Lexington, KY - The increasingly global nature of today's horse industry requires top equines to spend a lot of time on the road, and that means big business for equine transport companies.
Thoroughbred mares travel to Lexington stallion farms for breeding in the spring, and some of those top stallions, in turn, are vanned to the airport for the fall breeding season, bound for horse farms in South America or Australia. And beyond breeding, horses involved in racing, showing and other types of competition travel to and from other states regularly - and, if they're really good, to other countries.
The horses travel in trailers custom-built for their safety and comfort. Horse van drivers are trained in both truck driving and handling horses. They watch their passengers via closed circuit cameras, and every few hours, they stop to feed and water the horses.
Brook Ledge, Inc., one of the largest horse transportation firms, is owned by the Gotwals family. Its headquarters is in Olney, Pa. Brook Ledge maintains truck terminals in Lexington and Ocala, Fla. Employees in the Lexington office arrange trips in Kentucky and also manage a layover farm for horses.
Sallee Horse Vans is also a family business, with headquarters in Lexington and an office in New York. Nicole Pieratt started working in her grandparents' company in the mid 1990s. Five and a half years ago, she bought the company from her grandmother, uncle and mother.
Curt Lange manages financial matters for Brook Ledge and serves as spokesman. A former Standardbred trainer, Lange said that the best part of his job is "going to either shows or sales or the races and being around horses and horse people, because most of the time I'm in the office."
Pieratt enjoys "being a part of the greatest game in sports, being with the horses and the passionate people who care about them."
Both companies take horses to all states and Canada. Lange said most of Brook Ledge's business "is in a big triangle - New York state to Lexington to south Florida, and back up the coast to New York."
Most horses that are the only ones going to particular locations "go at carrier's convenience," Lange said. Customers typically offer the company plenty of advance notice, Lange said, so these horses can be added to the next van that is going there or nearby.
"We start building a load three or four months ahead," he explained.
Smaller vans are used to transport mares locally during breeding season. The cost at Brook Ledge is $110 to $145. Because the driver has to wait until the mare is ready to be taken to her home farm, he can usually finish two trips a day, and occasionally three.
Transporting horses to be sold is more profitable. A large farm may send 50 to 55 horses to a major sale or have that many coming back from the sale. Planning efficient use of the vans and getting horses to different locations on the same day, while being mindful of the weather in different places, is "a multi-level chess game," Lange said. "The routes and number of animals can change in two or three hours."
Brook Ledge charges $1,000 to $1,400 to take a horse from Kentucky to Florida, depending on stall size and occupancy. The companies offer stalls in three sizes: single (30 inches wide, for short trips), stall and a half (46 inches wide, the standard), and box stalls (92 inches wide, for mares and foals together).
Box stalls are the most expensive because fewer of them can fit into a trailer. They are the only type that allows horses to move freely and lie down. Using them on long trips is essential for every horse's comfort and helps prevent respiratory infections.
Among Sallee's passengers are the Lexington Mounted Police horses, which travel to Canada to compete in the mounted police championships. They won in 2009 but had to skip last year's competition so they could help with the World Equestrian Games.
For Pieratt the most challenging aspect of running her business is "fuel costs and the economic conditions that affect every business now."
Sallee has taken a creative approach to reducing expenses by allowing advertising on its trucks. Pieratt said that these truck wraps are ideal for other horse businesses because the vans are seen by thousands of horse people. Some of the most attractive ads feature top stallions at local farms.
Lange said the most challenging part of the business is "to get people's backyard pets, high-powered racehorses, and valuable show horses from point A to point B in the most expedient form, so they arrive fresh as a daisy, looking like they've just walked out of their stalls after a good night's sleep."