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 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 460
 
| Hey there! So I have of course done quite a bit of hauling before to barrel races and such. But I have never hauled more than 5/6 to take my horses somewhere. In a couple weeks I'll be shipping a couple horses from Phoenix, az to Minnesota! How do you guys ship your horses long distance? Do you leave a hay net, or just water off when you fill up the truck? I just have a 2 horse straight load, and its one with the compartment, no escape door, so the horses can't really get their heads down to cough out anything. I'm just worried, I have heard plenty of horror stories about shipping fever. Just trying to learn so I can have a safe and successful trip =] Any advice is helpful, thanks! And also, I will be laying over one night. So it will be a two day trip. Thanks again! |
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 Bulls Eye
Posts: 6443
 
Location: Oklahoma | I've hauled many times from San Diego to Lexington KY. I deeply bed my trailer in shavings. I also put fly masks on the horses to protect their eyes. I keep grass hay in front of them at all times. When I stop for fuel, I offer water or wet down the hay. I DO NOT unload. I lay over at night (www.horsemotel.com) I usually layover at MCS Stables in Flagstaff, Big Texan in Amarillo and a friend's barn in Springfield. When I stop for the night, I give the horses their grain to keep them on schedule. I also will do a bran mash with mineral oil in it. |
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 Expert
Posts: 1857
| TwistedK - 2015-04-08 1:45 PM
I've hauled many times from San Diego to Lexington KY. I deeply bed my trailer in shavings. I also put fly masks on the horses to protect their eyes. I keep grass hay in front of them at all times. When I stop for fuel, I offer water or wet down the hay. I DO NOT unload. I lay over at night (www.horsemotel.com) I usually layover at MCS Stables in Flagstaff, Big Texan in Amarillo and a friend's barn in Springfield. When I stop for the night, I give the horses their grain to keep them on schedule. I also will do a bran mash with mineral oil in it.
This^^^ I also, do not unload.... I use alfalfa cubes to cut down on dust and every horse has a half full bucket of water. Since you don't have the ability to hang buckets you might just offer it every time you stop for fuel. Bring your own water from home, what they are used to drinking on a regular basis. |
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Miracle in the Making
Posts: 4013
| when i moved from los al ca to ga i had a 2 horse i offered water the local water at every stop left hay in manager no grain
and took him out about every 12 hrs at rest area ad graze and walk around |
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Red Bull Agressive
Posts: 5981
Location: North Dakota | My very first time hauling a horse by myself was a 1,000 mile trip with a horse I didn't know lol. I left a hay net in front of him at all times. If you're concerned about dust, wet down the hay before giving it to them. I gave him water every time we stopped and only unloaded him when we stopped overnight at a horse motel. Try and keep any grain they get on schedule. Also if they're ulcer prone you may want to give them Omeprazole a few days before leaving, while trailering, and a day or so after. That's one thing I wish I would have done. |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 725
| I'd suggest a hay bag, not net! Nets scare me because when they're empty they sag way down and could get a foot caught. |
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 Money Eating Baggage Owner
Posts: 9586
Location: Phoenix | I would definitely leave hay for them. One thing I did last time we hauled far (WA to OK) is I filled up a bucket WITH A LID full of water before Ieft the house. When I stopped, I could easily water the horses right off the bat, and then I could find water later to refill it. I found it super helpful. I would try and stop at a fairgrounds and unload for an hour after about 8-10 hours. We will stop every 4 to refuel, but I would only unload after 8 or 10. We never wrapped on these trips. |
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Location: Texas | When we travel, we also don't unload for fuel, we have hay bags and stop at sale barns ever 9-10hrs for the night. Unless we are going to Florida, they stay in the trailer the whole 12hrs. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 762
Location: NC | Both mine have gone from NE TN to NY and back. I fill slow feed hay nets and when stopping for fuel i would offer water and gatorade. Both mine love gatorade so was easy to use. we stopped in pa coming up and IN going down for the night. I put fly masks on if my drop downs were down and usually left them on even if they were up. The first trip down we didnt unload but that was hauling my old man and we clipped him when we stopped for a few hours so he could move. |
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Hauling horses across country