susanne
dB
At last, after hauling our minis in our ancient Windstar until it went to that great garage in the sky, we just purchased a lightly used, low mileage '05 Chevy Express 2500. This thing is HUMONGOUS, yet most of the length is between the two axles, unlike some of the extended vans that hang way out over the back. It's in such mint condition that my brothers will have a cow knowing that we bought it as a horse hauler (evil grin). The passengers have all comforts (AM/FM radio for NPR, lots of cup holders for lots of coffee -- yay!), and it has great air conditioning to keep both humans and equines nice and cool.
It has a heavy duty safety cage (with door) and full floor matting, although we will lay down additional stall mats, as the existing one is not intended to withstand horse hooves or horsey by-products. Sandwiched between the mats will be plywood cut to fit tight in order to keep anyone from stepping into the door well, and a tarp as an extra moisture barrier.
We can easily haul two B minis, and, if necessary, haul all four of them, but we need a) a hinged stall divider for hauling two, and b) a means of dividing off the back end for safely hauling a cart and feed and tack (or additional horses should an emergency arise -- as a fire chief's daughter, I can't help thinking of what we would do in case of fire or other natural disaster).
This van is a true contractor van, with the exposed walls with assorted holes and spaces to securely lock a cart into place...but I still want more of a divider so that nobody steps back onto the cart and to keep horses between the two axles. (Primary entry and exit for horses will be through the side doors.)
We considered buying a second cargo cage, but they are installed permanently, which would make it impossible to use the van for other purposes, such as hauling lumber or camping. We would like this horizontal divider to either swing out of the way or lift out of side channels or somehow allow maximum versatility as well as safety.
I seem to recall that ~Lisa~ of Ruff-N-Tuff converted a cargo or church van into a horse hauler. So Lisa, and any others who have done this, I'd love to hear what you did -- or if anyone else has great ideas, let me hear them! How did (or would) you set up the stall divider(s)? Angled or straight?
All of my ideas are preliminary at this point, so all suggestions are welcome.
It has a heavy duty safety cage (with door) and full floor matting, although we will lay down additional stall mats, as the existing one is not intended to withstand horse hooves or horsey by-products. Sandwiched between the mats will be plywood cut to fit tight in order to keep anyone from stepping into the door well, and a tarp as an extra moisture barrier.
We can easily haul two B minis, and, if necessary, haul all four of them, but we need a) a hinged stall divider for hauling two, and b) a means of dividing off the back end for safely hauling a cart and feed and tack (or additional horses should an emergency arise -- as a fire chief's daughter, I can't help thinking of what we would do in case of fire or other natural disaster).
This van is a true contractor van, with the exposed walls with assorted holes and spaces to securely lock a cart into place...but I still want more of a divider so that nobody steps back onto the cart and to keep horses between the two axles. (Primary entry and exit for horses will be through the side doors.)
We considered buying a second cargo cage, but they are installed permanently, which would make it impossible to use the van for other purposes, such as hauling lumber or camping. We would like this horizontal divider to either swing out of the way or lift out of side channels or somehow allow maximum versatility as well as safety.
I seem to recall that ~Lisa~ of Ruff-N-Tuff converted a cargo or church van into a horse hauler. So Lisa, and any others who have done this, I'd love to hear what you did -- or if anyone else has great ideas, let me hear them! How did (or would) you set up the stall divider(s)? Angled or straight?
All of my ideas are preliminary at this point, so all suggestions are welcome.
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