Transporting miniatures

[Deborah Luce]

Hi All, I am a new member from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. I have a question, or a few questions(!), on transporting miniatures. I want to go to a few shows and driving events this summer, and I have a lead on a trailer, but no truck. I have been looking around at buying a truck, but my husband suggested renting one. I called a few places, but the only rent trucks for hauling purposes to commercial drivers. So:
1. Does anyone know if one can rent a truck to haul. Someone suggested U-Haul, but someone else said, no, due to unreliability of maintenance.
2. Had anyone had a light weight trailer made for miniatures?
3. I have seen someone online retrofit a van for hauling one mini...Is this legal...hauling a horse in a personal vehicle?
Thanks for any advice on trailer sources and trucks!
Debbie

 

[Ryan Johnson]

Welcome to the forum from Australia

If you were in Australia , I would say do not bother with Uhaul. They are not maintained here , however I believe they are well maintained where you are.
A two horse float can be converted to a 4 horse float. Im not too sure of the laws there , so I cannot answer your last question .

Ryan

 

[Deborah Luce]

Thanks Ryan. My sister lives near Adelaide! Small world. I have heard the same about U-Haul here, so not willing to take a chance on that.

 

[goatkisses]

When I needed to transport my mini mule to a veterinary hospital I called UHaul. They do not allow farm animals in their vehicles. They told me that people do try it and then they hit the people with a HUGE fine when they turn in the vehicle.

I ended up hiring a regular horse transporter. I'd love to have a truck and trailer...

 

[Deborah Luce]

Thanks!

 

[AngC]

Hi All, I am a new member from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada...
Had anyone had a light weight trailer made for miniatures?

I started with a full-size 3-horse slant for our 3 minis; hated it; when hooked up to my husband’s full-size truck, the whole mess was almost as long as a tractor/trailer semi.

I have a Ford Ranger so spent some time looking for a lighter trailer. I wanted dual tires, but really had to watch trailer weight due to my smaller truck. I ended up ordering from Hawk trailers (Wisconsin, USA) which allowed me to select which features I wanted, so not really custom built, but still allowed me to customize somewhat, and it was the only bumper-pull trailer I found that I liked and which my small-ish truck could handle. It has enough room to handle 2 minis in the back portion and in a pinch, I could stuff a third mini in the tack/storage area in front.

Not sure this is helpful to someone in Canada? ...plus you didn’t mention budget.

 

[Zergling]

Don't laugh but I've transported my minis in an old full size Dodge van that I've had for 20 years. I put a board behind the seats to block it off to neck height. I attached tie down lugs to the pins in the floor to attach the lead ropes. A long, sturdy ramp to get them in. The floor is already plywood so I just throw down some shavings and straw.

When I picked up my little colt I had to stop for gas on the way home. While at the station filling up, he decided to pitch a fit yelling his fool head off when I got out to pump the gas. The looks I got at the busy station was worth the trip.

A "mini" van has a lower deck height so even easier. You could probably fit two. I wouldn't take anymore than two in my full size van anyways.

I am in Canada. I'm not sure there are any rules on transporting livestock in a van and I wouldn't really lose much sleep over it. As long as they are secured and have a barrier to the front you should be good.

 

[Khaleesi8]

I did, it’s great, light and easy to pull and manage but wasn’t cheap.

 

[diamond c]

When I was a kid very few people had trailers. They hauled full size horses, cows, pigs, whatever in the bed of full size trucks.
my grandfather had a topper on his truck and hauled his minis there.






when I was a

 

[Deborah Luce]

Thanks everyone!

 

[Deborah Luce]

Hi, wanted to let everyone know that I found this company --www.maplelanetrailers.com -- near to me that sells Böckmann horse trailers from Germany. They can be towed easily by a mid-size SUV. I am looking into that. Not cheap but very well engineered and safe. Plus they maintain their value.

 

[susanne]

The most important question is not whether your vehicle can pull the trailer but whether it can stop it. Many people get into trouble when their vehicle has no problem moving, but then they have to slam on their brakes and the trailer ends up over-powering the car or truck. Obviously minis are not as heavy as full-sized horses, but it is still a live load. Research your vehicle's ability to safely bring the entire load to an emergency stop.

 

[lilly the pony girl]

What you could do is take a miniature trailer, then modify it by putting wire or something over the top. That's what we are doing.