Tips for trailering minis?

[SkipHiLad4me]

Just wondering if anyone has some ideas I haven’t thought of!

I have 2 minis. I have a 2 horse bumperpull trailer. The trailer has V shaped “nose”, with a front ramp on the left side and a people door on the right side. The trailer is open on the inside – there are no mangers… only chest bars/tail bars and a center divider that swings or can be removed. The divider does not go to the ground - it probably has about 3ft of clearance under it (just barely tall enough to clear my mini-mare’s back). The chest bars and dividers are all taller than the minis are.

Question: how would you trailer 2 minis in this setup? Would you tie them? Leave them loose?

I’ve only trailered them twice, but I’ve tried it both ways - and I even stacked hay bales in the nose of the trailer to keep them from moving up into the front of the trailer and leaning up against the people door (which I’m sure isn’t designed to have ponies leaning on it). I don’t want to lose a pony in the middle of the road! The hay wall works ok but I’d rather not have them have access to a hay buffet like that. :lol:

I’d like to trailer them to some nearby open shows for some in-hand type classes for fun but I’m a little nervous about their safety in the trailer, especially if I have to stop short for some reason.

Curious if anyone has any tiny horse trailering tips or ideas. TIA

[moving_to_dc]

I would fabricate a solid barrier made of plywood that can be attached to your chest bars and center post to MAKE SURE they cannot accidentally get up by the people door. I would not trust hay bales…

I would haul loose, and then go in the people door once you are stopped, tie the horses then, and then open the ramp to let them out.

I never tie my minis, just like I don’t tie my 200lb goats or calves. I feel safe tying big horses, but it just seems like smaller animals are more creative when it comes to finding trouble…

[cayuse]

I tried both bales of hay and a plywood partition at the front of the trailer and finally gave up and had a welder make a removable partition. It is on drop down hinges so I can access the mini but it can be removed easily and I can put the chest bar back up if I need to.