Relocating & trailering older horses

[firefly.eventing]

Hi all-- looking for advice and direction. I’m currently living in California, where I have lived my entire life. I am looking into relocating next year for grad school, and will be bringing my two older horses with me. I’m a planner by nature, so I want to start planning out this trip now. Currently, I do not have a truck or a horse trailer, and I am looking into possibilities. I currently have a four-door sedan that I will be trading in for a truck at some point in the not-so-distant future.

I’m looking to trailer my horses myself and trying to figure out what kind of trailers you all recommend. I have two OTTBs-- a 25 year old gelding and a 22 year old mare. I would take my time on trip, stop often, and prioritize trying to find places to overnight where they could have a paddock to walk around in. What else would you recommend to minimize the difficulty for my older horses? I don’t know where I will end up, but it could be as far away as North Carolina.

My second question is about trailers. I’m intrigued by the idea of trailers with larger spaces and hauling loose (ie, head to head 4h taking the dividers out and making two box stalls, a stock trailer with two open compartments, a 2+1 and taking up the divider for the 2 horse, etc). What are your opinions? My older guy has not been a great hauler in the past, but did very well when he had to travel about 2 hours the last time I moved him. The person who hauled him had a 3h slant and she put him in the middle, where she said he spread out, lowered his head, and went to sleep. My mare is a good hauler and shouldn’t cause any trouble.

I just want to start looking into what might be the best options for this trip. I want to make them as comfortable as possible, and I want to make a long trip as easy as I can. I’m not opposed to stopping more often at all to make this happen. I’m also not opposed to hauling at night and then finding farms where I can turn them out during the day, as this will likely be summer.

Thanks ahead of time for your feedback!

[Huntin_Pony]

Quite honestly, I think you should spend the first few thousand dollars on having the horses travel on an air-ride van in box stalls with professional drivers. Also, do it in the fall or spring if possible to minimize extreme weather issues.

The horses will do better with a quicker trip.

[js]

When we moved we shipped our older horses (ages 17, 24, 31) via a commercial shipper. They had box stalls and stopped overnight at their holding facility for a rest. All did wonderfully.

Rather than spend money on trucks and trailers, consider shipping them commercial with and experienced hauler.

[moving_to_dc]

I have moved all over this country during my lifetime, and have always hauled my own horses… My most recent move was 1400 miles one way, oldest horse on that move was 36 years old. The others were 28 yrs old and 10 yrs old.

I broke the trip up into 8 hour days, and every night was spent “turned out” either in an arena or round pen. It was easier for me to find those on my route vs. paddocks. Pretty much every facility had an arena or round pen and was willing to let me use it overnight vs. stalls.

I never ever unloaded at gas stops or rest areas, but did search out quiet shady areas to park for 30 min-1 hr a few times a day. Usually when we stopped for fuel and food. Checked haybags and watered everybody during stops.

[2DogsFarm]

@Huntin' Pony

Quite honestly, I think you should spend the first few thousand dollars on having the horses travel on an air-ride van in box stalls with professional drivers. Also, do it in the fall or spring if possible to minimize extreme weather issues.

The horses will do better with a quicker trip.

@firefly.eventing Since you admit to limited hauling experience yourself (forgive me if you have hauled your horses using others’ rigs) this seems like the safest option.
Once you get your own truck & trailer you can get experience hauling locally, but a long-distance haul for a relatively inexperienced driver can be exhausting if not dangerous for all of you.

RE: your trailer type question:
Friend recently hauled her 8 - 5 horses, 2 ponies, 1 mini - in her 6H head-to-head with all partitions permanently removed save the center gate. She tied them to the walls - 2-3-3 - facing alternate directions & separating the ponies/mini in the center section.
Load included her 27yo TB, trip was 9h with an overnight stop at a place that allowed her a pasture for the horses.
Everyone made the trip fine.

[Jim_in_PA]

I agree with the sentiment to hire this move out…it’s safer for the horses and safer for you. It will be far less costly than buying a suitable truck and trailer for long distance, too.

[PrincessPonies]

I think it really depends on how far you’re going. If you do end up going all the way to NC then I would use a professional. When we moved mine from VA to CA we always planned to use a professional. Our friend who normally trailed us even came up to us and said she would never be able to make the trip because of the stress of that long of drive.
If it’s a shorter trip, we’ve done up to 12 hours before calling a professional. If that’s the can choose the option that your horses are happiest with. Yes a box stall is nice and they can move around more, however my horse likes to lean on the divided and use it as support. She comes off better when she’s had a divider than a box stall.

[Scribbler]

I got a truck and trailer last year. I started with a month of learning to park in the Walmart lot after hours, then driving with my experienced coach in the passenger seat, then driving alone or with inexperienced friends locally. I have driven in the mountains with my coach but not alone. I recently upgraded the truck to a 3/4 ton from a 1/2 ton. During all this I worked consciously on the loading skills of my horse and the horses I’m usually riding with. And on my own loading skills. Honestly I’m very reluctant to help load a horse with issues and let my coach load her green horses herself.

At this point I probably could do a solo long distance trip with my own very solid horse, but I would be cautious about that.

Honestly for a big move you do not want to be dealing with a new rig, reluctant horses, your own unproven loading skills, and solo distance.

Pay a good shipper. It’s going to be about the cost of a year’s insurance. Money well spent.

What happens if the truck breaks down? What happens if you have to back out of a parking space? What happens if your horse won’t reload at a stopover? What happens if your horse busts loose from being tied to the trailer and runs into the hills?

If you are moving for school there will be so much more to settle like packing and moving your own stuff, finding an apartment, etc that adding on learning to drive a trailer let alone trailer and truck shopping is just a huge unneeded burden.

With buying trailers and trucks either you get new or you spend forever shopping.

Honestly second hand you are going to have at least $20,000 tied up in your rig, and new the sky’s the limit, anywhere from $50,000 to $100,000 depending on how nice a truck you get.

I don’t know what your finances are like, but I didn’t even keep a car in grad school, let alone horses and trucks and trailers (that’s all after I got tenure!). I lived on my scholarships and graduated with no debt. Now you may be independently wealthy and these things don’t apply, but in general even so it’s not a great idea to tie up so much capital in material possessions that depreciate whether or not you use them, need maintenance and storage, and honestly you might not use at all, during a period you have no income. And when you don’t know what life will look like after.

Even now, if I am honest about the costs, it would be cheaper to hire a hauler than to have $30,000 sunk in my rig, insurance of $2000 a year, gas at $40 for a one hour trip, and maintenance. The rig lets me go back country, but if I only needed shows and pasture trips, hiring a hauler would be way cheaper. Unless you are doing back country camping many times through the year, you don’t need a rig. And you will not have that kind of time in n grad school.

That akso has to wait until you have tenure, and no teaching load in the summer term

[SusanO]

Here is another thing about long distance hauling - you are not on the road by yourself. You are going to have to negotiate/ navigate through a large city somewhere along the way. Other people are not considerate of people hauling horses and with cell phones they do not even look where they are going. They just expect other drivers to move over for them. This is EXTREMELY stressful - even for those of us that have been hauling horses 40-50 years.

I towed an empty trailer from South Carolina around/through Atlanta when I bought the trailer. If I had spent five more minutes trying to get to I-20 I think I would have had a nervous breakdown with the traffic. And I hit Atlanta at 8PM - so not rush hour. I have been hauling many decades.

You ( and the horses) will be so much happier and safer using commercial transport. I used Equine Express to move one of my mares from Maryland when I bought her. I had a truck and trailer. Hiring out trip was worth every penny.

[firefly.eventing]

Just to clarify-- no where did I say I was inexperienced. I’ve had horses for 25+ years and have been hauling as long. I actually have quite a bit of hauling experience and used to haul to shows all the time when I was showing and when I taught lessons. I just sold my two horse a while back when I relocated because my horses didn’t particularly care for it, and just haven’t had the need to get another one. My old guy is retired and lives at home, so there was no reason to move him around. I am comfortable with my hauling skills and I am not a nervous driver when it comes to trailering.

[firefly.eventing]

@Scribbler – great points. It might be best to hire a professional to get them to to wherever I end up, and then buying a cheaper 2H when I get there for running around and going to shows.

I already intended to trade my car in for a truck, as it just seems more practical in the long-run. I hope to live as close to school as I can get. Another school I’m looking at is in Nebraska. Snow and my little four-door doesn’t seem like a good match. It’s hard to decide what it is that I’m doing with my life when I don’t even know where I’ll be a year from now. My 25 year old is my heart horse that I’ve had for 20 years. There are options to retire him out here in California, but selfishly, I want him with me. I don’t want to go away for 6+ years to grad school and have the possibility of never seeing him again. That just doesn’t sit well with me. He’s given me so much, it is only fair to retire him happy and with the person he’s known most of his life.

[Scribbler]

So the question is, what kind of trailer is best to haul long distance?

My prefered shipper swears by a box stall configured stock trailer with no space wasted on tack room.

Thing is I wouldn’t buy that trailer for personal use because I need a tack room. My preference is for straight haul over slant. I have a bumper pull because I d need a whole other truck to pull a gooseneck LQ.

In other words, what’s best for a long haul may not be the best for day trips close to home.

Ok, even with experience I don’t think it makes economic sense to spend upwards of $20,000 to buy gear to haul one trip that costs a couple thousand, especially if you have little need to haul otherwise.

Pay to have horses shipped. Find a barn that has riding facilities, arena and trails, on site, if you plan to ride. Trade the sedan in on a compact car to visit them if you need to see them often.

How much do you ride, visit, haul, horses now? You will be doing much less in grad school guaranteed.

Ah, ok. I see we were typing simultaneously!

You might end up relocating to great horse country or be living in the snow belt or the inner city. I’d wait to make horse plans until you have the school lined up and the living situation figured out. If it isn’t great horse country you might want to retire him somewhere pleasant in California, which has some very nice horse country.

[firefly.eventing]

All good points. I ride at home right now a few days a week. I do understand that I’ll be riding less in grad school. I think that perhaps shipping is a better way to go at this point, because you’re right-- the trailer I need to haul across the country is likely not the one I need to haul to shows with my mare, whom I still ride.

[cutter99]

OP, I totally get wanting your own rig and will offer you advice on the premise that you will be going that route.

I own both a stock trailer gooseneck, as well as a 3 horse slant with a LQ. I haul locally with the stock trailer, but prefer the LQ trailer if I am going any distance.

The stock trailer is great for loading loading and unloading horses I don’t know. I feel like it is the safest option for me, as the layout offers the most options to keep me safe. My stock trailer is 16’ on the floor with a full swinging center divider with a sliding door in it. The rear swinging door is the same set up. I also have a full escape door in the front compartment on the passenger side, so I can get in and out of this trailer safely from the rear and the side. The gooseneck has a calf gate, so I can store things up there, but it is not as convenient as a dressing room. I love this trailer for hauling out to trail rider rom home, as I can haul tacked up and not worry about my horses getting hung up on something. This trailer is also as versatile as I can haul just about anything on it- hay, shavings, four wheelers, garden tractor and loader, furniture- you get the idea. This is a trailer we would not want to be without on our farm. It is one of the best purchases we ever made. Ours is an all aluminum 1999 Featherlite that we picked up about 7 years ago for only $6500, so it was a steal.

We prefer to use the LQ trailer for any distances because we feel like the horses are safer in it. This is something people will debate, but here is my reasoning. In the slant configuration, the horses are confined to a smaller area, yet still able to stand in a position that makes them comfortable while being hauled. Our LQ has mats on the side walls in addition to the floor, as well as windows that can be closed in the event of bad weather. And yes, I have hauled through violent thunderstorms, as well as snow and hail.

With a three horse slant, you can always remove a divider or pin it open, so your bad hauler has a little more space to get comfortable since you are only hauling two horses. When I camp, and usually take one or two horses with me, my third stall acts as my mud room and I store hay there as well. My camp kitchen is also stored in there, as well other miscellaneous things. It stays dry and secure with a half stud divider on the bottom half.

Have a road side assistance program like US Rider. Expect that if you have an emergency, it can be a couple hours before someone can get out to you. If they get there quicker, great! If not, your expectations are realistic.

Put the best quality tires on the trailer you can afford to, and make sure if you buy a used trailer that the tires are less than 5 years old or that you budget to replace them. Buy a tire that is speed rate for more than 65 MPH, as many speed limits are more than that, and even if you try to keep your speed are 65 MPH, you might need to speed up at times. Most trailer tires are only speed rated to that, so do your due diligence when tire shopping. Have a spare or two, already mounted on a wheel. This will save you tons of time and headache if you do have a flat.

Use a trucker’s GPS or app like Trucker Path, that can be downloaded for free. I have both, as well as a hard copy of a trucker’s atlas.

Have both your truck and trailer gone over for both safety and maintenance issues before you travel.

Have a basic emergency tool box in the truck- basic tools, emergency triangles and roadside flares. I also carry a fire extinguisher in my truck, as well as one in the LQ of the trailer. I always carry potable water for the horses, as well as a supply of several days of hay as well.

Map out your travel plan and have overnight stops planned and set and set up ahead of time. Confirm reservations before you hit the road.

Drive as far as you are comfortable with minimal stops. I have done as much as 900 miles in a 16 hour day, stopping only for diesel and bathroom breaks. I do not unload horses, and offer water when I stop, but my horses rarely, if ever, drink. They do drink well when we off load though.

Drive defensively, and if you have the chance to take a defensive driving course, which can be done online, do it.

[PeteyPie]

If you end up going to Nebraska or anywhere with cold winters, be sure to move your horses in the spring rather than the fall. That way, they will be totally acclimated and their bodies will have time to grow a proper winter coat. Hair growth for winter coats is triggered by hours of light. The hours of light are different in the north and trigger a better/longer winter coat than southern regions but it is all about the change in light, which the horses need to experience as the long summer days diminish to short winter days.

[GoneAway]

I’m military and have moved cross country with a horse several times. I’m an experienced hauler with my own truck/trailer, but even then I still hired out the long distance horse hauls to make life easier on me (yep, I later followed with an empty horse trailer but the horse enjoyed his air ride box stall and I enjoyed not having to stop every 2 hours to water) . I didn’t need the stress of hauling 11+hrs by myself on top of everything else going on in my life. Money well spent in my world.

Additionally, it always gave me peace of mind to know he was in a big 18-wheeler, safer from traffic than in my 2H gooseneck. Traffic always seems to respect the bigger rigs a little more. If you’re keen on hauling yourself it sounds like others have already given some good advice.

And you know your horses best, but I know that some older horses do not do well with big changes/moves. Some go downhill very fast afterward, some adapt and thrive. So a word of caution: it may be worth having your vet out to do a physical on your older guy to make sure he’s fit for a big move.

If you end up in Nebraska please know I’ll be very jealous. Miss NE a lot.

[Simkie]

Box stall in a big rig air ride trailer. There is no better way to do it, and hauling yourself just doesn’t compare, imo.

[NoSuchPerson]

I am perfectly capable of hauling my own horses. I own a new truck and a very nice new-ish 2 horse BP trailer. But when I made a long-distance move a couple of months ago, I didn’t even think about doing it myself. I hired a professional. My two equines had a smooth ride in a big trailer in individual box stalls.

I drove my truck and trailer, loaded with odds and ends that didn’t make the moving van. My route was up I-75 and through Atlanta. More than once on the trip I congratulated myself for being smart enough to hire a professional to transport my horses. I was beyond thrilled that I didn’t have two restless equines in my trailer as I was sitting in a succession of traffic jams in and around Atlanta.

[onthebit]

I have been trailering my own horses since I was in my teens. When I made a long distance move I sent my horses with a commercial shipper in box stalls on an air-ride trailer. My empty horse trailer was then loaded up with all of my horse stuff. Tack trunks, tack, blankets, my jumps, some feed and hay to use for a few days when arrived at our new home, etc.

Now that I have been running a retirement farm for many years and have horses shipped to us for retirement from both coats, Canada, and many points in between, the horses that arrive in the best shape come with good commercial shippers. Not the shipper you found on UShip by comparing bids, but the shipper you are paying top dollar to ship your horses. They make the trip faster as they have two drivers, the horses travel on better equipment, and the drivers are professionals. The horses that get shipped by their owners come off the trailer a lot more tired than those that came on an air-ride rig with a professional shipper.

[soloudinhere]

As an aside, the quality of your trailer matters a great deal more on a long distance haul than it does on a shorter one. My little 2h Merhow was a perfectly fine trailer, but my C&C 2+1 is an immovable object and it tows perfectly. In comparison the Merhow is a little toy box.

my horses ship to Florida on an air ride rig and they go straight through. I follow with my trailer and take my sweet time getting down there.