You know how you know what something is, but you never really know how that something works?! For example, I certainly know a computer server when I see one. But, have I ever looked inside? No. I just know is transports information from one place to another.
Same with mini-horse trailers. I know they take mini horses from one place to another, but I’d never looked inside…
THE STORY
Sweet Hubby decided to kidnap me and take me on a surprise outing for Mother’s Day. Very secretly, he managed to find a horsey thing in the area that he knew I knew nothing about.
The reason he knew that I knew nothing about this horsey event was because he said that it wasn’t publicized very well and he had to really hunt for the website…
Hmmmm.
The wonderful part of this was that he tried so hard to surprise me and he succeeded!
The ironic part about this particular horsey event was that it was so obscure, we were the only car parked in front of the Livestock arena. (Hubby thought he had gotten the dates wrong.) Tumbleweeds passed us as we walked to explore further.
Upon entering the huge (HUGE) arena, we were the only people there besides a clutch of supportive relatives, the yawning concession person and a lonely ticket taker asleep on his stool.
It was a deserted mini show!
IT WAS A MINI SHOW!
OMG. What is cuter than a few tiny horses in a huge arena?!
I took photos (with the zoom on all the way) and found these little hellions hysterically cute. They were doing everything big horses do at shows except no one was taking them seriously.
I saw one mare rip into her handler and the handler simply swatted her off like a fly. The ittybitty mare was so frustrated!
When they brought in the studs, the entire auditorium was echoing with shrill little screams and hollers. Ha!
I was tittering with glee! We went outside and moved through the few decorated barns. I couldn’t stand it! All those tiny creatures decked out in their best sleezies- hoods and all. Loved it!
Anyway, what I wanted to speak about today was not the mini horses, but their carriers. Yup, mini-horse trailers.
This little yearling was for sale and I just fell in love...
FASCINATED
As we strolled back to the car, we walked through the trailer parking. That is when I saw them… The most amazing little rigs! I took several photos because I had never noticed these things on the freeways or highways before. Or, if I did, I probably just thought they were campers or elaborate dog crates. I had no idea!
How do they get the minis in there? Can they see out? Is the ride really rough? Or is it more smooth because they are riding on a truck suspension? Can you look out the back of the truck and see their little faces? Can you have both windows open and feed them carrots? Do they make living quarters versions? If so, can tall people stand up inside?
I had so much to learn…
I had never seen anything like this!
MY STUDY IN MINI TRAILERS
OK, there are several varieties…
1) REGULAR: The regular type mini trailer seems like a big horse trailer that has been sized down to accommodate a mini. Here you see that the dividers are lower. But, the windows aren’t – in comparison. So, I don’t think they can see out. But, I’m not sure on that one. Anyway, everyone is fairly familiar on how these work…
Looks familiar, just smaller scale
Inside view... can they see out? Dunno.
Lower dividers.
2) BOX: This is the one that caught my eye. The Box fits into your truck bed! You can have several variations and up to a 5 horse size! I was totally amazed by the ability to fit 5-6 horses in the back of a truck!
The Box has a pull-out ramp that seems safe enough.
In the Box design, it seemed like the horse could see out better than the Regular version.
And, I wondered if the ride would be smoother because they were on top of a truck suspension. Dunno.
The Box style that goes into your truck bed.
Straight load... Can you pass carrots out of your back truck window into the Box's front window?
3) ALUMINUM POPPER BOX: I don’t know why they call these Poppers… They work the same way as the boxes but are lighter in weight.
The Aluminum Popper tear sheet.
Fits right in...
4) BOB’S: I saw this style at the mini show I attended. It looks like a camper shell! I wrote down the manufacturer. It was ‘Mini Horse Haulers by Bob’. He had many designs on his website and it seemed well organized and thought out. It appears that this is all he does… Mini Horse Hauling Trailers.
The website had many options and all kinds of descriptions. If I had a mini, I’d probably go to him and pester him with lots of question. I live near Bob’s factory so it could still happen…
This is the Bob trailer I saw at the mini show.
From Bob's website.
Drop down windows are nice. The minis look happy!
5) THE EUROPEAN: I liked this one quite a bit. But, is is not available in the US, so far. What do you think?
European design they tell me...
6) GOAT HAULER: I really liked this one from the point of view of the horse. It is a goat hauler. And, it will fit minis.
As you can see, the animals can look outside. I like that.
It has drop down windows with the bars inside. It has padded dividers that are see-through. Nice flooring. I like this one.
So, if you are in the market, don’t forget to look at goat trailers!
A Goat Trailer that can be used for minis.
7) CONVERSION INSERTS: This is a great idea! If you already have a trailer, these mini adaptations can be slipped into the deck of your trailer and then expanded to fit tightly.
Brilliant! Now owners don’t have to sell their regular sized trailers and buy a new mini trailer. They can convert their own.
And, since many of us convert to minis as we get older and have already had large horse trailers, this is a great solution!
How it works.
The diagram that explains it.
The conversion inside a regular sized trailer.
7) DOG TRAILER: This just cracked me up. It is a trailer that goes behind a motorcycle for your dog!
A motorcycle trailer for your dog!
Ha!
9) THE ‘AW JUST PUT ‘EM IN THE VAN’ TRAILER: Simple design. Easy to install. Affordable.
10) MY PERSONAL FAV: After all, you get a mini because they are so much easier than a horse! And cute!!
Yeehaw!
HORSE AND MAN is a blog in growth… if you like this, please pass it around!
MAY BUCKET FUND
Champ and Alaqua Animal Refuge.
Please help them make sure Champ doesn’t go back to his original owner.
And for Alaqua’s Trailer Accident horses and for Gypsy&JR who were poisoned.
Click here to donate to Alaqua and little JR who lost his mother to plant poisoning and who was poisoned himself through her milk.
Copyright
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
In reference to #7) Dog Trailer. I am in the process of purchasing WAGS trailers, the company that made this trailer. I thought you would be interested to know we are working on a “Jumbo WAGS” in our pet line specifically with Mini Horses in mind. The WAGS trailers can be pulled behind any vehicle, be it car or motorcycle. If anyone is interested, feel free to e-mail me at rich@hippieclean.com or reach out to support@wagstrailers.com.
Cute post!
We have a utility trailer that was converted to a mini trailer. We could haul 5 minis comfortably. It is a 10ft long trailer. When we bought it, the person had lined the bottom 1/2 of the walls with plywood & had put nice stall mats on the floor. Added tie rings, 2 windows on one side & one window on the other. Since then, we added a foot locker to the outside front (it sits on the tongue of the trailer) & added tie rings to the outside of the trailer for tieing the minis while tacking them, etc. The horses have all jumped right into the trailer each time we’ve asked & have traveled wonderfully in there. We did add a small divider as one of our mares likes her own space . I can pull the trailer with my Honda Pilot with no problem. My suggestions to improve the trailer would be to add roof vents as it does get warm in the summer inside. & to figure out a way to put a rack on top so I can haul my cart.
Anyone out there ever converted a utility trailer into a light weight mini horse trailer? I sure could use some help or ideas about this. Thanks!
I didn’t put the cart before the horse – I put the horse before the trailer. Should have worked out the trailer details before buying my horse – oh well!! Right now I have a 10×7 utility trailer I fugured I’d get customized to hold my one mini, Blue. Anyone oout there done something like this before? I really need some advice about how I can go about trailering my guy; I know someone out there has dome it before. Thanks in advance for the hep.
I have a mini horse trailer for sale a goose neck fits 7 minis has hay and tack area as well and room for your cart. no longer have the truck to pull it will trade for a bumper pull. if interested call me at 19314517691 asking 5,000 or best offer or trade thanks beth . this trailer is great as stalls are made for minis but the head room is made for humans not like the bump your head in the regular mini trailers
I love minis! Have four of the little buggers and would have dozens more if I had the money, time, and space.
I have found the best mini trailer is a basic steel stock trailer for big horses. But one with slat openings most of the way down so the minis can see out. I have a 16 foot bumper pull that I picked up for $1,700 and it is perfect for minis. I leave them loose to decide the most comfortable way to ride. Plus it serves as a box stall at a show.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v441/Babygoose/P1030166.jpg
Hubby took you to a horse show as a supprise?!! What a man! Does he have any much much older brothers??
What a fun post today! Minis are too cute for their own good. I found it very interesting and thought it was a darn shame too few people knew about it. Maybe you could do their marketing….at least they’d have a crowd : ) I am MOST AMAZED that your hubby found such a terrific little horsey event that somehow you didn’t know about. M
I’ve never seen trailers for minis. In fact, I haven’t seen many minis, and those I have seen weren’t this refined. They’re so pretty! Wish they’d been around when I was I kid, measuring the backyard to convince my folks we had room for a horse. Of course, I didn’t know a thing about zoning!
Well I had seen the mini trailers (I have 2 elderly rescued minis and don’t show them but do go to the mini shows because I love to watch the obstacle driving classes) but not ones as nice as featured in your post today, but had never seen the dog trailers and I just love that there are dog trailers! thanks for posting the info.
You can get conversions for the interior of a regular size horse trailer that will accommodate minis (or build yourself, I think one of the mini catalogs has plans available for a nominal price) e.g., the lower dividers, tho it doesn’t help with window placement. I wonder if the reason some mini trailers don’t have low-set windows is the risk of flying road debris which might hit and damage (or worse go through) a low window.
Cute mini hauler I saw round these parts (PNW), a mini-owning/showing lady’s talented son customized a van conversion for her – interior had fold-down cot, closet, built-in cupboard and shelves, and a cooktop and fridge set up pullman-style, with the mini stall in the interior across the back of the van – padded all around incl. floor, added access door, with pull-out ramp stored under the chassis, and a sort of bike rack with platform on the exterior back to carry the cart (hauled with the shafts pointing up to minimize the footprint) and an old-fashioned steamer trunk belted inside the van for harness-keeping. All with wood veneer and brass fittings, very posh!
From SV: i rescued a mini once…well okay it was extortion. I went to look at this weanling for sale. She was full of worms ,sick with what later turned out to be pneumonia, in a dry lot with about 10 full sized pregnant mares and there was no hay to be seen any where. The horses were all in weight so apparently he was feeding them but was not taking care of them very welll. This tiny little filly was looking like crap. he wanted 2000$ for her. Said he bought her for his 3 year old to ride but the little horse wouldnt comply. She was 7 months old!!!! Just barely off her mother!!!! ass hole!!!! I drove there in a blazer, not expecting to do what I did next. I told him I will give you 200 bucks for her and not report you for neglect… He looked at me like he wanted to spit!! I dared him by glaring right back at him. Wrote out the check, he handed me her papers and I picked her up and put her in the back of my blazer and took her home! She poo’d all over the back of it but I didnt care she was safe. My vet told me she was about a week away from dying from pneumonia. I named her Lily. Taught her tricks and walked her like a dog. She now lives down the street at a barn set up miniature for her and her “sisters” and has the life of a princess. :-)
I LOVE these trailers and the horses are adroable!!! How fun is that to have a mini riding in the front like a big dog!!
Who knew! I have seen the dog trailers, but never the mini horse trailers….That is just an over load of cuteness! The van disturbs me…When ever I load my LARGE horse in the horse trailer, she Poos…..Do the mini’s in a mini van? LOL