In my stock trailer (16 foot), I can carry one carriage or cart, one small ATV and one Arabian 14.2 or so.
There is nothing between the horse and the tethered equipment.
Full trailer but it works.
I figured you’d just use ramps to get a cart into the back of a pickup. But what about the top of the trailer? Over the years, I’ve seen several two-wheeled carts riding down the freeway on top of horse trailers. How do they do that? I was looking at my friend’s trailer and thinking that if we used ramps, we could probably get the carriage about halfway up before we wouldn’t be able to reach it anymore, lol! I suppose you could have a couple strong people on the roof to pull it up the rest of the way?
I currently have a BP stock trailer. Carriages goes in first and horse in back. If taking two horses they go in first and then the carriage and one in the bed of the truck.
Our friends have a most wonderful set up. 25’ plus steel gooseneck trailer with three straight load stalls on the end with a solid wall that closes them off from the inside of the trailer. Thus no hay chaff in the carriages or stuff. Very large side ramp which carriages are loaded usually a two wheel and four wheel. Under the hay manager there is open space that folding furniture is stored when the interior is not set up. Has air/heat,small frig, bed in goose, and the largest and longest closet full of show clothes, grooms clothes, hats, and driving appointments. When carriages are unloaded the interior furniture is set up and they can live and show in comfort.
Denise
Totin’ down the road
For mor than 2 horses I use the Lost Farmer method. See above post.
One or 2 horses I have a very nice C&C straight load that has a bit of extra room in front of the horses. Carriage goes up side ramp into that space and fits like the trailer was custom make for it. Ahead of the carriage space is a pretty good size tack room with a little AC unit stuck in the front wall to keep mildew off tack when parked and to keep me cool if I sleep up on the goose neck.
What I didn’t see anybody say, but I look super carefully: always go goose neck and get the biggest truck you can.
I just this afternoon tried to dissuade a friend from attempting a journey pulling a bumper pull with a 4 cyl pickup. INSANITY!!! Wrap yourself, your kids and your horses in a much steel as you can. Never set up a situation where the tail (the trailer) wags the dog (tow vehicle)
See me at National Drive. I’ll certainly be in the running for the ugliest trailer award. However that ugly old trailer has all new axles, brakes, and tires and will be be pulled by a 11/2 ton truck.
Dick
28’ EBY 7.6’ high and 8’ wide stock trailer (ruffneck) with a GMC dually 4WD 3500 tows 17,000, gets 21 MPG. With that, I get one show cart, 5 drafts and all the crap we can toss up into the cart and gooseneck (grin).
If we are going to use the hitch wagon, that requires a flatbed trailer and another truck (right now, we one have one truck…so, cart showing only for this season). Yep. That is a sight. One big trailer with drafts and one with “equipment.” Seems like the horses should be pulling it all, doesn’t it?
umph. At the Nationals, I was asked to do a u-turn by the fair management to get in to a tight spot. I did. The wheelbarrow (behind the rear window and before the gooseneck) put pressure on the rear window of the truck. Wham! It was raining safety glass. Kids didn’t like that one bit! Lesson learned. Don’t pile stuff up too close to the gooseneck in the back of the truck. Duh. I already knew that! There are only so many lessons a husband can learn form his wife though, before she learns to keep her mouth shut and let him learn the “hard” way. Whoops -Did I just write that?
I have a 8’ wide 6 horse slant with a ramp at the back and the side. It is 28 feet on the floor with a 4x8 dressing room. I can easily haul one horse, one atv, one marathon vehicle, and one presentation vehicle. Of course I need a dually that gets 9 miles to the gallon pulling it. I am now moving down to a 20’ gooseneck stocktrailer and will haul one horse. one 4 wheel carriage and one 4 wheel atv. And trade both car and truck in on a 3/4 ton pickup. I am going to be sticking mostly to Florida in my Medicare age and not traveling up and down the east coast. So I am downsizing but I think I can still get the job done.
In a minivan. Horse(s) go behind the passenger seats. Cart goes on a rack attached to the hitch.
Adorable blonde child is my niece. Trained the minis all by her lonesome. Wins the ribbons all by her lonesome. Mom drives the kit and kaboodle.
I suppose you could try duct tape…
There’s an extensive posting about transporting here:
http://www.chronicleforums.com/Forum/showthread.php?p=2397641&highlight=winch#post2397641
Travelling to a show involves
my horse on either farm trailer or trailer I have hired. The 2 wheeled cart is put loaded on a trailer that my husband built especially for the purpose. A box was built that is under the cart to carry all the “stuff”. This is pulled by a Toyota Echo hatchback. Other words a very small cart. In the car is clothes and what ever could not or did not want in the box on the trailer. Before the box was finished, the car was VERY full. I mostly do only one day shows, but this proved very good going to the Metamora show in July.
Happy driving to everyone
Cynthia
Thomas, I have a question for you along the lines of this discussion. I seem to remember that during a similar discussion on trailers and how folks haul their stuff that you said you wouldn’t or couldn’t haul the larger trailers (35 - 40 feet) that some of us pull here.
I have wanted to ask you why that was but I kept forgetting to do so. Are the larger trailers against the Law? If so is it a local law or country wide? Why would they be against the law? Maybe it is just a personal choice to not use them… I have seen pictures of large semi trailer trucks being used commercially all over Europe. Are they allowed because they are commercial use?
When using your horse trucks (boxs) can you pull a trailer behind the truck? Are there length or weight limits?
Don^ You have to have a different driving licence and it takes quite a lot of time and money to get one and so not viable for me as I just don’t need one.
And I can and have towed a trailer behind the truck. And by gosh, our legislation is REALLY complicated. So much so that if enquiring at the Ministry of Transport its entirely possible to get 4 different answers from 4 different people on the same day!!!
For a recent trip to a 2 day CDE, my friend and I managed the following with two pickups and a 20 foot bumperpull stock trailer:
ATV in my pickup
Marathon vehicle in her pickup
Large horse size two-wheel cart in front of V nose of stock trailer
Pony size road cart in next - the carts are loaded with their shafts up to the ceiling, so basically “piggy-backing” each other - trailer is 8 foot high and 8 foot wide.
Then, all hay, shavings harness etc packed around and under the carts and in the open space in front of the horse area, which has a stall divider. Load the horse and the pony in the back. Unloading is interesting, as my pony doesn’t back out the step-up, so I lead him forward and do a U-turn in front of the stall divider and out the other stall.
I drive VSEs, both single and pairs. My set-up is PERFECT for my situation! I have a 14’ stock combo BP trailer with a ‘center’(it’s more like a 3/5, 2/5 gate, 3/5 in the front - common thing in any ‘standard’ stock trailer), with full width swinging rear gate, and step-up, and a ‘99 F-250 SuperDuty SuperCab, short box.
With singles: I can put one or two carts in the front of the trailer, and one-three minis in the back. If just one cart is in the front, the gate really doesn’t need to be in place; if two carts, then it is put in, for a solid barrier between horses and vehicles(which are strapped in place.)I can put any of my three pair vehicles-a back to back trap, a Glinkowski marathon vehicle, and a buckboard-in the front of the trailer, using a set of wooden ramps I built–and then the pair in the back, behind the gate. I can put harness bags, equipment tubs, and all sorts of stuff in the saddle compartment under the feed bunkers up front, in the pickup bed, and/or in the extended cab area. Hay, shavings,feeders, etc. go in the back of the truck(hay in HD lawn bags). On a recent trip w/ a friend, she was afraid my(larger) mare would beat up on her gelding, so we hauled the carts in the bed of the truck, and one mini in the front, and one in the back, of the trailer(they ‘rattled’ around like marbles!) Both carts are metal/naugahyde, and pretty rain-proof!
I have camped in this rig for three days, with my ‘big’ horse, on the Pony Express Ride I have attended several times! Slept in the extended cab, on a bedroll on top of a 4" mattress–quite comfy, really! Of course, all other basics were provided by the ride sponsor.
The only change I would make would be perhaps to have gotten a 6’ wide trailer instead of an ‘old-fashioned’ 5’ wide one! Even so, my set-up works very well for me in my circumstances!
Margo
Well having decided that driving is our thing we bit the bullet and got the bigger trailer - upgraded from a 4-horse slant GN with extended dressing room to a wider 4-horse head to head GN with rear and side ramps - total length = 41 feet! But we have a fairly new Dodge 3500 dually which hubby just upgraded with all sorts of stuff so it doesn’t even know the trailer is back there and gets decent fuel mileage 
We have the horse and pony facing the rear in the front stalls. They can be loaded from the side or the rear (if we put the carriages on last). The two carriages go in the back of the trailer (horse partitions removed). The golf cart and scooter plus hay, etc. then goes in the middle.
We just added a/c, heat and electrical outlets to the large dressing/tack room. An awning goes on tomorrow with a TV antenna, and then we’ll add a bulkhead door through to the horse compartment on the pony’s side. We’ve got a porta-potti and large water tank and the trailer came with nice, high, LARGE hooks to hang the harnesses. It’s just perfect for us 
:yes: Check it out at The National Drive - we’ll be happy to show it off 
and hubby would LOVE discussing all the gadgets he’s added to his truck!
18’ stock trailer, gooseneck. Carriage, either marathon or cart goes in first. Cart shafts go in the gooseneck, then pony. If to a CDE, I can move the inside gates back and put the ATV between the carriage and the pony. Plenty of room for everything else around whatever is in the front. That way I can pack everything the night before, throw the pony on in the morning and leave.
cart muscling for petite older lady
Okay, I am reading through all these fabulous ideas about how to transport a cart and horse. I am middle-aged, 5’2", horse is 14.3hh, truck is a Ford F150, and I will most likey NOT have help.
Being a newbie and just now studying-up, these are the choices I am leaning towards so far (with many thanks to the COTH forums!):
- a stock trailer- preferrably around 12’ (I understand that longer trailers are easy to manage but I have to watch weight) and bumper pull
You should be fine with that. But…, if you have a 2 wheel cart, you would probably have to pout the horse in first and the cart last with the shafts sticking out over the back door. It would be nice to have an escape door for the horse up front. Also a low divider so the horse, if in too small a space, could ride backwards with his head and neck over the bar. I used to haul a 16 hand horse and a 4 wheel marathon vehicle in a 12 foot stock trailer with just a bar separating. Worked fine and I wish I had kept that trailer for just putzing around town.
cart muscling for petite older lady
Okay, I am reading through all these fabulous ideas about how to transport a cart and horse. I am middle-aged, 5’2", horse is 14.3hh, truck is a Ford F150, and I will most likey NOT have help.
Being a newbie and just now studying-up, this is what I am leaning towards so far (with many thanks to the COTH forums!):
-
Eazy Ryder Cart (if I can get my hands on/afford one); cob size.
-
a stock trailer- preferrably around 12’ (I understand that longer trailers are easy to manage but I have to watch weight); bumper pull.
-
Horse in front, slant load (he’s little); cart in back with shafts sticking out the back slats complete with red hazard flags (better than hassling with removable shafts all by myself?)
-
I assume a stock trailer and a ramp are mutually exlusive, so would have to use portable ramps and hope they fit in the back as well.
So - opinions/ possible pitfalls, please:
Both on cart (I am recovering from a broken pelvis and need something with suspension and that one person can handle. I also understand it is better to start out with a 2-wheeled vs. 4-wheeled).
And on trailer/transport idea…
I don’t think I could manage hauling the cart up ramps into the back of the truck. Plus that necessitates unhitching the trailer or getting a hitch that sways sideways. A Brenderup is the most palatable trailer for this, but try buying one new (ouch!) or finding one used (that’s not already sold!).
Thanks!
[QUOTE=myblackmorgan;2914563]
- Horse in front, slant load (he’s little); cart in back with shafts sticking out the back slats complete with red hazard flags (better than hassling with removable shafts all by myself?) [/QUOTE] You would need a front unload facility if you’re loading your horse on first.
However I personally wouldn’t want the horse at the front. I’d prefer the carriage in first and then the horse.
Is it legal to tow something with shafts sticking out? It wouldn’t be here.
- I assume a stock trailer and a ramp are mutually exlusive, so would have to use portable ramps and hope they fit in the back as well.
If you’re by yourself, then I’d suggest you make sure that it has a drop down tailgate door that forms the ramp.
Both on cart (I am recovering from a broken pelvis and need something with suspension and that one person can handle. I also understand it is better to start out with a 2-wheeled vs. 4-wheeled).
2 wheel trap or gig type with springs rather than the suspension block mountings which can be quite a hard ride though much better for cross country work.
I don’t think I could manage hauling the cart up ramps into the back of the truck.
Get a winch fitted inside the trailer and use that to pull the carriage in. I’ve an electric winch so you merely stand and press a button, but you can also get wind in winches. There’s more bad backs from manually hauling carriages in than anything else I know of in driving. However because you intend to put your horse on the front this will be difficult.
Back of truck with padding–manpower used to lift. Small child (me at time) did the lifting scooting in the truck bed.
Or, on top of trailer. First put in back of truck, then lifted (more manpower–only more dangerous–on ladders) moved to top of trailer and attached with post-factory installed “luggage rack”.
