# Moving cross country



## Horseychick87 (Feb 5, 2014)

I'd price the trailer and U-Haul rental versus using a pro shipping company. Many of the shipping companies have nice big air-ride trailers, some with box stall set ups. I'd really consider pricing them versus the buy and rent method you described. 

There are of course some shipping companies you should never use as they have very bad reputations, but you'll likely be safe with a company that hauls sport horses or racehorses. 

This way you won't have to 'drive under fire' so to speak, all the way from CA to TX or anywhere else really.

If you do move and your horse doesn't have insurance talk with an equine insurance agency about travel insurance for Sock, it's a little bit of comfort, and some shipping companies require it.

Should you go the truck and trailer route, make sure everything matches up, the hitch, ball and receiver couplings. The trailer is the correct weight and not sitting too high nor too low. Carry two spares for trailer and truck, etc. 
Also have the trailer, especially the floor and welds check by a pro for safety.


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## verona1016 (Jul 3, 2011)

I would lean strongly towards hiring a commercial shipper for a move like this. Even if you were interested in having a trailer at your new destination. Buying a trailer means some amount of paperwork (transferring the title, getting plates, etc.) and taxes (which I recall being pretty steep when I was in CA) and then more paperwork at the other end when you sell it (you may need to register it in the new state first, especially if it takes you a while to sell it).

You may want to look at whether or not renting a U-Haul pickup to tow cross country is even possible. They may be available for local rentals only, or they may not allow towing anything other than their own cargo trailers with them. They may or may not be equipped with brake controllers (IIRC their trailers have surge brakes which don't require a brake controller, but a brake controller is not optional for horse trailers!) or you may need to buy a ball mount with the correct amount of drop to get the horse trailer level. 

Then there's the stress of doing a long haul when you're not used to driving with a horse trailer- finding gas stations, restaurants, hotels, etc. that are easily accessible without much backing up. You also have the question of what to do with your horse- you could conceivably leave the horse in the trailer for the whole trip, especially if you take any dividers out so it's more of a stock trailer configuration (it's my understanding that this is what many shipping companies do), but if you want to unload your horse somewhere overnight you'll have to arrange that ahead of time and make sure you're driving on schedule.


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## 2BigReds (Oct 7, 2011)

Both answers are very helpful, thank you! Horseychick, VERY good point about checking the reputations of haulers and the insurance. Insurance wasn't something that I had thought of. Verona also had a good point about checking that the U-Haul truck is capable of safely pulling a horse trailer and that the drive would likely be pretty dang stressful, at least for the first leg of it and stops. I'm also not sure that the U-Haul & temp trailer idea would be much less expensive than shipping him anyway.

Has anyone used a shipping company that they would suggest? Stay away from?


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## Horseychick87 (Feb 5, 2014)

You're welcome,
To find good companies you'll have to search or if at all possible call stables or racetracks and ask them about long distance haulers.

Some to stay far away from are:
Bob Hubbard Horse transportation
Nation Wide Horse transportation
Emerald Horse Transportation

Those three get consistently bad ratings.

One I've seen fairly recently, that I know operates in KY (not sure about nation wide, but you could contact them.) Is Sallee Vans, they actually just picked up and delivered the racehorses Game On Dude and Amazombie to Old Friends retirement farm.

Good luck with your move, you'll have to let us know how it goes.


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## churumbeque (Dec 20, 2009)

With FB its easy to find someone to haul a horse. I would think it would be safer than you buying some not so nice trailer and a 1/2 ton pickup going long distance. Cheap trailer even if safe would not ride very well.


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## aspin231 (Mar 20, 2010)

I just moved across the country (4500 km ish) and decided in the end to go with a professional hauler with a good reputation. It was going to cost about the same in the end and the stress was much less with the pro, for both me and the horse! 
Best of luck, if you're able to bring your horse with you, you won't regret it.


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