gate with tie downs for hauling a cart in front and a dressing room . It is 14 ft long and regular height ( not mini height ). I have a rear ramp - so loading the cart is easy . If I take 2 carts will have to load one in bed of the truck as I keep the shafts on my Pacific Smart cart and it rides in the front trailer compartment -so no room for a 2nd cart in the trailer. One of my friends has a 3 horse -CM Slant load trailer - she lowered the dividers ( but you can also add an extension to the divider to keep a mini from going under and it will work for both size horses ), Her cart -also a Smart Cart rides in one section ( either the front or back with shafts bunged to the side ( her trailer does not have drop down windows but slats on the upper wall.)

 

[RhineStone]

There are photos on our website of our trailer (mostly) packed. http://rhinestone-ridge.wikispaces.com/Trailer

We use a straight load divider in the back which has a rubber mat on the bottom to separate the minis from the big horse. We haul the horses backwards. The trailer came (used) with the straight load dividers, but I wish they were slant dividers and then we wouldn't have to take the divider out to remove the carriages. If we are only hauling minis that get along, we leave the divider out. I don't want our big horses to step on the minis accidentally when in a turn or something. We have a center gate that we remove or leave in as needed, too.

I also have packing lists on my Cart and Harness Education page.

Myrna

 

[targetsmom]

We have a 2001 2 horse Sundowner (warmblood size LOL!) bumper pull with dressing room that we bought for our 15 H "big horse" and then had revised for the minis. We added a piece to the center divider so it goes to the floor and a solid piece put in front of the right side. In that orientation, we can carry Target on the left side and a mini tied or even loose on the right side. Then we added hand made steel dividers (3) that fit onto the RIGHT side of the trailer and can be used as either slant stalls or all the way across if we don't haul Target (which we never do now). With the center divider (i.e. with the big horse) we can fit 2 slant loaded minis on the right side, with dividers locking into holes in floor. Without the big horse, the dividers go all the way across and we can haul 4 minis but never have), using a different set of holes in the floor. Removing all the dividers, we have a stall guard on the front left side (learned not to leave it there when hauling a big horse as they will bend it from leaning!) so that we can turn minis loose in the box stall that results. Very handy for hauling a mare & foal to the hospital.

For carts: We haul the ADS cart in the covered truck (Ford F-250) using wooden ramps to roll it on and off. Just have to angle the truck/trailer when we park. The show cart fits very nicely in the manger area (where Target's head would be if we were still hauling him!). We have hauled with one horse and the cart in the trailer (the cart in front), separated by a divider but I really don't like to do that. We also have one of those cart caddies for the back of the trailer, but have never felt the need for it. Maybe some day.

 

[cathyjo76]

I have a 16 foot stock trailer with a center gate. I use the front half as a tack room and can put my pacific for the mini with wheels at the front of the trailer and my pony road cart with wheels at the center gate. I have a wire shelf across the front that I put items on, and also can tie down the pony shafts. The horses ride in the back... Also put "plexiglass" on the front openings so I can store my tack and not keep pulling it out. Like Myrna, I keep buckets, etc that always stay in the trailer....worth not loading and unloading and forgetting stuff. That way just my show clothes, harness, carts and ponies need loaded. I have a set of wooden ramps my husband made so I can go and show by myself. But it is nicer with him!

 

[gatorbait4sure]

I'd LOVE to design the perfect Mini trailer for driving people! I currently have an X-Tall X-Wide BP with dressing room.....It fits 5 horses as a slant and no carts inside..BUT I can take along three horses and two carts inside if I pack carefully....I can also fit my huge standing fan if someone tells me it won't fit..........

The Bike is NO PROBLEM as I put the wheels in the floor of the back seat of the P/U and the cart in the dressing room, so there's a third cart..... and the truck bed can hold two easily.

BUT that is five carts and only three horses! See I too need a bigger trailer!

OH yes!!! I never want to crack my head on the inside ceiling of any trailer again! So it needs to be at least 5'4"......

dru

wishing and hoping.....

 

[hobbyhorse23]

I'm another who customized what I had for the full-sized horses I started out with. We have a 1996(?) Morganbuilt two horse slant load with tack room and for the longest time I shipped Kody back there tied in the front corner with no dividers and a whole lot of wasted space. He rattled around like a pea in a pod! The trailer belonged to my mom who was reluctant to let me modify it so there weren't a lot of other options. After awhile I started shipping my cart back there too, riding sideways by the rear door, and simply walked Kody under the shafts to tie him up front. I always hated that though as in an accident the cart would have slid right into him.

There were some experiments in the middle I won't go into but what I've got now is a full-length divider with a swinging gate that separates the front into a compartment for a cart, feed, folding table, whatever I can fit up there, then another mini-length divider that goes behind that to make two tie stalls for the boys to ride sideways. They prefer to ride backwards but I couldn't find a way to arrange that, sadly. When we're hauling without driving equipment I can put one horse loose in the front compartment and the other loose in the rear compartment so they are free to move around and face whatver way they're most comfortable. The neat thing (and the part I never got to use, sadly, as Spyder died just after I got these dividers) is that I designed the dividers such that I can remove the swinging gate from the back of the full-length equipment divider, move what's left up to a third mounting bracket just behind where the big horse divider fits, and install it and the regular mini divider as slant loads right behind the big horse divider for hauling an Arab and two minis simultaneously. That not only fit all my horses in the trailer in case of an emergency evacuation, but gave me built in to-the-floor protection for the mini up front! I even had it set up so the big horse still had enough room between his divider and the mini one to spread his feet and brace.

Better yet, I can take out every one of those modifications within about ten minutes and put it back to its original two-horse slant load configuration for hauling big guys or selling it.

Mom finally give up after our accident that crumpled the tack room and let me go hog-wild so I also did some revamping in the tack room to convert from saddle racks (which weren't doing me any good) to a shelving system on the same wall and that has helped a lot with storage. My boyfriend added an in-house battery so I can turn the lights on without being hooked to the truck and also installed a nice little camera system for me so I can watch the horses in-transit. I went crazy this spring and had a used retractable awning installed on the outside as well as slapping a couple driving horse decals on the thing and I have to admit that for a busted-up tin can it looks pretty good now!

I just wish the trailer was taller as it's still hard to fit carts in there because they can't go upright without taking the shafts off. If I had to start from scratch and money wasn't an issue I'd get one with a minimal set of living quarters up front, a small tackroom, then a square center partition with a side-loading ramp where I'd probably keep the horses (as the further forward they are, the better the ride is) and the rear area would be devoted to the carts with appropriate tie-downs in the floor and on the walls. I'd still want the overall trailer to be small as I don't want to be hauling a semi, but just a little more room than I've got would be nice even if that only meant my front equipment area was square instead of pie-shaped and the roof was a little higher. I've definitely had to take better advantage of the space I've got now that I have two minis! I don't know what I'm going to do when they're both driving and using separate carts. The second one will fit in the truck bed, but that's what I've been trying to avoid all this time as it's often raining when we go down the freeway and I can't load or unload the carts from there by myself.

Leia

 

[LazyRanch]

Thanks for all the great ideas! Leia and Myrna follow many of the same ideas I currently use, especially the " trailer set of everything." My worst problem with that is, generally the next day, I pull out everything and clean buckets, double check the groom boxes to see if and what got left behind, toss the trash, etc. By then, the boys have got wind I am in the trailer and they "want to go too!" which leads to a lot of self exercise.

I am guessing our trailer will be a 16' to 18' stock or stock combo. I just met a guy who has converted several trailers - and a couple HaulMark/Wells Cargo carriers - into suitable conveyances for minis. Adding our Quarter Horse to the mix really threw me. So for all of you who offered multiple-size ideas, I am especially grateful.

My fondest dream is by next season I won't ever have to load a cart in to the back of my truck, wiggle the truck into a jack knife with 1.5" difference between enough bend to unload the carts and cracking my taillight - or unhitching, unloading, reloading, re-hitching.

Dru! How are things!

I liked the way you put your 'Bike in the backseat. I have an Avalanche and had been putting the 'Bike frame under the bed covers, with the wheels on top, but the back seat is tempting.

Anything not to have to load a cart in the bed!

Thanks everyone!

 

[Elizabeth Pannill]

I would not use a cargo trailer for hauling minis . Some do but they are not made for hauling livestock and most are single axle which would be really dangerous if there was a flat tire and horses on the trailer.

 

[hobbyhorse23]

Forgot to mention- my Hyperbike rides in the tackroom, wheels still on, and does just fine. Love it!!

I am guessing our trailer will be a 16' to 18' stock or stock combo. I just met a guy who has converted several trailers - and a couple HaulMark/Wells Cargo carriers - into suitable conveyances for minis. Adding our Quarter Horse to the mix really threw me. So for all of you who offered multiple-size ideas, I am especially grateful.

It's hard to do with a smaller trailer, but possible. I wish I could have a stock trailer but in our cold and perpetually-damp environment something with that much airflow is like a freezer/fish tank on wheels!

My fondest dream is by next season I won't ever have to load a cart in to the back of my truck, wiggle the truck into a jack knife with 1.5" difference between enough bend to unload the carts and cracking my taillight - or unhitching, unloading, reloading, re-hitching.

How big are your carts??

I load my EE and/or Minicrown in the back without doing more than parking the truck on a slight curve. I just drop the tailgate, climb up in the back and guide the shafts while somebody on the ground grabs the main body of the cart and lifts it or guides it down.

I would not use a cargo trailer for hauling minis . Some do but they are not made for hauling livestock and most are single axle which would be really dangerous if there was a flat tire and horses on the trailer.

When people say this I wonder what cargo trailers they're thinking of- the little tiny tin cans on single axles? The Wells Cargo ones I've seen done for minis are bigger than my horse trailer, fully reinforced, double-axle, and meant for hauling expensive race cars or other large and valuable objects. Even my horse trailer dealer has said they are safe for minis and very well-designed! You just need to add windows and appropriate ventilation and dividers and such and they're great.

Leia

 

[RhineStone]

My mom has a 12' double axle cargo trailer for her minis, and I would say that ventilation is a BIG issue. There just isn't enough air for a long haul on a hot day. She has two side windows, two round vents in the front and a roof vent, but you just can't get enough air through it. Even on our big Jamco horse trailer, I would love to have more vents. We installed a fan that is run off the truck battery for the horses. I do like that we can close our trailer all the way up when we are at the shows, so that the stuff doesn't get wet if it rains.

Myrna

 

[Carriage]

Dru! How are things!

I liked the way you put your 'Bike in the backseat. I have an Avalanche and had been putting the 'Bike frame under the bed covers, with the wheels on top, but the back seat is tempting.

Anything not to have to load a cart in the bed!

Thanks everyone!

Or you could DX the trailer all together and put the 'Bike in the pass. side front seat, put the back seat down and have the horse in the back seat. This was Mel's idea, not mine but I liked it and wanted to get a picture of that.

Bb

 

[Sue_C.]

I had my two horse side by side made over for minis. I had a removable bulkhead put in front...it has two positions, so I can make the stall area larger for a mare and foal, as well as two dividers...so I can carry three horses or two with mare and foal, plus two carts in front, behind the bulkhead, and a couple of roadsters in the living quarters...as well as another roadster in the truck bed, under the gooseneck, with a pleasure cart on it's end in front of the gooseneck.

 

[rabbitsfizz]

I am really jealous of all these conversions- especially you , Myrna. I guess you are already married, or I would propose- you are SO organised and I cannot organise a dance in a barn! I love the idea of getting everything doubled up for shows, and I am going to get onto that this winter- it is the little ideas that you can take away and use straight off that I like. I have a Ford Transit Hi Top van that I use as a horse box, so putting the cart anywhere is going to be a problem. No chance of it going on top. At a pinch I could bring my trailer back into use, although I would rather use a smaller lighter trailer, even though the one I have is brilliant it seems daft to use a horse trailer when it will not have horses on it! At the moment I use the van bed to sleep in and stall the horses wherever I am- I have not yet had to travel a cart as well, hopefully that will start next year.

We do not use goosenecks- I have only ever seen two here, and one was at Arab Nationals, not Minis, I am not sure why- it is possible that you need and articulated lorry license to tow one, and that would stop most people, I think.

Anyway, I would love to see more, especially with pictures.

 

[Reignmaker Miniatures]

. I have a Ford Transit Hi Top van that I use as a horse box, so putting the cart anywhere is going to be a problem.

There are devices you can attach to the back door of a trailer that lets you transport your cart on the outside, the cart then sits with wheels against the trailer and shafts pointed up. I'm not sure what they are called (can't think of it at the moment) nor have I tried them but someone here might be able to tell you more about them. That might work with your van.

 

[Sue_C.]

There are devices you can attach to the back door of a trailer that lets you transport your cart on the outside, the cart then sits with wheels against the trailer and shafts pointed up. I'm not sure what they are called (can't think of it at the moment) nor have I tried them but someone here might be able to tell you more about them. That might work with your van.

Yes, there are a couple of bracket sets available, from $150-$300. but what I have used is a $75 "cargo carrier" that simply fits into the hitch receptacle of the vehicle or trailer. I have the smaller one, and it is rated for 500 pounds...certainly more than enough for any two wheeled cart. all you need to do is attach a couple of heavy "D" rings to the trailer doors to tie the shafts, cart body to, and you are good to go. When I use it on the back of the truck, I just tie to the truck rails.

it is possible that you need and articulated lorry license to tow one, and that would stop most people, I think.

LOL! After some of the big old Army trucks I have driven, and the trailers full of LOX and propane, it doesn't bother me at all to hit the road with this rig. Then again, our roads are generally wider than a lot of the narrow twisty rural roads I encountered in England...but some, not by much more than a hairsbreadth.

 

[Kendra]

Here's how I travel to CDE's! This is the Hawk's Nest.

 

[susanne]

We use a Chevy Xpress extended cargo van as our horse hauler. It is set up currently for hauling one horse at a time, but have room for four minis/small ponies in an emergency.

We have a permanent bulkhead dividing off the cab and a removable wall dividing the cargo space for horse stall and tack/cart room. We take the shafts off the EE when we haul out, so it fits easily in the back space.

One critical safety feature: unlike many extended vans, ours has a looooooong wheel base (others have a regular wheel base with the back end hanging out into space), which makes it extremely stable on the road. Even with bumptious Scarlet in the back, handling is not affected.