# Distance hauling - Illinois to Florida



## PDGx (Mar 24, 2013)

How far (distance or time) can you reasonably travel in a days time on the interstate ? - smooth riding gooseneck trailer that is well ventilated - 2 healthy less than 10 year old horses. 
How often do you stop and actually unload your horses before proceeding ?
Where do you stop along interstates when you do unload during stops ?
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## Palomine (Oct 30, 2010)

Horse Motels International. Horse motel & overnight stabling directory for the traveling equestrian. We find horse motels, horse hotels, overnight stabling, overnight boarding, horse vacations, ranches, bed and breakfasts, and hurricane shelter.

Horsetrip.com-An Online Overnight Stabling Directory for Horse Stabling and Horse Motels

Look at the places on either of these sites and find a couple along your route, and make plans to overnight at them.

There are many choices on them, from B&B's to stables that overnight for horses, to campgrounds. I searched for ones that were close to Interstate, easy to get to, and had good stalls, and was well satisfied with each one.

And dropped trailer at one place, as it had locking fence/gate around barn.

You should be able to travel about 10 hours or so, maybe little more if you factor in fueling, get to stable, unload, let horses rest and eat, and hit motel for yourselves.

I would not unload the horses anywhere else, as too much chance of something happening is my thought. Not much fun trying to load a horse when there is risk if it pulls loose, it will possibly run into traffic, and too many weirdos around usually too.

I trailered up from LA (Lower Alabama) to NW MO, right at 1000 miles, and overnighted 2 nights. Wanted to offload horses up here in daylight, so could see fences.

But making trip straight through is too hard on them and you too.


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## Joe4d (Sep 1, 2011)

Elyte before the trip,
DONOT UNLOAD, No reason for it, and very dangerous.
Stop every 4 hours or so, park in the shade offer water and fiber feed, like soaked cubes or beet pulp. take a half hour to hour and headback out.
A trip that long I would look for a campspot to park and sleep, in that case I would unload and give hay and water and elyte. repeat the next day. Id look at about 500 a day as reasonable, if you can handle more horses be ok, just watch the weather and time your routes so you miss cities and traffic jams during heat of the day. Carry plenty of water and presoaked fiber feed.


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## Joe4d (Sep 1, 2011)

1000 miles I would probably just stay loaded if I had 2 drivers. say 45-60 minute water and feed break every 4. maybe a longer break at the midpoint to give em time to fill up on hay.


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## PDGx (Mar 24, 2013)

Thanks to both of you. Trip is about 1100 miles and we normally tandem drive it in about 19 hours with fuel/food stops, but have never taken the horses. 
Have found a couple if 'horse stops' in the Chattanooga area which is about 1/2 way, that have pasture, stalls and RV parking/plugins for overnighters. Will have to check them out next time through before 1st time with horses. 
Have not taken horses more than about 2 hours out. Do they need any 'conditioning' prior to a trip as this ?
Thanks for your input.
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## Left Hand Percherons (Feb 1, 2011)

I find that when I drive by myself, I can average 50 miles per hour and go 600 miles a day comfortably. That will account for stopping for food and fuel and any rest breaks for the horses. 10-12 hours is about as much as I can handle if I'm doing multiple days (plus your breaks get longer the longer you drive). With multiple drivers, you can go longer or even drive straight through. 1100 miles is very doable in 2 days.

You don't want any pasture options for overnight stays. Who knows that's lurking in the field as well as any cooties (adult term) that your horses might pick up. You want to use your own waterers and feeders not ones everyone else has used. Fairgrounds are convenient and cheap places to stay overnight. You might also be able to use the outdoor arena as a pen for the night to let them move around. You might even find someone on a forum such as this one that can put up your horses for the night.

Don't forget, if you are cutting through Atlanta, time your travel so you aren't wasting 2 hours in their traffic nightmare.


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## Mingiz (Jan 29, 2009)

I'm getting ready to haul 3 horses from Maryland to Missouri. I plan on having 2 drivers and driving it straight through. We will leave Md in the afternoon and do most of the hauling at night. That way it will be cooler on the horses, Less traffic to deal with.We are also avoiding any major cities. My horses are use to longer hauls so I don't think I'll have any issues. I never take my horses off the trailer. I know that I could with them but will I will stop about every 4 hrs for fuel and give them a break and give them water etc..
It's a little over 1000 miles.:wink:


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## PDGx (Mar 24, 2013)

Mingiz said:


> I'm getting ready to haul 3 horses from Maryland to Missouri. I plan on having 2 drivers and driving it straight through. We will leave Md in the afternoon and do most of the hauling at night. That way it will be cooler on the horses, Less traffic to deal with.We are also avoiding any major cities. My horses are use to longer hauls so I don't think I'll have any issues. I never take my horses off the trailer. I know that I could with them but will I will stop about every 4 hrs for fuel and give them a break and give them water etc..
> It's a little over 1000 miles.:wink:


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## PDGx (Mar 24, 2013)

Some good points. Thanks. 
We are considering nighttime travel, especially going thru the Atlanta gauntlet - bad enough without a trailer. 
Good
Luck on your trip
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## Mingiz (Jan 29, 2009)

PDGx said:


> Some good points. Thanks.
> We are considering nighttime travel, especially going thru the Atlanta gauntlet - bad enough without a trailer.
> Good
> Luck on your trip
> _Posted via Mobile Device_


You too!!!:lol:


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## Left Hand Percherons (Feb 1, 2011)

When you get to the N side of Atlanta, you can jump on 285 and go around town on the W side and bypass the 75/85 mess. It adds an extra 15 miles but should save you a good 1/2 hour. (at least it did 20 years ago and it has to be even worse now)


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## amberly (Dec 16, 2012)

PDGx said:


> How often do you stop and actually unload your horses before proceeding ?


First off, Do Not Unload Your Horse At Any Stop. If something happens, your horse could run off, spook and hurt someone, not load up again, etc. Anything can happen and the best thing is to just open a window so the horse can stick his head out. That's as far as you should go. Don't open the back and get in, just open a window.
I found an article in a magazine about hauling horses for long drives. 

I got this from the EQUUS horse magazine.
I am just going to write everything in the magazine on here so nothing is left out and it's not confusing. This is what is says:

*EQUUS
**Long Hauls Don't Tire Horses.
*A new Texas A&M University study challenges popular notions about how many rest stops horses need during cross-country transport.
"There is a school of thought that says you need to stop every eight hours or so to let the horses rest." says Ted Friend, PhD, of Texas A&M University. "Our goal was to scientifically document when transported horses begin to show fatigue and what length of rest periods are needed for adequate rest."
Friend's research team divided a group of horses into three compartments in a semi-tractor trailer for a 16 to 18 hour trip. The low-density section held five to seven horses, the medium-density area contained eight to 10 horses and the high-density enclosure held 11 to 13 horses.
After every eight hours of travel, the horses were rested for one hour on the truck. They were also rested for an hour prior to unloading at their destination. Select groups of horses were watered using on-board troughs during rest stops. The activity of the horses throughout the trip was recorded for later analysis.
"We were primarily interested in what the horses did during rest stops," says Friend. "Truckers had told us that if you stopped periodically, the horses would be calm for about 20 minutes - in what they assumed was a resting time - then become agitated and move around."
However, videotapes revealed that the horses seemed to take no rest during the stops. "In the groups that were watered, we saw an increase of activity in the first few minutes of a stop as they positioned themselves to get water," says Friend. " The medium and low-density groups showed a tendency to become slightly more agitated toward the end of the hour long stop - They basically started picking on each other more - but we did not see anything that could be identified as resting in any of the groups, and none of the horses appeared to be particularly tired."
In a yet-to-bo-published follow-up study, videotapes of horses given three 90-minute rest stops during a 24-hour trip revealed similar behavior.
"These findings suggest that we might be better off just pushing through on longer trips and getting to the destination," says Friend. "Of course, you don't want to drive when you are tired yourself, but the notion that you have to stop every eight hours for the sake of their health hasn't been proven and might even be counterproductive. If the environment they are unloaded in is unfamiliar, they may end up getting less rest than they would if you just left them on the trailer." *Reference: *"Activity of unrestrained horses during on-truck stops," _Journal of Equine Veterinary Science._


That is what the article says. Right from the magazine. Of *EQUUS*.


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