Shipping BLM Mustang to East Coast?

[icarus]

So a friend of mine lives in Northern California and regularly goes to the BLM corrals to pull horses, handle them, and then adopt them out. I absolutely love the Mustang that I have worked with and nridde from her and her husband and am considering going out with them to pick one out for me.

The adoption fee is relatively cheap but I live outside Philly and cross country trailering fees are insane. Does anyone have any shipper recommendations for coast-to-coast? Or any shippers that offer discounted fees to ship rescue horses? (I still expect to pay $1000+, but was just trying to brainstorm; thanks in advance!)

[Heinz_57]

No help on shipper recommendations, but are they going to gentle and halter break the horse for you before you ship it? I’d not think you will find a regular commercial hauler that is going to be willing to deal with an ungentled one since they basically have to be run into the trailer like cattle and may do some damage during the trip.

Maybe a livestock hauler? It would probably be cheaper for you to buy your own big stock trailer and make the cross country trip yourself.

[Texarkana]

The BLM has adoption events up and down the east coast:

http://www.blm.gov/es/st/en/prog/wild_horse_and_burro.html
(See the list on the right hand side)

Lexington, Va would probably be the closest.

I went to an adoption event for the first time ever this summer, put on by the Mustang Heritage Foundation and the BLM. I only went because they had a guest speaker I was interested in, but I left with a new appreciation for mustangs. If I had the facilities, I would have taken one home that day. It’s definitely on the bucket list now!

ETA: Looks like the Lexington event is just the auction for the gentled mustangs from the Extreme Mustang Makeover. It looks like SC or NH would be your closest options for unhandled mustangs… both still closer than CA!

Also, I’d ask the BLM or the Mustang Heritage Foundation people what you can do re: shipping. Because I’d think most commercial shippers wouldn’t want to touch that situation with a ten foot pole. You need a large box for them with floor to ceiling partitions, like a stock trailer. And you can’t exactly trailer a wild mustang with other horses, unless they are other mustangs headed east.

[Texarkana]

Another thing I just thought of: contact the Mustang Heritage Foundation to see if there are any TIP trainers close to you. (ETA: or, just look at the website) Even if you don’t want to/don’t need to utilize one of their trainers, they likely have experience getting Mustangs to and from your area.

The Mustang Heritage Foundation people are just awesome. Everyone is so darn nice and helpful. It’s refreshing!

[BEARCAT]

If you adopt from Canon City and organize a load with a few other people, they will pay for 300 miles of shipping- per horse. Contact Amanda Wilder on Facebook and she can help you.

[grayci]

I know you’re wanting to pick a horse in person, but if you look at the BLM’s online adoption gallery, they give a list of several pickup places (2 or 3 options for picking up local on your own time, and specific dates for other places, including several on the East coast). Maybe it’s the same options whether you pick out online or in person? Worth an ask, at least!

(I actually just went on the BLM site to make sure I was right about that, and noticed several of the facilities have videos of the horses now, as well as some listed with temperaments, and even some halter broken. That’s quite a bit nicer than I was seeing even half a year ago)

[icarus]

Ah, maybe I should have included more in my initial post. My friend’s husband is actually a TIP trainer and would work with the horse for 30-60 days prior to shipping him East so he should be pretty good at handling/shipping by then That’s why I would prefer to pull one from California - as he has a good “sense” of them and I trust his judgement with not sending one all the way to the East Coast who he feels would not be a good fit.

I will check with some Mustang specific groups as well to see if they may have some groups that bring large loads east.

[StormyDay]

At 60 days out my mustang could load and tie and he was level headed about things, so i think any experienced hauler could have taken him across the country.
You may or may not know this already, but you need to decide what type of mustang you want. Mine has a lot of spanish blood so he looks like a small Iberian type. However you can get ones with a lot of draft or a lot of QH. It just depends on what you want to do with the horse.

[Pocket_Pony]

Just curious who your friend is in NorCal . . . (you can PM me if you like). I got mine from someone in NorCal also.