Transporting Minis/Ponies in a van

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Hi there,

I responded to your query on COTH, where I mentioned our Chevy Express van, but I thought I'd add this:

As I noted, the rubber mats that come with many cargo vans will not hold up to even mini hooves, and for future resale we didn't want ours torn up. We -- meaning my husband -- lay down plywood, then carpet padding, then shavings, with a special pile place right where Mingus likes to stand for extra absorption. We've never had any problem with urine excaping or pooling. Absolutely none. The urine rarely even makes it to the carpet padding, but we air it out in the un after hauling.

The only problem we ever had was with our old Ford Windstar, when Mingus pooped in the cupholder. This wouldn't have been so bad, but we didn't noticed when we returned, and the next day I was in an accident requiring the van to be towed to a mechanic. Big surprise for them!

You could always do like the Honda Element and add a drain in the floor, but having transported in vans for years, I wouldn't bother.

Years ago, before we had our horses, we owned the ideal mini horse hauler -- we just didn't know it. It was a GMC Safari cargo van -- a minivan in size, but it had a bigger box and tons of room. The guy we bought it from installed padding and fabric on the walls and ceiling, and a moon roof. It was a cargo van built on a car frame, so it got incredible gas mileage. We often laugh that we had it back before we really needed it!

I've never heard it suggested that this could be any sort of traffic violation, even from my cousin, who is a retired county deputy, or from my brother, who works in emergency vehicles. I guess if we got a ticket, we'd just amortize the cost over the years we've done this and still figure we've come out ahead.
 

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