its called a "scale".  use it.  and dont get me started about the average yahoo being able to hook his truck to a 6 ton trailer and just be able to go as they please with no further driver license requirements.

Hello Annie .. Welcome to the forum.  The lack of sympathy Reg alluded to is from the many times we've had this very discussion on this forum.  

It usually starts with "can my (name of vehicle) pull this?"

By the time someone gets to a 4 horse living quarter trailer they should understand what they're getting into. Financially, Mechanically as well as Legally.

Like a upper tier blog, the wealth of collective knowlege on this forum about horse trailers is truely amazing.

Test us .. ask a question.

Ignorance is curable, stupidity is forever.

So to your original question....

Yes, I have second person knowledge of getting stopped in NC with a horse trailer rated in excess of 10,000 pounds.  In NC this requires a class "A" license. 

Annie ..I think You're confusing the lack of sympathy toward stupidity with hostility.  There is no hostility from this poster.  We've answered the same questions many times.  Any long term participant in this forum learns very quickly to avoid common and not so common mistakes in horse trailering. 

I think folks get into "situations" because the regulations are variable state to state, there are many exemptions like for RV's, the regulations are applicable to only a few horse situations,  and lastly, there is usually a very fine legal line between horse trailers covered by a car license and those not.

Pardon my ignorance ,  What's a "Gunsil magazine"

Annie

Here's something that might be of use for your article, "State towing laws"

http://www.rvsafety.com/state.htm

Annie .. Then for your purposes.

A friend of mine was stopped by NC DOT enforcement.  After checking the rig and license of the driver, he issued a citation for improper license for the class of vehicle.  He also warned the driver that the rig COULD be impounded until a driver with the proper license was available.  But since live animals were involved, he did not.  It was only after my friend was stopped, that I became aware of the NC regulation.  To wit:  Any vehicle towing a trailer over 10,000 # gvw "RATING" requires a class "A" license.  The rating is printed on the DOT tag that every trailer has.  This little snag is NOT the actual weight of the trailer.  This regulation isn't hidden.  It's on the back of everyone's license.  Who reads that?  The biggest issue is the trailer builders usually use the weight rating of the axles to arrive at the GVWR.  Two 6000 # axles and the trailer GVWR is 12,000#.

There are a couple of ways to handle this problem.  One: get a class "A" license.  In NC one has to take a driving test with a class "A" vehicle.  How does one get a class"A" vehicle to the testing site?  A Class "A" driver is needed... What  a Pain!!

Two: (the route I used)  My 3 horse trailer was rated at 12,000#.   The actual weight loaded was well under that.  I asked the trailer builder to reissue the DOT plate with a lower rating.  They did and now I'm legal.  Obviously, this last route won't do for a 6 horse trailer.  But it worked for me.

No ... Otherwise I would have to have a CDL.

Any person hauling for hire is a commercial driver.  That's why hauling people's horses for pay is fraught with risk.  The horse owner has you if the horse is hurt, the law has you for commercial use / plates/ license and the insurance company has you for commercial use unless you pay commercial rates.

There really isn't much difference between the much disdained "backyard horse owner" or ""trail rider" and the BigTime show people.  We all have the same trailer driving issues.

Welcome Annie,

   While I don't have any personal stories to give you, I think the story you are doing is much needed.

Frankly I can't believe some of the first responses you received here. While I think we can all agree that people need to understand and obey the laws, CLEARY the laws as they apply to recreational horse pullers is vague and difficult to interpret for the AVERAGE recreational horse person, especially when you start crossing state lines. There are plenty of horse trailers that aren't really that big at all and that are RATED over 10,000# GVWR, apparently in some states you need a special license to pull said trailer. How many horse people know that? If you break a towing law it doesn't ALWAYS mean you are an unsafe person, After all what's legal and "safe" in South Carolina might not be legal in North Carolina. Crossing a state line may make you not legal, but I'm not sure it makes you unsafe. I'm not condoning ignorance on the part of the person haulling the horses, but if States are going to start cracking down on laws, they need to do a REASONABLE job of making the laws clear and known.

There have been several threads on this site, where even the experts with a whole lot of experience hauling horses can't quite agree on exactly what is and isn't legal in certain states.

Here is one, with a story like what you are looking for. Maybe you can contact the original poster.

http://www.horsetrailerworld.com/forum/thread-view.asp?threadid=503&start=1

Annie ... You might also write about the need for a health certificate along with the coggins.  NC is one of the states recently joining a compact for a new program of interchangable health certificates.