Oh, Ship

Yes, ship is indeed a 4-letter word. Few things are more stressful to a horse owner than shipping a horse long-distance. You have to trust perfect strangers with the life of your precious pony (aka glass-legged suicide machine) in a confined area with other nervous suicide machines, in a giant vehicle going upwards of 50 mph on roads full of moronic not-paying-a-lick-of-attention drivers. Yes, definite recipe for disaster. Fortunately, there are a number of professional shippers who have excellent reputations and glowing recommendations. And for your convenience, I have compiled a list, gathered from the COTH forum, Fugly blog, and the experiences of friends and yours truly:

Aprile                                 
Elite
C & E
Caris Brooke
Equine Express

Cox

Bob Hubbard

Brooke Ledge                                                             

Beacon Hill

Curtis

Equine Limousine
McLemore
Creech
C & W
Drexler
Nyconn
Johnson
Sport Horse
Blue Chip
Tapp
Nationwide

I ended up going with Aprile, as they were recommended by two other reputable shipping companies, could accomodate my schedule, were great about answering/returning phone calls, and gave me a very competitive quote. (And, ok...I might have also had a dream that they shipped Salem; what can I say, I have learned to trust my gut!) As I type this, Salem is comfortably tucked away in a big, roomy box stall on one of their trucks, hopefully munching hay and not completely wigging out. Fourteen hundred miles is a long way, baby.

So, which equine shipping companies have you used? Any recommendations? Any companies to avoid like the plague?