Bedding in trailers......

TicTac

TicTac

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do you put any bedding in your trailer when you travel your horse and what are your reasons for doing so? I have an IW 510 with decent rubber matting which I clean out after every use. I don't usually put any bedding down but I am in the process of getting my mare used to a trailer as she has only ever travelled in a lorry. She poops for england what ever she travels in or does and maybe if I put a bit of bedding down it might help to ' soak ' up some of the moisture! She generally doesn't wee while travelling though.

Also what is the best way to get her used to trailer travel? As often as I can I am loading her in and out of the trailer ( trying to do a session evry day) and getting her to stand quietly and then lead her off. To start with she paws the ground and gets agitated and then settles a bit. To be honest she used to do this on a lorry as well but with a trailer the space is a bit more confined and she will be travelling forwards. I haven't taken her for a ride yet as I want to get her going on and off with the minimum of fuss. So to all you experienced trailer travellers, your advice would be greatly appreciated.

NB:- I always tow very considerately and slowly much to the annoyance of other road users! Especially on country lanes.
 
Yes, I always put shavings down because my horse always wees. Usually always on the way there and it's the first thing he does when he gets back on to go home. I'd much rather having shavings to soak it up than a horse with wet feet and a trailer that stinks all day!

You could try feeding her on there, so she starts to associate the trailer with "nice things".
 
I use shavings in the lorry my lot always have a wee when they get on and poo on the way then I skip out when we get there.
 
We use shavings in our trailer, our boys tend not to wee and mostly don't poo so that's nice and easy. However I've learnt to feed them more than 2 hours before travelling, as they've usually pooed before we leave. Often take a friend's mare on a short (2 mile?) trip to the PC field as we almost pass their yard, and she often wees and usually poos, otherwise it's tempting not to faff with shavings (kept about 400 yards from the parked up trailer). And we also clean up after every use.

As for pawing the ground, one of our boys does, he also paws if I spend too long backing in the drive. We've worked out it's only impatience as he can't wait to go and get there (or to get back to his mate if it's only him that's gone out, he doesn't paw if they're both in the trailer). We think he leads a boring life at home and really looks forward to his outings, as we never ever go to the same place / do the same thing twice in a row, hence the impatience to set off! He's also impatient at road works traffic lights - he seems to have sussed the cross roads locally where we wait in more or less the same place for the lights to change, but got really cross when we were held up at lights for a hole in the top of our road that took aaages to change and I don't think he could see them from his side of the trailer.
 
Sawdust - if anything. I find that it helps absorb any moisture, and helps prevent them slipping, if they poo it can get quite slippery around their hind feet. I don't use a lot, 3-4 bucketfuls per horse.

Sawdust can also provide a bit of a cushioning from the vibration of the road. I guess a deep bed of sawdust for a long trip could help make the ride more comfortable for the horse. JMHO.
 
It depends how long a trip it is. He really doesn't like to wee in the trailer so for short journeys I don't, but longer ones he always wees so I put shavings down. I have a wooden floor that I have just replaced so its to protect that as well as something to help him avoid a splash!!
 
We don't use any bedding. Like TicTac we have an IW510 with good rubber matting. Our horses normally poo but have never wee'd in the trailer.

To get your horse used to travelling I'd do lots of small local journeys, gradually building up the distance. The more positive experiences they have the easier the whole loading and travelling becomes. One of ours gets really excited when the trailer is hitched up and would happily drag you in there even if he is not supposed to be going out! He's only a youngster too who has been to a few parties to show him some of the world.
 
She is prob pawing the ground because she wants to get off and going! I don't load up until I am ready to go, horses go on, back goes up, off we go - it is usually the anticipation of the journey that gets them antsy :)
 
I would always put shavings down otherwise the mats can get slipery, its also much easyier to clean out and better to absorb pee than have it run into and under the mats/chasssis. and most importantly more comfortable for the horses....
 
Rubber mats when wet with dung or pee get terribly slippery.

I always travel mine with a deep bed of straw - the best to use is clean from a stable - slightly used so that it is softer and compresses well.

It not only reduces slipping but also reduces road noise. Many difficult travellers travel 100% when there is straw under foot. They feel more secure with the straw around their legs. Dung tends to get covered over so you don't arrive at a show with green socks. Many horses are more than happy to have a wee as well as they don't end up with splashed legs.

Looking after the floor when you use bedding, remove all dirty and wet bedding, if mats are moveable then lift them out and clean under and allow to dry before putting back. I throw the clean straw up the front ready to reuse for next time. Friends of mine had a really nasty experience - they believed their float had the rubber bonded to the floor and were very surprised to get home from a show to find their horse had suffered a bad leg injury. They couldn't find what could have caused it as the matting had flipped back over the hole. They were stunned when they found the problem, the floor rotted through. Horse fortunately recovered.
 
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