A gal at my barn does not have a trailer, and since I do, and have only 1 horse, I might be taking her horse to some events this season. Does anyone have a trailering contract, or know of where to get one? Maybe a hold harmless?
I want to make sure all my bases (and A**) are covered!!
If you don’t have a commercial license you can’t accept payment for trailering.
I’ll let someone else supply a contract, but my advice would be: make 100% sure horse is good to load, and do a trial run with him and your horse on a quiet day well before the big day when you have a real deadline to get somewhere. Make sure he loads, unloads, stands quiet, and likes your trailer. Make sure owner is capable about loading, or take the job away from her if she isn’t.
If the horse (or owner!) is a problem loader, unloader, or traveller, decline. It’s not your job to solve training problems.
That said, taking a person you enjoy spending time with, and their well behaved horse, out somewhere in your trailer is a an absolute pleasure and honestly a big help to have two competent sets of hands on the ground.
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Yep. I haul horses with my friends all the time. I never ask for any fee or such. We go to the hunt, play on xc, even far away lessons and clinics. But we are doing it all as friends. In other words, I pay everything as if I was going by myself (which I would be anyway). I don’t haul other horses by themselves other than a true veterinary emergency.
The trade off is my horse always gets the delux stall.
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I don’t have a contract - but I ensure somewhere in writing I have stated to them that I do not have commercial license or insurance - thus there is no insurance on their horse should anything happen. I also repeat that during day of travel as I really hope nothing ever happens as worst nightmare but want all those that I trailer (without receiving payment for) to be aware that my insurance covers truck/trailer than I have separate insurance for own horse/equipment but that wouldn’t cover theirs. I think that is common as I couldn’t find any non-commercial insurance which would include horses.
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I trailer friends for no fee. Accepting $$ makes you a commercial hauler and you don’t want to go there. I only haul horses that are well behaved and people that I like. If a horse doesn’t ride well, kicks the side, or the rider isn’t helpful, they don’t get in my trailer again. If you accept money and you are in an accident, your insurance company has an out.
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This site has various horse-related liability agreement forms for purchase, including a trailering one. https://www.equinelegalsolutions.com/whats-in-our-forms-liability.html. I have never used any of these forms and I am not a lawyer, but the site looks pretty reputable.
As others have said, It is great to have company on the road. I never take any money, that said, if they want to take their turn filling the tank and bringing the junk food, I am good with that.
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No snark intended. But, is this what the world has come to? Me and countless others over the years have thrown a friend’s horse on the trailer with ours. Never thought it necessary to have them sign some sort of release. And never will.
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So, if someone splits gas and tolls that makes me a commercial hauler? I doubt that very much. Will ask my insurance agent the next time I’m on the phone with them.
I don’t care if the horse is a bit unruly. That’s how some horses are on a trailer at times.
Technically, yes. https://activerain.com/blogsview/5156245/what-are-the-new-laws-for-hauling-horses- and https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/hours-serv…rtation-horses
Or homemade sandwiches and brownies!
I did a solo 3,000 mile round trip (CO to VA) in December. 48 hours of driving out of 64. While I could do that in the younger years, it just isn’t much fun anymore by myself. Sure, I have my buddy in the trailer but that still just isn’t what it once was.
Two weeks ago I did 8 hour (each way) trip with friend. We went to get lessons with my trainer. That was a blast! The hours flew.
Regretfully, gumtree, if they pay tolls, yes you could be commercial. They can split gas but that is about it. I have them pay at the pump when they do. Otherwise, I pay. Learned my lessons the hard way via a few major rig wrecks and animal incidents.
Damn Oxford comma in the law 
“there can be no compensation for the transportation”
“These rules do not apply to the occasional short-haul transportation of horses, as long as it is not for compensation or commercial purposes” As explained to me by a person that is paid to know.
Being reimbursed and or sharing gas/tolls would not qualify as “compensation”
When an employee, contract labor submits an expense report, receives payment. That is not considered compensation, taxable income.
As to the others points. Depends, I have shipped horses for people and been paid from time to time over many years. Had the free and could use the extra income. If I got pulled over and asked. I would just say the horses are mine. I doubt there is a cop that is going to impound the horses until the person proved they were theirs.
If I was shipping horses as a major part of my business, or my sole business. It would be silly, stupid not to jump through all the gov/state hoops, get properly licensed and insured.
How do I know if my horse truck/trailer is a CMV?
- If your vehicle has a Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR) of more than 10,000 lbs.
- If you haul someone else's horse in your trailer and accept money to offset costs
- If you haul a horse to show with the intent to win prize money
- If you are a professional trainer and use your truck and trailer for business purposes
- If you write off your truck and trailer as a business expenses
I feel like there may be some confusion here over “commercial license (plate)” and being a business - and perhaps its just how states differ.
I have a commercial licence plate on my truck, as per NYS 3/4 ton trucks are in a commercial category. But I am not a business.
"Under the law in New York State, vehicles are normally registered according to how they are made, not according to how they are used.
It is normally correct to register a car as a passenger vehicle, even when it is used for business. A passenger car used to give rides for hire must be registered as a taxi or livery.
It is normally correct to register a truck as a commercial vehicle, even when it is not used for business. For example, many pick-up trucks that are never used for business are registered as commercial vehicles."
I would suspect states differ
The insurance/liability thing is completely separate. I would ask my insurance company directly
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NY has some interesting ways of doing things. I think one of the main reasons it requires certain size pick ups, maybe all sizes to be tagged with commercial plates. Is because commercial plated vehicles are not allowed on the Parkways and certain other types of roads. Vans, not talking about horse vans, that do not have windows on the sides and back doors can only get a commercial plate and can’t be used on the Parkways. It can be a real PITA bringing horses on to Long Island not being able to use the Parkways.
“A passenger car used to give rides for hire must be registered as a taxi or livery”
I wonder how Uber and Lift gets around this?
My assumption is that you live in a non-brand inspection (BI) state. My advice is to NEVER ship outside where you are! I have been pulled over in many BI states and those adjacent, e.g. TX, NM, AZ, CA, CO, IL, not by police but by Brand Inspectors. I had to prove ownership (show a Brand Inspection Certificate) of all animals in my trailer. In TX I got caught up in an 80 mile chase when the BI was trying to catch an illegal transport with CO tags (like mine).
Out here in cattle country, only a BI card proves ownership. No JC papers, no passport, not even bill of sale. You get the BI for your horses, and then have to submit proof of ownership to get a state entry number that can be checked at ports of entry.
If you aren’t the owner, and the owner isn’t in the rig, (got questioned for that at the National Western Stock Show one year), you are a commercial haul and must show proper licensure for that. Period. It is a $2,500 fine per head in the trailer and forfeiture of your rig. The only exception is if you are within 75 miles of your point of origin.
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I was remiss in not pointing out that I’m in the mid-Atlantic area. All of my “shipping” has been through states on the east coast and to Kentucky.
I lived for 5 years in Colorado. My, have nothing to do with horses, years. But I had friends with horses there. Was surprised what a hassle it could be to ship around. I guess we don’t have enough rustling issues to warrant the extra policing
Thanks for all the replies! I normally haul a friend’s horse if they need a ride and they chip in for gas as they wish.
But the other day, after another;s horse ended up under the divider of her trainer’s trailer, the clinician advised that if we haul other people’s horses we should have some kind of contract or hold harmless in place.
