HI Spy: Do you drive a horsemobile?

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Gallopp license plateYou are what you drive. At least that’s what the truck and car manufacturers would like us to believe. But that saying may hold true for horse lovers.

Many of us drive pickup trucks for more than just hauling horses. We simply feel at home behind the wheel of a utilitarian vehicle. If we need several sacks of feed or have to heft some bedding back to the barn, a truck sure comes in handy.  And just to make sure the world knows we’re serious about caring for horses, there’s usually some hay scraps hitching a ride on the back bumper.

Horsemobile bumper stickerIf a car is your standard mode of transportation to and from the barn, it probably also bears testimony to your horse loving nature. Chances are your car’s trunk is a treasure trove of horse stuff. If someone popped it open, they might discover a spare pair of boot socks, a dusty helmet or an extra halter or bridle. And what’s strewn across your backseat or tucked under the front seat? Likely finds include old horse show premiums, receipts from the tack store, a (somewhat) clean sweatshirt and that long lost riding glove.

Gettiup license plateNo horse lover’s set of wheels would be complete without a sprinkling of animal hair clinging to the seat cushions, whether it’s courtesy of a recently curried horse or the resident barn dog. Then there’s that gritty dirt that falls off the soles of boots and collects around the gas and brake pedals.  It’s a wonder that we even try to keep our vehicles clean!

Horsemobile 'Jumper6' license plateIn this installment of HI Spy, we’d like to know how your vehicle matches your horse loving lifestyle. How does your truck or car reveal that you’re a horse lover? Do you have a personalized license plate that declares your passion? Are you driving around with half the contents of your tackroom in your backseat? Click on Submit a Comment below and tell us about your horse mobile. Some comments may appear in a future issue of Horse Illustrated magazine.

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55 COMMENTS

  1. Hi horse lovers! I have a ’94 Ford Ranger. Everyone knows I am a horse freek because on the front I have a horsey licencens plate. My interier is covered in horse hair all the time and the rugs are never clean. But that is the way I like my vehicle, DIRTY!

  2. I own a ’76 Ford pickup. one of my favorites things, and there is no mistaking that it is a Horse-mobile. The bumper is covered with stickers from adopt-BLM-mustangs to cute horsey sayings. There is halters, mucking boots, magazines, pictures, decals, carrots, and an endless amount of dirt and straw covering every square inch of my truck. There is always either a haybale, a saddle, or bags of feed in the back, and I have a strand of braided hair from my horse on my dashboard; a daily reminder of him. Oh, you gotta love that truck!

  3. I am not yet fifteen & a half. My parents are not very horse the only time tack is in the car is after purchasing or for lessons & shows. There are no horsey license plates bumper stickers or decals on the car. When I get a car I plan to always drive a truck. Put on horses decals, bumper stickers & license plates & horsey floor mats. I am sure tack such will often be in the back or feed & hay in the bed. There will be dog & horsehair on the eats & it will smell like horses with hay stuck in the bumper

  4. You can definately tell I am a horse person by looking at my car. I have bumper stickers that tell you my quarter horse is smarter than your honor roll student, my other ride is my horse, if you’re going to ride my bumper at least put a saddle on it & to end abuse & support Days End Farm Horse Rescue. Open the trunk and you’ll find misc. bits of tack, boots, etc. I love my horse & am proud to let the work know it.

  5. you can definently tell that i’m a horse person by looking at my truck. On the back window there is a decal that says cowgirl cadillac and another barrel racer decal on the tail gate. on the two front doors theres a magnetic sign with our farm name on it.

  6. There may not be a lot of horse stuff on the exterior of my car, but the inside is a mini tack room. There’s probably everything you need to go riding- including an extra saddle!

  7. The only thing horsey that is in my car is my brush bag. I think I have a pair of winter boots in my trunk. I had my English show boots and a broken pair of paddock riding boots. But when I’m older, I will definitely have a horsey license plate, and maybe some horsey bumper stickers!

  8. My truck is like most horsey trucks. I got bumper stickers on it, with the hay in the back from feeding that day. Now the inside is another story there are briddles, lost halters, brushes,my helmet, and an occassional saddle in the passenger seat. Heaven help me if I get a ride along that is not the dog. Nice to know their are others out there it is not just me.

  9. My equine addiciton is broadcast loudly to the outside world through mode of transportation. I own a ’95 red Chevrolet Tahoe with a horse decal on the back window and an appaloosa pinstripe. The inside bears the smell of fresh hay and leather with all the necessary equipment for a trail ride or jackpot. Drive on equine enthusiasts, drive on!

  10. My truck tells everyone I’ve got horses, because 90% of the time there is a horse trailer behind it. If I happen to be out w/out a trailer you can still tell by the breed assoc. stickers on it, the pieces of tack strewn around, the dirt and hair on the floor and the Heeler dog in the back on top of the hay 🙂

  11. My dually diesel truck definetly tells everyone that I am a horse lover even when I am not pulling a trailer. Besides just the truck itself, I have my front “Morgan Horses” license plate. My rear plate is personalized with “HRSPWR1” inside of a license plate holder that reads “RIDING IS NOT A SPORT IT IS A PASSION”. I love it!

  12. Well our family doesn’t own a truck, but the boarding barn does. When we go to big events we get car paint and write everywhere! We just recently went to a Pony Club rally, and the back of the truck said “High ho, high ho, the horses have all the dough”.

  13. Outside the truck, all you’ll see is the AQHA sticker, but inside there’s always tack and grooming supplies, as well as treats and a few old “Horse Illustrated” magazines floating around.

  14. I love those license plates. Too bad, no one can tell I have horse from my vehicle. Unless he’s sitting on my lap. He’s a miniature.

  15. I drive a black Jeep with a big silver barrel racing decal on the back window. I have a little cowboy hat hanging on the rear view mirror… spurs, halter, spare boots, equestrian books are in the trunk. And yes, dog hair and a bit of hay in random places – I don’t know how it gets there!

  16. My car has all kinds of decals on it- from the trail horse to a bucking bronc. I have a friend that went as far as to build a saddle rack for her back car seats to transport her saddle- she doesn’t have a place to keep her tack at her barn, so she is constantly transporting it back and forth. And I thought I was bad!

  17. My old car is like a mobile barn really. It was clean when I bought the ’94 saturn but three years later the bumper sports a total of 4 stickers. My truck has horse blankets, shampoos, ferrier tools, and enough hay and dirt to floor an entire barn. My back seat is home to a western saddle, english saddle, saddle pads, bridles,(All this stuff doesn’t leave much room for my german shepard) and in the back window is my western hat. The front seat is a revolving store room for my riding boots, muck boots, spurs, helmet, etc. And to top off the rustic country look is the even layer of dirt over the body of my car from driving the dirt road my horses live on. My car preatty much SCREAMS horse-mobile and horse-owning-maniac-coming-through. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

  18. I always have mud/hay in the bottom of my parents van. I don’t own a horse, but I do ride. My Dad isn’t the “horsey type”, but he encourages my riding. If you were to look in our van, you could probably find my missing crop (although I’ve looked for it many times), a pair of boots or work shoes, and an assortment of hay and debree. But, I like it just the way it is. Oh, and you could probably find horse and rabbit fur all over.

  19. My car (two door) is home to dirt, hair, hay, etc…. The backseat has boots, rubber boots, helmet, extra jackets and occasionaly my doberman. The trunk has everything from my show halter and tack to ribbons and this weekend I even found a concession stand menue from the last show.

  20. I’ve got a license plate frame on my Jeep that says Cowgirl Up. Besides that, anyone could peer in through my untinted windows and see my boots, helmet, and Carhartt in the back and the horse textbooks spread out on my backseat. Not to mention the constant coat of dirt and mud on my car.

  21. When I get a pickup truck (I can’t pull a trailer without one) I will have galloping horse painted on the side.
    (I have a helmet, boots, a few Horse Illistrated magazines, and there is a montain ofr hay IN the car.

  22. I’m in high school and everyone can tell that it is my car because I haev paiofmy western spurs on my dashboard and hanging next to my school parking pass is of course an old horse necklace! I sometimes get embarrased when my locker smells like hay or horses…but I would never give it up in a million years.

  23. We have a ‘Rolex Kentucky 3-Day-Event 2008’ bumper sticker on our van. We got the sticker in the mail with our tickets, so it was fun to see all the other cars with their Rolex 2008 bumper stickers on in the parking lot at Rolex!

  24. If someone were to open the hatch-back of my SUV (which contains a horse sticker on it), they would find more boots back there than a shoe store… horse treats, blankets, leads & many extra pairs of winter hats, gloves & sweatshirts. Everyone knows I love my horse & my barn time!

  25. From the outside it’s not obvious that my truck is owned by a “horse freak”, but it’s very clear as soon as you open the door. It’s basically a tack room on wheels. I’ve got my saddle, saddle pads, brushes, spare halters, etc. Grubby floors and horse hair on the seats is another clue. And of course there’s always some kind of treat.

  26. I have a horse decal on the rear window of my SUV. Even better, when people get in my SUV they always comment that it “smells like horse”.

  27. My license plate says YEEE HAW. I also have a running horse decal and a Lucky Cowgirl sticker on the back window. (The side windows are saved for the kids sports…two different soccer clubs.)

  28. Yeah anyone can tell i am horse crazy! I have an eventer sticker on it … Eventers do it three ways in three days, and i have an OEF sticker (Ontario Equestrian Federation) on it, inside is bags from tackshops and horse magazines and when i go to shows half the time the tack stays in my jeep until i need it or looking for it. Whatever i cant find i look in my car! LOL

  29. I have both a truck and a mini-van and there is no question that I am both an avid Arabian horse lover and trail rider! The multiple stickers tell the story! Both vehicles also come complete with various horse equipment at all times as well as binders with my horses health papers and the aromatic scent of horse hair and wet dogs!

  30. My mom’s truck has a white sticker of a rider and horse on her back window, as well as an array of horse books and magazines strewn across the seats and floor ( much of which is my fault)!

  31. i have two stickers on the the oposite corners of my rear window. one is a rider and horse doing dressage, and the other a horse and rider jumping a fence.

  32. My horse habit is quite apparent to anyone who rides in my vehicle. Though it is not capable of pulling a trailer it serves as my portable tack room. The back is full of horse treats, a horse cooler, boots, two riding helmets (in case a friend ever needs one), fly spray, sand clear, and other various horse necessities. In the back seat barn sweatshirts cover the seats and more then one has found dirt and/or horse hair when they go to have a seat.

  33. I drive a Doge Intrepid Sedan. On the rear bumper is a sticker that says, “My SUV has four legs, a mane and a tail, and doesn’t guzzle gas!” There is also a window cling of a horse, QH I think on the rear window, custom graphics (my own artwork) of a horse jumping over my name which is transcribed into elvish on the sides and a 2003 Breyer Arabian ornament hanging from the rear view mirror.
    My trunk is full of hoof trimming tools as I am a professional trimmer and there are usually horse related items floating around in the back seat.

  34. My 2008 Toyota Tundra is a horsemobile. It always contains a wooden saddle stand/storage area that I purchased at Dover. It contains the saddle, pads, plushy pads, three girths, fly spray, wintergreen alcohol for my horse’s legs after a lesson and leg boots. On the ceiling in the rear is a clothing pole that has a hook to carry the bridle, riding hat and visor and or sun hata. The rear seats are always covered with sheets so that I do not worry about hay, mud, etc. On the floor I keep an Irish anti sweat blanket for my Friday lessons. There is always a score sheet from a recent show in the back magazine rack, and extra nose flashes attached to all handle bars. The ashtray in the front has a spare set of spurs, an apple, keys to the barn, hairnet, extra riding gloves in the glove compartment, plastic gloves in second compartment for cleaning stalls, rubber mucking boots in front passenger floor, sheets on front seat so as to not get dirt from my breeches onto the beautifuly gray seats, suntan lotion for me and my horse’s nose in the storage compartment, a GPS in case I have to take my lesson at a new ranch and always bits of hay in the truck bed. compartment for me and my horse’s nose. I am sure that there is more under the seat but I am running out of space.

  35. my car is a 2001 taurus wagon….excellent for hauling hay, grain, and shavings….the guy at the feed store always laughs when he loads it up.
    but that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
    we have two other vehicles and they have at least an emergency halter or two, rope, saddles, gear, dirt, hay, and the horses sometimes like to nuzzle along floor of the truck(when the door’s left open)for the little grain bits strewn around.
    horse life at it’s best.

  36. I drive a four door Dodge 1/2 ton Ram, all black, no chrome, and love it. I also pull a 16fttrailer with living quarters, two horse trailer and it does very well. Some horsey stuff is under the backseats, great storage there, and my horse papers are always in the console for showing, along with the necessary insurance, etc papers. Love my truck, the horse trailer is always loaded and ready to leave, and guess that is where I keep most of my stuff as I usually only show one horse

  37. I drove a 2wd chevy pickup with a halter hanging from the gun rack, hay remnants in the back, dried mud manure mixture tracked from my boots on the floor. The side of the bet is even caved in on one side with a hoof print right smack in the middle of the huge dent.

  38. Though I no longer have it, up until November 08 when it was demolished in a bad accident, my Ford Contour was loaded up with horse stickers. “Got Paints?” was on the back window, “My Other Ride is a Paint Horse,” my APHA Member stickers were on the front and back and several other horse stickers. The only thing I still have is my license plate holder that states “My other car is a horse.” Now I have to collect my horse stickers all over again for the new car.

  39. hello i love love love horse illistrated so much that i wish i had a horse. the worst thing about my life is i have noooooo horse!!!!! can you people belive it at all!?=( my life long dream is to always have a horse . i just want a horse soo bad that id do ANYTHING!!!!I AM SOO TELLING THE TRUTH!!! just wanted to let you know how much i love horse illistrated !!! looks like i never have a horse untill im 55 !!!! remember you guys rock more than… ANYTHING!!!!

  40. i am turning 16 in june, and will be getting my licence. =] i am [hopefull] going to get this truck of our family friends. it is a 97 White CHEVY SILVERADO 2500 HD. =]] it has an extended cab and is a nice truck.
    CHEVY ALL THE WAY!

  41. PS,
    im getting it so i can haul my own horse! =]] yayy! i might also be searching to get a trailer, just a cheap 2 horse that is not falling apart and is located close to where i live. =]

  42. When I get a car, I know it will scream “HORSE MANIAC!!!” because I am! Soon, it will be covered in mud and horse stickers!

  43. You can’t tell my truck is a Horsemobile from the outside, but one quick glance in any of the windows would tell you otherwise!! There are show shirts, halters, lead ropes, a saddle pad, cowboy boots, spurs, and a few bits and bridles!

  44. Me and my mom’s horsemobile is an SUV for one and it have tons of horsey bumper stickers including a “Whinnying is everything” one and one for my show team.

  45. My Mini Cooper is DEFINITELY a horse mobile. The back and bumper is plastered with horsey bumper-stickers. At least 30 of them! the trunk and backseat is filled with bridles, bits,halters, leadropes, longelines, saddlepads, horse treats, Horse Illustrated magazines, a saddle, Martingales, brushing boots, Lexol leathercare, CO helmet sanitizer, hairnets, gloves, sponges, brushes, combs, braiding supplies, shampoo, and how-to horse care and training books. Hee, hee. I feel bad when anyone but my jack russell has to ride with me.

  46. I drive a 4 door saturn sedan. Before I moved my horses home, they stayed in a backyard. My trunk had all my brushes, tack, helmet, boots, and clothes in it. It also took over my back seat as well. Now that my horses are home, my car has become a little cleaner. I have a place to store most of my horse stuff but no one has a truck in my family so when I need square bales I go with my car. I can fit up to 7 bales in my car as long as I am the only one in it. So naturally, there is always hay in my car. Hay covers my seats and floors. I usually have to throw a blanket down for friends to ride in my car.

  47. My horse mobile happens to be a Toyota echo. Every inch of it is plastered in mudd and even though its small, ive put hay, straw, bags of feed, bedding, tack and almost everything else I use at the barn aside from my trailer in it or on it.

  48. My 2001 dodge ram 1500 definately is the ultimate horse mobile. It happens to be black, which worked out great for me since my favorite colors/barn colors are black and pink. The fog lights are pink, the back rack is pink, the grill is pink, the bottom panels on the doors are pink. I have the inside of the cab rhino-lined for long muddy horse show days.. convient to spray out with the hose. I have horse head brake light covers and a pleasure horse decal on one side of the bed and a barrel horse on the other. Its wierd when my truck isn’t covered with mud and hay and there is always the perpetual horse smell! The tool box is not filled with tools but with convient brushes, saddle pads, and a bridle for when I ride at different barns. To top it all off my hitch is covered with a bull head. Gotta love those country girls!

  49. Everywhere I go, I collect bumper stickers for my truck and trailer. My favorite one so far is actually a tie between 2. The first being, Ride Naked, Put some color in your cheeks and a close second would be Take my Husband BUT DON”T EVEN THINK ABOUT TOUCHING MY HORSE! Not to mention the ever overflowing pile of tack, treats and dog hair on the inside.

  50. We may have a new car but it’s gotten it’s trips to the barn in and shows it is loved from a horse family. The OTTB bumper sticker and a USHJA magnet are the most obvious from the outside but pop the trunk and you will find that bridle I found discounted, the extra bits, a bag of grain, the box of treats, all my spare halters and boots that I never carried to the tack room and even a saddle if it’s time to clean it or we went on a ride recently.

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