BreyerFest 2015 Part 1

We had a great time at BreyerFest this year! Typically, my husband, myself and my son fly to BreyerFest. This year was a bit different. My husband and son left 4 days earlier than me and drove from California to Kentucky. Until now, I have always flown my show horses. Doing so required a lot of packing and a lot of nailbiting. The stress of flying horses was one of the main reasons that my husband opted to drive this year. To fly, I pack 4 packing crates that are lined with foam. The total girth is 64” which is the max size allowed by most airlines before incurring a hefty oversize charge. My show herd consists almost entirely of custom finish horses which, in my opinion, are a bit trickier than packing original finish horses. I wrap my horses first in an inside out puppy pad and put them into a bubblebag. If they have any extra breakable bits, they require extra bubblewrap, foam or toilet paper. Then I place them in a labeled Pony Pouch and on into another labeled bubblebag.

This year we purchased some nice rolling tool trunks that would be easy to get in and out of the hotels along the way. The bottom, sides and the tops of the trunks were lined in 1” foam that I purchased in bulk from Uline. I pack the horses lying down on their sides. When 1 layer of horses is full, piece of foam is placed over them and I start on the next layer. As the airlines wouldn’t be tossing them around, I opted to not put the extra layers of foam between the horses that I do when using the crates. I also was able to pack them a bit tighter than I normally would. And as I wouldn’t be limited by an airline limit of 2 carryons, I was able to leave a number of horses safely in their custom fitted foam case which was a huge relief.