Travel Pen for Mini's?

[Littlegoesalongway]

Does anyone have suggestions for a portable 'travel-pen' for a mini?

I'm starting to compete in Combined Driving and many of our shows do not have stabling. I use my trailer like a giant box stall at night but during the day the trailer heats up too much to comfortably use it as a day stall.

I've tried tying to my trailer during the day (which has done wonders to improve Rowdy's patience ;-)

Problem I've discovered is that a mini is like a magnet for families & kids....everyone wants to visit with him. When he's tied up, I worry about him accidentally knocking a kid over or stepping on toes. Plus it would be nice if he had enough freedom to graze a bit & lie down. Have looked at portable horse panels but the rails are perfect height for ducking under ;-)

Any suggestions?

 

[Riverrose28]

I do alot of demos with my guys, such as rescue days, farm days, etc. I use sheep panels they are tied into a stall in my trailer and easy to set up and take down. They are eight feet long and plenty high, and have a nice gate. Kids can come up and pet without the risk of being stepped on. I also train the kids how to hold their hand flat for treats. The horses are happy I'm happy, the kids are happy. Some of these events host hundreds of people. I do recommend taking the halter off so they don't get caught up. I bought mine from Whispering Pines.

 

[bevann]

You can make a nice portable pen from hog panels 16' long.buy 2 use bolt cutters to cut in half and use wire ties for 3 sides and something else for 4th side so you can get horse in and out.We have done it before we got our vinyl picket fence pen for club use.tractor stores sell these panels in different heighths.they are rigid enoug to stand alone,.8 by 8 is a good size.

 

[chandab]

I'm pretty sure I"ve seen those travel panels in mini-size.

Here you go:

http://www.carrilitecorrals.com/mini.shtml

 

[Littlegoesalongway]

How high should the panels be?

8'x8' sounds like a good size but I need something with shorter panels so I can pack it in the horse trailer (4-5' length would be ideal).

 

[Riverrose28]

My panels are 8 feet long and don't know how high, but "B' size can just put their head over and "A size can't. I have OA and if I can load and unload unassisted you can too. They aren't that heavy especially the new ones, the older ones are sorta heavy, plus the new ones lock together.

 

[Littlegoesalongway]

Man, sheep/goat/hog panels are hard to find around here (Alberta, Canada). Just checked all our farm supply stores...all large horse & cattle. Any other ideas?

 

[chandab]

I've been picking up metal pick-up stock racks at auctions; they weigh a ton, but they are the perfect size for minis. I get 3 panels out of one stock rack, after a little work with the cutting torch by hubby; two side panels and the front panel (the back gate panel is usually too heavy and just doesn't work right). Here's a link to show you what a stock rack looks like: http://www.llamapack.com/text/transportation.html Hard to find pics on the net.

 

[Katiean]

I have been looking at portable dog pens in ebay. They are not the floded wire type. They are like the fold up wire dog pen but welded to a metal frame. They do also have a gate. I do not think the horse should use the gate. But, it would be really easy for you to use the gate. The ones I am looking at are 40 inches tall so there would be no hanging over the top of the pen. I thought I would get 2 sets of them. They fasten togeather with pins so they are easy to take apart and light to move. They also have a way to ancor them to the ground. If you want to look at them http://www.ebay.com/itm/40-MTN-Heavy-Duty-Dog-Playpen-Pet-Exercise-Pen-Fence-/250905153517?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a6b1ccfed This one is higher priced than the seller that I was looking at.

 

[circlesinthesand]

Man, sheep/goat/hog panels are hard to find around here (Alberta, Canada). Just checked all our farm supply stores...all large horse & cattle. Any other ideas?

I don't know which ones they're calling hog panels but we have always used bull wire or 'cattle panels' that are just a taller version of a 'hog panel' This really might work just as well. They tend to be around 52" tall, I think, or they were, I dunno what they are now, they used to be a few inches taller but DOT got involved and they can't ship two side by side anymore so they chopped off a few inches and I can't exactly remember if they were or are 52" Either way, I have the old taller ones. In fact my B sized mini mare is turned out in a small paddock with this wire right now. It's plenty tall enough with it sitting flush on the ground. Goat and sheep panels are about the same height I think (I sure wouldn't want them shorter!! I have a goat who thinks he's a deer that jumps even the taller cattle panels when he has his mind set,) but the spacing on the wire is different, smaller. I wanna say the spacing on a cattle panel is about 6x8", just big enough for my rat terriers to slip through but not big enough for the Aussies to do more than stick their heads through it I don't think my minis can get their heads through, even the little yearlings, I certainly haven't seen them try. I can check it out closer tomorrow.

Tractor Supply and I think ?Lowes? carries a 4x4" spaced utility panel that my sister used for her dog's potty yard that shares a fence line with her horses (her mini doxie can't get through that spacing so it's fairly small) that I really like for an all purpose paneling. Horse panels will usually be much taller and they'll have a nicer 2x4 spacing. Personally I'm gonna make my outdoor dog kennels (my dogs are not kept in kennels at all, it's just gonna be a holding pen when I have to keep them up for their own safety) out of the horse panels but I've used cattle panels for my horses for years and years. The thing with any of these panels except the horse panel is they can kick through them and sometimes get caught and there is no give to them so you don't want this as a shared fence line or high traffic area and if you don't put a board on the bottom or kinda bury the bottom of the wire (doesn't take much, you just don't want the edge exposed) a horse can get a shoe caught or if it's higher off the ground, he can get cut with the thick wire. It's pretty unforgiving because the wire is so tough, I've seen some pretty nasty cornet cuts, right through the hoof where people didn't put these fences up correctly for horses and left that bottom edge exposed. It often leaves a permanent scar that is like a crack in the hoof that never grows out. You just HAVE to cover that wire somehow, it can tear up a foot. If I was going to use them as a portable panel, I'd probably figure out a way to permanently attach boards to the bottom, it will also give the fence some stability, IMO. Maybe even sandwich 2 boards on either side, to make the base wider? doesn't even have to be a 2x, get a lighter 1x. Just an idea.

But if your horse is not one to cut up and kick through panels and has no reason to kick or paw through it and it's sitting on flush the ground, then I'd say he'd probably be ok with even a cattle panel.

 

[horselover161]

You may look at J and B Portable corrals (there is also a JB portable Corrals- they are different). I have the regular big horse size and they work great with my minis. He also makes them in the mini size if you prefer. They are very lightweight- I can usually carry 4 at a time. I think they are just over 10 lbs each. The nice thing about them is that they have stakes between each set of 2 panels that can be hammered in the ground to help hold it in place better. I still would not tie the horses to it, but it prevents them from getting their head underneath and lifting them up. They can be custom made, so if you don't like the size or want an additional bar, he can add it for you. Not sure how much shipping will cost you, but he was very helpful in getting me the best rate possible.

http://jandbportablecorrals.com/page2/page2.html

 

[Jill]

I have "mini size" round pen / corral panels. However, I don't for a moment think they would contain a determined mini of either height category.

 

[~Dan]

I too use the sheep/ goat corral panels for rotational grazing of my ponies in my yard, but you might have some luck with these panels http://www.kritter-keeper.com/index.html

I'm sure the panels made for alpacas would much better suit your needs than those of the ones used for big horses. So long as the horse has enough room to move around a bit, and some hay, I would think that he would stay put ehind the lighter paels.

Dan.