Urgent advice please - travelling tiny ponies

Box_Of_Frogs

Box_Of_Frogs

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Still trying to collect the 2 Christmas rescue ponies! Howling wind then endless snow - had to cancel planned journey FOUR times now. I've now abandoned the idea of collecting them myself because a friend is buying a new cob from somewhere very close to where the ponies are, so we can share the cost. Problem is, is it possible to travel 2 x 9hh ponies + 14.2 cob in a 2-horse trailer? Originally, I was going to collect just the 2 tinies in my own trailer with the partition removed. Is it true that it's illegal to travel 2 ponies in the same "compartment"? We have to make a decision between a cheaper price with an experienced transporter who reckons he can knock something up to cover the rubber skirt in his 2-horse trailer so 2 x ponies would go one side and cob the other. Is this normal practice or a recipe for disaster? Our other choice is slightly dearer but a 3 horse lorry where the partitions come right down to the floor. I presume each equine would go in a separate compartment. What in god's name do you tie tiny ponies to in a trailer or lorry so they don't end up strangling themselves? In the future, my 15.2 and one 9hh pony might very well go to the same event. Can I buy a different partition that goes right to the floor? Or how would you travel them, IF you can.

Anyone got experience travelling tinies???
 
Absolutely no flipping idea hun
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The three horse one sounds the best bet of the two options.

As to rope lenth - tie a piece of binder twine to the ring and then the lead rope to the headcollar as usual (making sure the neds can get their heads down below wither level). They shouldn't be able to hand themselves...

Fingers crossed!
 
I travel my mini shetties loose all the time.

A couple share one section whenever they go in box as they stress if in section on their own, but all have shared a section at some time and never had a problem but then we never go that far 5/6 miles at most.
 
Hello! New person here who signed up to answer your question.

So long as the partition is solid, so the tinies can't get under or round it into the other side with the 14.2hh, then they should be ok travelled loose in one compartment.

I don't transport horses myself, but have some involvement with transport legislation. I see unbroken ponies (I'm presuming the rescues are unbroken) travelled loose quite frequently and once they get going they usually settle and find the best position to travel. The law now says that a maximum of four can go together, so long as they are of similar size and are of same sex. This usually works fine in a trailer compartment, but can be a waste of space in a lorry, unless you can make lots of partitions. Too big a partition and they get thrown around.

Hope this helps and that they get home to you soon!
 
Fabulous - thanks guys. We're probably going for the 3 horse lorry with partitions down to the floor so will talk to the transporter about the 2 tinies going in the same partition. Not sure if they are broken or not - certainly not wild and unhandled. Wasn't sure if they shared a standard size single partition, whether there would be enough room for 2. Guessing they are each about 4ft long and head to tail would surely be quite squashed in one partition which is probably shorter than 8ft. Might try nailing their feet to the floor to avoid any disasters.
 
We tried travelling a mini shettie just tied up normally in a herringbone lorry and she kept wringling into the big horse's partition. In the end we just held her whilst sat in the living, probably very illegal and not advised!

Since then when we've travelled small ones (anything under 12hh) at the same time as big ones we've tied them at the other end of the partition so there's nowhere for them to go.
 
Personally I would put two tinies in one side of the trailer loose, but make sure you put something solid at front of their side so they cant walk round!
 
you could always do what is popular round here and stick one in the front bit of the trailer, apparently anything up to 11.2 is fine to do this
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hope you get them back ok boxoffrogs
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Must be a solid partition separating -which usually means a forward facing lorry-to flappy rubber paritions/or half height partitions

As the two tinies are handled they 'may' travel in the same partition as long as the journey is UNDER 8 hours from start to finish including any time held up on ice bound roads and as long as there is no roll on/roll off ferry involved and it will be DETRIMENTAL to separate them.

However, I have seen some very straight talking Trading Standards Officers who have taken the opportunity to make examples of the transporters and argue the toss on the transport legislation.

The 4 in one compartment is ONLY for the likes of DARTMOOR and EXMOOR types, ie herded into a coral and funnelled into the lorry and then the space given must be to the EU/DEFRA rules.
 
personally I'd stick them together in one side. So long as they cannot get through to the 14.2hh they wont come to any harm. The other option is to borrow a sheep trailer and a vehicle suitable of towing as they should come under the weight. Mine have both been travelled in a sheep trailer towed with a normal car. They come in under 500kgs each, and the car outweighs the aluminium trailer and the ponies.
 
Do you know any sheep farmers? A friend of mine who shows shetlands uses an ifor sheep trailer as they're just too little for a normal horse trailer. He gets 4 ponies in standing herringbone like in a traditional lorry, with full floor partitions.

A friend of mine also used to use bags of shavings to stop a shetland from walking under the breeching bar of an ifor trailer and then tieing as normal.
 
I know someone who travels two small ponies in one side of the trailer and her horse on the other side when they all go hunting together - perhaps not wise but it works for her!

When I travelled my 9h shetland to shows in a trailer I had a rubber skirt made by my local Ifor guy. It slotted onto the breast bar in the shetland side. I also had the breast bar bracket lowered (just adding an extra set of brackets) which wasn't expensive and made it a very sellable trailer as I was inundated from Shetland owners when I did sell it!

As far as tying up, add some string to the outer breast bar bracket, and then tie to that. You could also put some straw / shavings bales in front of them to stop them wandering around the other side.

One possible issue though could be that not all horses like the littlies - some of mine are fine and some really hate my shetland, so some are happy to travel next to him and some get really nasty.
 
wot if the cob dosnt like the ponies? mine would be realy nasty to tiny ones he didnt know. i think you need to make sure it has walls that go right up to the top so they cant fight. btu i know lots of kids in the pony club turn up at rallys with a little pony sideways in the front bit of the trailer
 
we removed all but one partition in our wagon, set it in the middle and travelled 4 loose in 2 pairs at either side. Our partitions are not floor length so we tied a huge piece of old carpet across the top down both sides to the floor and secured it at the bottom of the partition. I would suggest you give the ponies a little more space that a single compartment and just lay a good bed on it in case they do fall. Ours travelled really well, very calm considering 3 were youngsters and the other was the one I'd had sleepless night worrying over moving him. He travelled beautifully with none of his usual sweating. They seem to find their own balance. I wouldn't tie the little ponies at all and would suggest this could cause problems in a wagon. Good luck with them.
 
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