Does anybody haul a mini without a trailer?

[Sheryl]

I already own a fullsize pickup truck 3/4 ton F250 with the fullsize bed. I don't want to buy a horse trailer. Has anyone created a safe mini hauling enclosure inside of a pickup bed? Any pictures? The biggest problem I see is the ramp up. They sell 29" wide ramps for getting wheelchairs and scooters into vehicles that have a weight capacity of 600 pounds and they have good traction - I wondered if that might work. Don is a 34" mini and probably weighs about 250.

Some people I know haul their two minis in the back of their minvan. Of course minivans are closer to the ground and are already enclosed. Downside is that the enclosure they create has to be reinstalled everytime they want to haul out since the van is also their main vehicle.

For a truck, I would need some sort of canopy enclosure and then create a "stall" inside with mats and stuff. I am just brainstorming here - maybe somebody else has already worked out the details!

 

[Lisa-Ruff N Tuff Minis]

There is the horse hauler by bob. ... Lauralee has one they are pretty neat and fit right in the bed of your truck

 

[Lauralee]

Here's the hauler~

You can visit my webpage below....and go to my LINKS page to see the website that has the haulers.

 

[hobbyhorse23]

The problem I'm running into is where to haul your cart if the truck bed is already full of a horse or, in my case, a camper! :new_shocked: It's never just the horse with driving minis.

:

Leia

 

[Lauralee]

The top of the hauler is designed to carry two carts. That is what the railing is for.....and it will allow a person to walk on the top....I think 350 pounds? so it is made for carrying weight.

 

[gatorbait4sure]

The problem I'm running into is where to haul your cart if the truck bed is already full of a horse or, in my case, a camper! :new_shocked: It's never just the horse with driving minis.

:

Leia

Leia,

I have a "Cart Caddy" made for me by Tim and Connie Ballard which fits on the back door of my trailer, rides securely, and is easy to load and unload (read this QUICKLY in an emergency situation) I'll never be without one again, since it is so easy to use! The cart rides with the bottom of the cart facing the door, and the shafts pointing up. Hauled mine from Cape Cod, through PA and up to Ohio for the Regionals, then home again last year! Plus to the New England shows.

When not in use it folds up against the trailer door and is totally out of the way.

LOVE IT, LOVE IT, LOVE IT!!!

 

[sfmini]

One year when we were horse trailer poor we hauled 4 minis in the bed of a 1/2 ton chevy with a cap (one of the taller caps). Made three standing stalls at the front of the bed, then for a ramp used a solid core door cut 3/4 and 1/4, put on a heavy hinge and used that as a rear blockade, then the fourth horse was in the back. Then we used a utility trailer for our stuff, cart included. Hauled all summer that way, even to the first ever AMHA Eastern Regional show which was in Springfield, Mass. Was very glad to get back to using a horse trailer but it did work.

 

[Sheryl]

That is very cool looking. How long and wide is that ramp?

How about a single mini enclosure that just fits up against the cab of the truck, so there is room to put the cart in too? My cart is about 7' so I would wind up sticking the shafts out a couple of feet. I thought that with a red flag that might be workable. I was even thinking of a used TALL sized truck canopy, and then building the stall inside that. I don't know, just an idea. Of course, that would mean he would have to ride facing sideways instead of straight forward. Not sure what that would do for his balance since it wouldn't be a slant load, but truly facing sideways. The other concern is that the cart would have to be unloaded first in case of an emergency but I think that could be addressed.

My truck is a big beast (diesel, 3/4 ton, heavy duty built for towing and hauling), so weight distribution for such a small horse is not an issue for the truck.

 

[wiccanz]

We haul ours in a Toyota Hiace Van, see thread http://minihorse.ipbhost.com/index.php?sho...c=59547&hl= for pics.

Will try to remember to get pics this weekend of it all packed up with gear and horses!

 

[Sheryl]

Thanks, I looked at this thread. How did you build that ramp? I would like to see loaded pictures because I can't visualize fitting the cart in there!

On the pictures of using the cargo trailers... I thought about that because we can park a smaller trailer. They are single axle and I was thinking that the ride would be very bouncy for the horse. How do cargo trailers handle? I used to have a cheap lightweight, double axel horse trailer and the (big) horses hated it because it was light and tended to vibrate and bounce around alot more then better quality trailers.

We haul ours in a Toyota Hiace Van, see thread http://minihorse.ipbhost.com/index.php?sho...c=59547&hl= for pics.

 

[Sandee]

We did haul our old gelding home in in our 3/4 ton pickup with only a topper on it. We bought him out of the blue and were wondering how to get him home from Kansas to Wisconsin when the owner said put him in the back. He's a "been there done it all" type of guy and he stepped from two platforms made from bales of hay and plywood up into the truck bed and the same way to get him out. I wouldn't advise loading this way for many horses but it worked great with him. Here's what he looked like 3 years ago. You should have seen the looks we got when filling with gas at a station and people would suddenly hear a whinny out of "no where"!

 

[LindaL]

For those of you who haul your horses in vehicles (minvan, truck, etc), what is the inside height of your vehicle and how tall is the tallest mini you have put back there?

 

[JanBKS]

This my 9 yr old Mini mare, Clouds of Independence, Cloudy had hurt her eye and rather than haul her the 25 miles to the vet , I just put her in the van, here she is coming out as we are home. Needless to say the gas station went into hysterics hearing her whinny and poke her head out the front passenger side window.

And since it worked out so well with Cloudy, I took Dusty home after her two month stay getting weaned with my babies.

This is a standard not huge mini van, Mercury Villager 93 model so its standard height, they took a bit to get used to getting in the side but road great once they settled.

I have a heavy tarp that goes to my pick up bed on the floor.

Its snowing here pretty bad so I am not going to go out and measure the van, Cloudy is 33 inches tall.

Jan

 

[Sheryl]

I figure that since people haul 15-16H horses in 6'9" trailer, that for a 34" mini, it should be at least 43" tall. (same height to height ratio). I was shooting for a little taller though. Inside of van is PLENTY tall.

 

[JanBKS]

If I remember right when I got this van it was 40ish inches from the floor to the roof, definatly plenty of head room, mine have no problem at all. Good Luck.

Jan

 

[Connie Ballard]

The problem I'm running into is where to haul your cart if the truck bed is already full of a horse or, in my case, a camper! :new_shocked: It's never just the horse with driving minis.

:

Leia

Leia,

I have a "Cart Caddy" made for me by Tim and Connie Ballard which fits on the back door of my trailer, rides securely, and is easy to load and unload (read this QUICKLY in an emergency situation) I'll never be without one again, since it is so easy to use! The cart rides with the bottom of the cart facing the door, and the shafts pointing up. Hauled mine from Cape Cod, through PA and up to Ohio for the Regionals, then home again last year! Plus to the New England shows.

When not in use it folds up against the trailer door and is totally out of the way.

LOVE IT, LOVE IT, LOVE IT!!!

Here are pics of the CartCaddy that Dru is referring to. The white trailer in the pics is ours...the aluminum trailer is Dru's. Our website is down will be back up mid-week....but you can email if you have questions [email protected]. Cart Caddy

 

[kuelqhs]

Hi,

THought i'd tell you about what my dad built. It cost (at the time) about $250 to build. It is a two horse slant (slant comes out) That goes in the back of his 1/2 ton truck. Its big enough that the A size horses can turn around in each slant. A big B can't trun around but still rides nicly. The ranp sets beside the hauler and the cart sets behind it with the shaves reasting against the top of the hauler. There is enough room on the off side (side without ramp) to put all your show supplies. I'll see if I can dig up some pics of it.

Its light enough one person can load and unload it. When its not in use my dad takes the slant out and pulls the doors off and uses it for a barn!

He put a plexieglass (sp) window in the back of it so you can look in the rerview mirior and see your horses while going down the road.

If you want to know more just pm me.

ps you need to know a welder to have one made.

 

[Sheryl]

That sounds exactly like what I have in mind. I would be really curious to hear more, what works well, what you would do differently etc. I have in mind something that will help me operate independantly, so being able to roll my cart up the same ramp would be truly ideal! I don't mind spending even more then that to get something that will give us travel independance and be safe and easy to use.

What a wonderful creative group of people here!

Hi,

THought i'd tell you about what my dad built. It cost (at the time) about $250 to build. It is a two horse slant (slant comes out) That goes in the back of his 1/2 ton truck.

 

[Devon]

That Cart Caddy looks pretty easy to remove your carts form to! How do you get the cart up and down off the top of the trailer cart holders? And anyone know websites for those?

:

 

[wiccanz]

I can almost stand right up in our van, I'm about 5'6" tall, and the biggest mini we've travelled in there is 36.75". She fits just fine