I have a two horse straight load and Excursion SUV. This is a great set up for horse camping but now that I am driving in events, I have to rely on an additional vehicle or not go. Unfortunatly, I am not yet in a position to buy another truck or trailer - I have a Horse sized Frey Sprint Cart - any ideas out there. Any help is appreciated.
I understand the Sprint Carts can be disassembled, reassembled, fairly easily. You might be able to take it apart for hauling, put it together at your destination.
This ease in taking it apart, was one of the features that helped my friend choose to buy the Sprint cart. He hauls a lot of stuff for doing CDE including 2 vehicles, so this helps things fit into the trailer much easier.
I’ve never seen a Sprint cart so don’t know anything about their size. I have a cart that is like a jog cart only with a seat for two people. I can take the wheels off and slide it on it’s side into one side of the horse trailer with the horse on the other side.
If your cart is light enough you can have a trailer hitch put on the back of your horse trailer, then build a platform for the cart to sit on the back that goes in the hitch. Then you put the shafts of the cart pointing straight up and strap them to the back of the horse trailer, you can unload it pretty quickly by yourself, but it normally takes a couple of people to get it into position.
Just a word of caution about hauling your cart/carriage in ANY set up where the carriage is blocking access to your horses…
Should you get into a collision, your horse(s) will be trapped and inaccessible until your cart/carriage is moved/dragged away and any trailer/tandem set up you have outside your horse trailer is removed. This could result in valuable time lost in getting to your living breathing horses in need!
I see so very many people who have a trailer just big enough to put the horse in (front) and the cart in the back with the shafts sticking out of the back of the trailer. Yes, it may be handy and allows you to haul everything in 1 trailer, but it is utterly beyond dangerous for the horse should you get into an accident.
I cringe every time I see it. Certainly the horse is more valuable than that, yes?
Chewie, while you do need to consider “what if” situation, you also have to consider the amount of money one can spend on horse “accessories” in the way of truck and trailer. Many times THERE IS NO MORE MONEY to spend on a fancy outfit!! I have been there, done that, loaded horse into weird outfit and went to have a very good time. You miss a GREAT DEAL waiting for things to reach PERFECT, because there is ALWAYS another detail to purchase, train in, work around. I expect you would be pretty horrified at some ways folks had of getting their horses moved from place to place in the past. I kind of look at it as “beats walking!” to go have fun with my horse. I have DONE the walking thing, then loaded her into the back of the pickup, like those oldtime photos show. Horse didn’t care, worked just fine after reaching our activity and unloaded! Horrified folks post on COTH, with comments of “What are they THINKING to do this??” I mostly remember have MUCH fun, met a lot of folks who came over to see “the outfit” and introduce themselves. We would laugh about horse with head up looking around over truck cab. I told them she was “checking out the competition”.
You do need to consider horse safety, in that floor boards are solid, secured firmly, wheels are kept greased, have good tread, sidewalls, hitch attaches firmly, won’t loosen in travel. Walls of trailer are not going to give if horse leans on them, tie ring is firmly attached. Horse has air and light in travel to prevent overheating. Then you need to consider comfort of the animal, how what you have to take, will fit in the trailer you have. Truck pulling trailer and horse, is big enough to manage the weight behind at road speeds, can stop the entire outfit quickly if needed.
Everything else is mostly gravy, nice, but you can get along without it.
I have my horses in between the trailer and truck axles. They are usually hauled in a 4-horse stock trailer, gooseneck. Previously had a bumper pull stock trailer. And before that, they were in a 2horse bumper pull, carriage in the truck bed.
This length, 18ft on the floor, gives them the best ride, standing in the hammock area, suspended between the axles. Horses don’t get as tired, don’t get the axle ride bumps as much, especially on real long trips. Yes, that DOES put them in front of the center gate and rear entry door. Carriage rides behind the horses most times. Easy to get the carriage in and out in that back location.
If we NEED to, we can get a horse out the side escape door. Step is reinforced, door is full height to where roof starts curving. The pins holding the divider are as easy as possible to remove, to get the divider out so second horse can be removed.
In OUR experience, horse trailers need to be stood back upright, before trying to do things with equines inside. THOSE horses were the ones that survived best, least injured, for better recovery. Pulling equines out of tipped-over trailers was bad for the horses, created MORE injuries than horses had originally.
SOMETIMES it is BETTER to leave the horses inside the trailer a while, until another trailer is available to put them into. I know holding horses along side the Expressway is NOT SAFE for very long. NOT normal to the horse, everyone is excited, so big chance of horses getting loose on the road.
With my horses in the forward areas, the back end of trailer, carriage, is what gets damaged. NOT the horses. Horses may be shaken up, but they are way forward of the damaged trailer parts for rear-end accidents.
And sometimes a person can just “overthink the MAYBE situations” to worry needlessly. You do the best you can with what you have to use. Put some reflective striping on the trailer sides and rear end. Use the GOOD STUFF, red and white DOT approved, like semi trucks have. It lights up over 1/4 mile away! Other folks SEE YOU!! Get the trailer serviced regularly, hitch and truck checked regularly. Do a yearly once-over, floorboards for rot, supports under floor, lights working, rusty places on sides. Then clean your reflective tape, lights, check tires for PROPER air pressure before going ANYPLACE, to be a good trailer driver. Air pressure changes DAILY, so keep tires correctly pressurized to get good results from them.
Once on the road, you try to be a good driver for your horse, keeping proper distances between other trucks, not going 70MPH to rattle him like a bean in a can. He will arrive exhausted! Slow for curves, and slow WAY DOWN for entrance ramp curves.
If you want to go to carriage activities, you use what you have, be as safe as you can. But I SURE wouldn’t stay home because I didn’t have a fancy or specialized rig to haul my toys in!!
If you haul a vehicle in the truck bed, do tie it down firmly, use rachet straps, NEVER use bungie cords. You might want to double rachet strap it, sometimes the straps do wear on rough edge. Only takes an extra minute for that.
My trailer “style” is locally know as the Trail Ride Model, with the hay rack for holding 7-14 days worth of hay on the Cross State Trail Ride. It is elderly, this is the third time we have painted it, and the 4th truck pulling it. Gets us where we want to go, horses are happy to ride in it, holds a LOT of stuff. Double purpose for hauling other small livestock, calves, sheep. Also hauls lumber, hay, furniture for moving, tractors! We didn’t know what a bargin we were getting all those years ago when we bought it!! We have two other horse trailers, both large, but cumbersome unless going on long trips. The stock trailer is the first choice to use for horse things locally. We put a ramp on it, huge help loading all things.
Here is our stock trailer, stop and say hi if you see it parked near you!
http://s1355.photobucket.com/user/goodhors1/media/Horses/DSCN1531.jpg.html?sort=3&o=1
I’m not sure how to haul the Sprint in a straight load with an Excursion, either the truck or the trailer needs to change. It might be easier to change the trailer, and go with an extra long slant load that you can put the partially disassembled cart in the front of and the horse in the back. Or trade Excursion for a pickup and carry cart in bed of the truck. I use a pickup and carry cart there, with an older 2 horse slant load. Pony and cart could both go in trailer if needed, and other supplies in bed of truck.
Not sure if this is helpful as I am not Familiar with the type of cart you are hauling, but I show AQHA and show in pleasure driving, I have known people who carried their carts mounted on the back of their trailers with a bracket system. It can be done with a pleasure driving cart, using a step-up trailer or one with a ramp.
I used to haul my carriage in the back of a pickup truck that also pulled my horse trailer. It was very difficult to get the carriage in and out of the pickup truck bed and I must have burned through 4 electric winches trying to do so. Plus the carriage was so exposed.
I also didn’t have a place to sleep during events.
So I bought a Eurovan = Fiat Ducato/Ram Promaster van (big enough to stand up inside) and carry my Pacific Dartmoor carriage easily inside that. Once I get to an event, I roll the carriage out and have a cosy place to sleep. The van pulls the horse trailer, too.
Chewie, while you do need to consider “what if” situation, you also have to consider the amount of money one can spend on horse “accessories” in the way of truck and trailer. Many times THERE IS NO MORE MONEY to spend on a fancy outfit!! I have been there, done that, loaded horse into weird outfit and went to have a very good time. You miss a GREAT DEAL waiting for things to reach PERFECT
Your words ring very true. I have no money, no truck, and a horse trailer that does not fit my horse & cart. If I want to go anywhere, I use a 2 truck, 2 trailer, and 2 person set up, which means that my entire equine-outing adventures is dependent on another person’s willingness to haul.
It does not work for me, and because I didn’t have the foresight to know someday I would no longer ride and need a way to travel around with a horse AND cart(or maybe someday a carriage), and I don’t know the winning lottery numbers, I currently stand a very real chance of no longer showing, never getting the 6 hours to the national drive, and hardly ever getting out on trails at nearby parks.
I don’t have willing, interested, or helpful help. I don’t have the $ to finance my way to a truck or trailer.
However, I was just pointing out the idea of having a cart trailer in tandem behind your horse trailer, or putting the horse in the trailer before the cart goes in, is a great safety concern.
