Transporting Minis

[Reble]

We have done this, and I am sure others have?

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Transported minis in a Van? Properly hooked up safely

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(Always wondered what a police officer would say?)

Can you cross a border or get fined for having a mini in a van?

I have been told they can be pets not considered livestock?

We have had them safely arrived home in a Van, but have not tryed to cross over a border? :aktion033:

Met the people at the border and travelled another 4 hours home.

Just a question> :saludando:

 

[minimule]

I think as long as you had all the proper paperwork; traveling papers, health certificate, coggins..... they couldn't do anything about how you are transporting them.

One of my customers has carried her boy in the backseat of a 2 seated pickup. He liked riding back there.

 

[shminifancier]

I asked a police officer that question when I lived in AZ. and he said as long as it doesn't interfere with the driver... Well at that time all I had to haul my Shetland in was the back seat of my '67 Impala.. And I also had Regular Truck mirrors on because Josh covered up the Rear window... So no way could any police officer get me for blocking the rear view mirror :lol: And I did that all over AZ. as well as all over Wisc. Now when I had a Suburban I hauled from MO. through Iowa into Minn and back here to WI. Down and back with a mini in the back seat if the Suburban.. Right down the Interstates and all...

 

[slaneyrose]

I dont know if its illegal or not here but when my 29" 8yr old boy was a baby.....and REALLY small, I only had my toyota estate so on the rare occasions when I had to take him somewhere he travelled in the car with me!! I had the front passenger seat taken out and my friend would sit strapped in the back with Tirnan facing him and the front seatbelt round his bum!!! He is such a sweetie that the only way I could actually get him in (pushing didnt do it for him at all LOL) I just had to get in my side and call him, and he`d just step in!!! do you know, people never even seemed to notice!! Maybe they were being polite and didnt want to be seen looking at this weirdo driving around with a little horse in the car......or maybe they thought he was a shaggy dog.......or a blonde!!! (he is a red dun with a flaxen mane!!! :aktion033: ) Might have been illegal but sure was fun!!!

 

[Mercysmom]

Been there, done that.

Mercy used to ride in the backseat of my Jeep Cherokee - we took the seats out, padded and tarped the floor, opened the passenger side door and in she jumped like a big dog (she is 33.5").

I had a state trooper fly by me in the opposite direction on the way to a clinic and he hit his brakes hard. I kept driving and was hoping he thought his morning coffee might have been spiked with something alcoholic and that he was seeing things - after all, other than all of us, who sees little horses in cars? He then resumed doing in the same direction.

Our first service visit was our local ambulance corps' open house and there were lots of sheriffs and state troopers who were fascinated with "the little horse".

One visit made me feel like we were on the run... hot day, could not pull trailer and had cancelled this volunteer visit to a group home for mentally and physically challenged adults three times prior due to car problems. OK - don't flame me but I had both sons up front sharing the seatbelt (I know, big NO NO!) and Mercy in the backseat.

We were close by and I got lost. Driving around 30 minutes then I ask for directions in a hair salon. Ladies in there said there was a big furry dog in a car with the cutest kids... and I said - not a dog - it's a horse and I am lost. You never saw so two ladies move so fast to see Mercy and the boys (who were not behaving). The car was shaking like two people were in the back seat on date night.... :new_shocked:

Well, we made it to the group home and when we went to leave, we saw two police cars and an animal control officer. We were in a commercial district so I doubt they were looking for rabid dogs....had to "hide" Mercy behind my map and had one son duck down. When they passed us, we got out of there fast... if someone called to report a "horse", I was banking on the fact that most horses do not fit in cars.

Made it home safe, got car repaired (bad radiator) so it could pull the trailer and had a great tale to tell my grandkids someday.

I would not do this with any horse but Mercy is as bomb proof as they get and if there was food involved, she is a well-behaved lady - she knows her job.

Denise

Silversong Farm

 

[rabbitsfizz]

It's certainly illegal over here, and I would never do it!! I have, on very odd occasions, carried Rabbit in the back of my van but he is so quiet and well behaved the only way anyone would come to know of his existence is if we , God forbid, had an accident. It is illegal to travel Equines in the UK in anything that is under six foot floor to ceiling, and a proper, horse transporting facility-ie a Trailer properly fitted to carry horses. At present the law also requires a ramp, which I have on my trailer but never use!! The law is set to change to "two foot headroom" but has not done so yet. It is also illegal to haul horses and cattle in double deckers, but sheep and pigs and calves are OK.

I think travelling Minis in the back of cars and pick ups as some of you do is lunacy-(Sorry) but then I have had horses long enough to see all the potential risks.

It is so easy to adapt a van, as I have done, to make it safe I have no idea why someone would take the risk. :no:

 

[Reble]

Denise,

Loved your story, laughed out loud and my husband, wanted to know what was so funny !!!!!

Thanks for sharing.

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Thanks also Rabbitsfizz :saludando:

 

[slaneyrose]

Well Like Denise said, I wouldnt have done it with any other horse besides Tirnan...I have SUCH a close relationship with him and he is as quiet as they come (I have never had to give him Diazepam or anything like that to keep him quiet he just is) Now I dont need to thank goodness as I have a horse box, but I have some fantastic photos of him as its a funny story for Grandchildren..(and many others lol as Denise said)

 

[shminifancier]

Well Like Denise said, I wouldn't have done it with any other horse besides Tirnan...I have SUCH a close relationship with him and he is as quiet as they come (I have never had to give him Diazepam or anything like that to keep him quiet he just is) Now I don't need to thank goodness as I have a horse box, but I have some fantastic photos of him as its a funny story for Grandchildren..(and many others lol as Denise said)

Ya some are just that nice and quite and that Shetland was That mini mare was my mini donkey was all of which I hauled many times in the back seat. with NO USE of any types of drugs or quieting agents in them~!!!! Some are just neat to be close to and trust you and I trust them. What a nice feeling that is.. And that mare in my avatar traveled just like that (Windows Closed Though) 700 mile round trip in the back seat like that, through 3 States~! Cool eh?

 

[slaneyrose]

Ya some are just that nice and quite and that Shetland was That mini mare was my mini donkey was all of which I hauled many times in the back seat. with NO USE of any types of drugs or quieting agents in them~!!!! Some are just neat to be close to and trust you and I trust them. What a nice feeling that is

EXACTLY shminifancier....my little lad isnt a show mini or a breeding stallion but he has the BEST temperament and he has helped a lot of people who are nervous of horses overcome it. And he`s my little horse friend (well all my horses are ) but he has such trust in me he would walk thru fire if I asked him too, and you are so right......that is a wonderful feeling as I`m sure many here have also experienced. Just perhaps not in a car tho!!! :lol: :aktion033:

 

[Mercysmom]

Denise,

Loved your story, laughed out loud and my husband, wanted to know what was so funny !!!!!

Thanks for sharing.

:

Thanks also Rabbitsfizz :saludando:

Thanks! :bgrin

Forgot to add that Mercy's first two foals and her sixth were also experts at car travel... Mahalo traveled in the back of a mini van from NY to Massachusetts to his home in Walpole... Gracie rode with us to several service visits by car next to her mom and Constellation traveled exclusively by car (in the back of my Ford Explorer) to her service visits when we could not get the trailer out. As tiny as Connie was, a horse trailer would have been overkill!

Service work and good behavior is in Mercy's genetics, I would have to say!

As other members have said, some horses you trust... when I was doing Mercy's foal watch in 1997 I did not wake up one morning due to insulin shock (I am an insulin dependent diabetic on a pump). Mercy made sure I got up (even if I got up to make her breakfast - I was in a sleeping bag in her stall) by gently trying everything from tearing the sleeping bag off of me... then biting me gently... and finally pawing at my head...the evidence was the sleeping bag crumpled at my feet and many Mercy lip-prints along my jeans. My bG was 45....normal bG for me is 110.

Mercy had a 14 x 14 box stall for foaling... of all the places she could have slept, she chose to sleep next to me in my corner, on my sleeping bag. More than on one occasion over the 45 days I spent with her, she had her back against me and on frosty cold nights in upstate NY, I was thankful for the company and comfort.

New news for us - Mercy has been invited again to be a Celebrity Horse at the MA Equine Affaire in November... stop by and say Hi if you will be in the area - Mercy would love to "shake hands" with her Forum family members. She was supposed to be at the 2005 EA this past November but tragically my husband's car was totalled a week prior to us leaving and there just were not the funds in our budget nor an extra car... 2006 looks to be a better year for us!

:

Again, some horses you trust... despite their nature as a flight animal. I have been blessed with such a horse. We celebrate 12 happy years together in June.

Denise

Silversong Farm

 

[sandra dittus]

If it's against the law I think I am in trouble.

I have taken several to the Vet in my SUV.

Sandy

 

[rabbitsfizz]

Sandy I am very sorry, I am not picking on you personally, BUT that picture illustrates perfectly why it should be against the law in the States as it is already in the UK.

 

[Filipowicz Farm]

My best advise would be to call the border and ask them. Get the name of the person you spoke to ,time and date . I f they tell you its ok and they should give you trouble you will have this infromation that they said it was ok.

 

[slaneyrose]

Mercysmom.....She sounds a lovely little person!! You should write in to one of those shows about how an animal has saved your life!! And the cuddling up to you........that is sooo sweet!! Can I see a pic of her?? I had a mare that sought me out and lay down beside me to foal.....that was a wonderful feeling, to be so trusted. Nothing like it is there!

 

[littlehorse2]

[SIZE=14pt]I was told it was illegal by a big horse person that had a mini. She had gotten stopped going to a show and the officer followed her after he gave her a ticket. She had to find alternate transportation for the way home. But the guy I bought my first 2 from puts them in the bed of his truck with a cap on it. He puts some bales of hay back there to make a little stall. He's been doing this for years and has never had a problem. So I'm not sure what the answer is here. I wanted to get a cap for my truck and do it that way or make stalls for my mom's van, but my hubby says no way, we need to get a trailer. The stalls for the van came from a person on here that had them made for her van. [/SIZE]

Christy