hauling a shetland

[colorfan]

I may be buying a Shetland mare, if I do I will have to haul her about a 4 hour drive. My question is how do I tie her in my warmblood size straighthaul? Her head wont reach into the manger, so it seems if I tie her as I would my wb she will have a lot of play in the rope. I could tie to the divider but I am concerned it isn’t very strong as that is not its intended purpose. I don’t expect she will pull but when hauling who knows.

I could leave her not tied IF I could safely block the access in front of the divider. (My trailer is the type where you could lead the horse in and safely exit through the front) I am not sure if she would fit but I don’t want to find out.

Thank you for your ideas.

[JB]

Is there no chest bar? Can you secure hay bales across where the exit door is?

Many people swing the center divider over, secure it, and leave the small ones loose.

[walkinthewalk]

I know this is a serious question but a friend once hauled a Shetland home in the back of her van - not tied - with her daughter holding the lead rope.

I have also seen pictures of them in the back seat of an old Coupe de Ville with steer horns on the hood:)

[colorfan]

JB hay bales would fit nicely and make a secure barrier, great idea! I could swing the divider over or even remove it. Thank you!

[lenapesadie]

A friend of mine had a similar concern hauling some minis once. She rigged some sort of plywood barrier at the chest bar in front. I think she drilled holes in the wood and used zip ties to secure it to the chest bar and center divider. Hauled them loose.

[MLOaks]

With my old straight load trailer, I worried that our little Shetland mare might dip her back during a bump and come up under the divider. See how tall the bottom of it is in your trailer. I swung mine flat against the wall in the slant load, but you might be better off removing it for a straight load. Congratulations on the new pony! Pictures, please?

[colorfan]

MLOaks, its not a done deal yet. Just trying to get my ducks in a row. lol

[luvmyhackney]

Swing the divider over, secure and use plywood and zip ties to block where needed. I’ve hauled baby hackneys and shetlands this way with no issues.

You can get a trailer shop to customize the trailer to lower the Chest bar and add in a lower ring to tie if you plan on hauling her often.

I wouldn’t trust hay to secure anything where ponies are concerned. They get into trouble differently than a horse.

Can’t wait to see pics of the Shetland. They are so cute and total trouble. 😀

[wsmoak]

I would probably remove the divider. Can you post photos of the front inside of your trailer? Someone may have a clever idea of how to block the front area.

I’ve considered adding c-channel to drop boards into (like a wall between two stalls is sometimes done) to keep stuff from sliding back under the horse’s feet. Next trailer will be a proper 2+1!!

[eightpondfarm]

i haul into my lesson every week with an all-steel stock trailer. I do not tie my horses. Free to move and face whatever direction s/he feels most comfortable. Most of my horses like to stand facing toward the rear btw.

a few weeks ago i hauled four mustangs in there…all free to jumble around. (and they DID! every time i had to stop…but were quite still while in motion)
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[colorfan]

JB has posted a very workable solution…

[wsmoak]

@eightpondfarm

i haul into my lesson every week with an all-steel stock trailer. I do not tie my horses.

I’m curious, how long is the trailer and does it have a center gate? (How big is the space that they are allowed to move around freely in?).

[MLOaks]

@eightpondfarm

a few weeks ago i hauled four mustangs in there…all free to jumble around. (and they DID! every time i had to stop…but were quite still while in motion)
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Mustangs? Awesome! Are you training them?

[Renn_aissance]

@walkinthewalk

I know this is a serious question but a friend once hauled a Shetland home in the back of her van - not tied - with her daughter holding the lead rope.

I can confirm that several of the usual suspects in the WIHS and Devon Shetland Steeplechases arrived to their first farm as 3-year-olds in the back of a minivan. I don’t remember that anyone held them.

If I were hauling a munchkin with my X-tall X-wide trailer I would do as JB suggests and rig up hay bales or plywood to keep her from going under the chest bar or the divider, hang a hay net in front of her face to keep her from pushing the envelope, and enjoy my new pony.

And then post a lot of pics here when you get her.

[cayuse]

Plywood would be my choice. Hay is a good idea but depending on the pony it can get demolished pretty quickly if you are hauling a pawer. They can knit themselves into a heck of a mess with the baling twine. Don’t ask me how I know . . .:lol:

[Greys]

I have hauled a mini horse in my warmblood sized trailer in a pinch by pulling the divider and post,
lining the front walls and side ramp with bags of shavings, and then leaving him loose.

My concern was that given the space and his size, he had too much room to be launched into the front wall if he was at the back of the trailer and I had to make a sudden stop. So this setup made the stall smaller and provided cushion in the worst-case “bowling with minis” scenario.

Fortunately we didn’t have to crash-test and everything went well, although he probably would’ve preferred JB’s hay bales!

greys

[eightpondfarm]

@wsmoak

I’m curious, how long is the trailer and does it have a center gate? (How big is the space that they are allowed to move around freely in?).

Yes, there is a gate. It swings to close in the front 1/3. It is sheetmetal from 3" off the floor then up four feet, then horizontal steel bars up two more feet.

Trailer interior is 7’ tall, 13’ long and 6 1/2’ wide.
Swinging door is 6’ wide. It closes first, then ramp comes up on the outside afterwards. ramp is 4’ long and 6’wide.

[eightpondfarm]

@MLOaks

Mustangs? Awesome! Are you training them?

LOL. That’s the plan:yes: First three are doing great, one in particular is quite the tame one. I’ll bet i’ll be aboard him by christmas… These next four that i just hauled in are just beginning to come around. There is one more mare still in Nevada i’m waiting for-to-be transported. Mustangs are quite special.

[Weezer]

I have a mini and my preferred way of hauling her is to remove the divider and let her loose. If you secured the divider to the side, there is still an opportunity for her to get wedged under it. If you put bales in the trailer, then you have projectiles in the trailer if you get into an accident (been there). Their legs are so short that it is hard to tie them in a way that they are able to hold their heads comfortably but also not be able to get their front legs tangled.

[luvmyhackney]

@cayuse

Plywood would be my choice. Hay is a good idea but depending on the pony it can get demolished pretty quickly if you are hauling a pawer. They can knit themselves into a heck of a mess with the baling twine. Don’t ask me how I know . . .:lol:

Yep, BTDT with ponies. The one pulled all the hay out of the bales and were throwing it out the trailer window like a distress call and what he didn’t send out the window was EVERYWHERE in the trailer. I wish I had pictures as it was like a hay bomb exploded. He didn’t bother the twine but was on the other side of the destroyed barrier. Lost three bales on that trip and many lessons learned.