Shipping KY to SC

[GraceLikeRain]

I’ve done enough COTH forum searching to feel like I can’t win. In contacting companies on my own I am getting quotes for a stall and a half ranging from $600 (brook ledge) to $981 (equine express). Several companies told me that couldn’t accommodate my request at any price since I’m not on the transport path to their major track barn stops in SC. Brook Ledge does not have the most glowing reviews on here. Are there smaller shippers I should consider?

I don’t have a super tight schedule but the idea of wait and see followed by having a 24 hour heads up is hard to accommodate when I’m 6 hours away and relying on the good will of a barn I barely know.

[Forego]

I live in AIken and I have used Brooklefge several times to send mares up to Ky to be bred.
They have always been fabulous ,and from Aiken to Lexington it is a straight shot .
Aiken and Camden have racehorses traveling back and forth to Ky weekly.
Don’t call the Pa office, the guy in Lexington is great, and Mickie and Tim in Aiken are wonderful, so call them and maybe they can help you out depending where in SC you are.

[RMJacobs]

I can’t help you with any smaller shippers to consider. But I can tell you I had a great experience with Brook Ledge. They shipped my elderly pony from Colorado to South Carolina. They took excellent care of him, plus they minimized time on the trailer.

Rebecca

[Arelle]

I recently bought a saddle from a trainer out in the Carolinas and she threw it on a transport to Dallas with Jason Eason (https://www.facebook.com/EasonRanch2015) Might reach out to him and see if he’s doing any transports on the route in the near future.

[Forego]

After I replied I also forget to say that there are racing center in various parts of SC that Brooklege services.
I had a colt in race training a couple of hours away,I had Brooklefge pick him up and bring him home to my farm.
My horse trailer was having work done to it and I wanted the colt home.
They have several smaller trailers that they can pick up horses in and take the horse to the bigger vans for longer trips.

[onthebit]

Check with smaller shippers. Keene Kessler/Horse Carriage Transport would probably do that route. Candace Clark/Kryptonite Equine Transport might do that route as well. They’ve both been to my farm several times.

[GoneAway]

Shipped three times with Brook Ledge and all three were great experiences. Even gave me a free upgrade to a box stall for my military service.

[ReSomething]

Ive never shipped a long distance but Sallee and Creech aren’t mentioned. They may have been no gos for you but if Creech came all the way up here to my neck of the woods . . .

[findeight]

Brookledge has decades of good reviews hauling hundreds if not thousands of horses yearly . Nobody can please everybody plus they run that route regularly which is probably why that quote looks pretty darn good to me, almost 300 less the EE.

[GraceLikeRain]

Thanks everyone!

Sallee said they wouldn’t come through my area.

I have a request for Creech, Eclipse Equine Transport, Eason, and Kryptonite.

It is good to know that Brook Ledge has been a good experience for some people. I’m a solid 2 hours from Aiken and placed in a bit of a weird area so I may need to find a barn they are already dropping off at for a single night layover.

[_Zara]

I have a friend looking to get a horse from KY to NC, PM me if you find someone coming this way? Might be able to help fill a load.

[ladyj79]

Brookledge is arguably the most well known and well regarded professional shipping company in the country.

I would not hesitate to use them, and at that price? I would book immediately.

[Huntin_Pony]

Just another satisfied Brookledge client checking in.

I moved a horse from Hawaii to the east coast last year and had Brookledge handle four legs of the trip (it involved flights as well). They were professional and did a terrific job all around. No complaints of any kind.

I recommend them without hesitation.

[GraceLikeRain]

Thanks everyone. In a very unexpected turn of events I connected with an acquaintance who is trailering two personal horses from about 20 minutes outside of destination A to her farm, which is about 45 minutes north of destination B. Since she is already planning this trip she gave me an absurdly low rate. Part of me feels a touch of anxiety going with an individual over a company but she makes this haul countless times per year and unlike a professional hauler does not have to make any drop offs along the way.

So for now, it looks like private hauler will work out. If not, it looks like I should jump on the Brookledge rate. Thank you for all of the vouchers of support. I’m not sure why that old COTH thread was so negative given the volume of glowing reviews now.