Best way to take a young horse on a long journey...???

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My 3yo is living at a friend's in North Wales (old home) but I moved to Bristol a year ago. We're going to back him this year in Nth Wales, give him lots more handling (he's already well used to being groomed, played with and so on), put him in the trailer and take him for some local trips (he's already been in a couple of times, with his half brother for company) as I'd like to move him to livery near Bristol in late summer/autumn so he is near where I live.

Question is whether it is totally irresponsible to consider taking a 3yo on his own in a trailer from North Wales to Bristol (will take about 5 hours when towing)? This would not be until has had a fair bit more handling and has been taken out in the trailer a bit more (and assuming his current fairly chilled approach to the trailer continues).

My mother is convinced I should put him on a professional horse transporter's lorry, in fact she's so adamant that she is 'not going to let me do anything else' that she has got me really angry with her for trying to dictate what I do (so I need to check I'm not being purely angry and stubborn and 'back-lashy' when I say I'm not convinced by the idea). Truth is I'm not madly keen on him going on a massive lorry with a load of strange horses - and - sounds awful - potentially being exposed to any germs they might have given I have no idea what sort of horses might be on such a lorry or how long a journey he will have if he is on with 10 odd others and ends up being the last drop off having taken a load of other horses to their yards and being stuck on the lorry for a couple of hours longer than it needed to have been.

Am I being reasonable? Or is my mother bang on the money on this occasion? What, do you think, is the best and safest way to take a young horse on a longish journey?
 
id be happier if he had company however you choose to do it. but you know your own horse, i would rather it be in a lorry if he was mine, but thats easy for me as i have one. 5 hours in a trailer is long time for anything
 
Hmm - referr in a mother daughter dispute - know all about those!! I would have thought that, depending on the temperament of the horse obviously, that a trailer could be a rather less stressful journey for your 3 yo. he only has himself to worry about - what if he's on a lorry with a bad traveller - this could undo all the good you've done up to now. Also it would be easier to feed/water him during the journey as you only have the one to worry about and he can be easily accessed through the grooms door.

Just carry on with the practice runs and I'm sure he'll be fine.

Welcome to Bristol!
 
Young horse or old horse, I would not do a 5 hour journey in a trailer. Having said that my friend regularly puts his mares and tiny foals in the trailer for that sort of journey when he shows them. It is a personal choice really.
 
Some of us only have access to trailers and have no choice.

Nothing wrong with that journey, as Double_choc_lab says, he will probably be more chilled out.

Once you set off he will settle into the journey pretty quickly, when he realises you are not stopping.

I would say, as long as you are confident yourself with the journey, I wouldnt worry about him.

Plus - you are going to practise loading in a trailer, NOT LORRY, so thats what he will be used to.

However - if you can afford a transporter it would be a lot less hassle for YOU
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no expert on these things so this might be the wrong things ot suggest...

could you maybe do the jorney in a couple of shorters stages... perhaps a 2.5hr trip to a yard on route... and then a couple of days later do the rest of the journey? not sure how you go about finding a yard that would let you have a stable for a couple of nights... but might avoid the long journey issue... and avoid having to get youngester off at a service station to stretch legs which might not be the safest place??

whatever happens good luck with your move.

xx
 
I had to take my stressy horse 100+ miles each way to a clinic for a scan last year. OK so we obviously had a few hours there during the day but it was about 5 hours travelling time in the one day. I gave him Sedalin (quite a low dose compared to what my vet told me to give him!) and he snoozed the journey away! To be honest, I'm not sure what their concept of time is... when I started travelling him he could get himself in a tiz and sweated up in about 10 minutes, now I regularly travel him for an hour and he's fine. If he's OK for 10, 20, 30 mins, then I'm sure he'll be fine for 5 hours. If he plays up on shorter trips then def sedate him for a long one. I personally would rather trailer my horse myself for 5 hours than use a horse transporter. I'm sure they know what they're doing, but I know my horse and he knows me.
You could always reccy the journey and find somewhere safe to give him a break and some grass half way maybe?
 
The pockets are definitely not deep enough for a lorry I'm afraid (although I can dream and buy the odd lottery ticket I guess!) and as has someone said, the young 'un will be practising going in and out of a trailer not a lorry. My original plan was to take the young squirt down with my old horse - an excellent and very well practised traveller - for company (and a couple of weeks holiday for the old chappie!). However, the poor old boy died of a heart attack towards the end of last year (aged 20, but it was still a big surprise as he seemed so healthy and full of himself) and I don't really have a substitute babysitter. I do agree that I would rather the youngster had company for the journey but I was planning it all with my super sensible old gent as the minder - and he would have been perfect for the job. I think it could be counterproductive and could backfire to take another horse that I didnt know as well to play a nanny role (assuming I could manage to 'borrow' one from a friend in the first place!).

We did take the old boy around the country on long trips competing but we had worked up to it - we didnt do a 5hour stint until he was well used to a couple of hour journeys etc etc. That said, I know a lot of people travel a long way with a lot less prep and less frequent checking of the neddies than we used to do). Also, if its going to be stressful for him, I'd probably rather it was done in a oner - as I'm not sure how he'd relax with a half way overnight journey breaker in a strange place.

Tricky tricky!! One thing's for sure though, I will definitely ring up a couple of horse transporters to have a chat with them and get prices so any recommendations for scrupilously professional and caring outfits would be appreciated...

Thx all !
 
I used Nick Sarson to transport my 9 month old colt from Hampshire to Solihull and he was brilliant and he was put into like a shoot suitable for youngstock in the wagon and was very reasonable. My boy now travels in my trailer but again if had to do long journey wouldn't hesitate to use Nick again.
 
i bought my 4 year old home in a trailer and it took 3.5 hours and he was fine. is it def. a 5 hour journey? i've done n.wales to bristol in 4 so you may get a good run through if you go at the right time of day
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my lad had been in a trailer a few times but not many and he settled into it straight away - i was still stressed out mind
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but he took it all in his stride
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good luck
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My slightly wild 4YO's first journey was 6 hours in a cattle trailer- Never had any probelms loading....These types of journeys are all very normal TBH
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My first yearling did 4 hours from stud to home and unloaded fresh as a daisy (and mustn't forget the three hours it took to load her as the stud...bless 'em, never thought to practice!) and my two current horses...well the yearling was four days (came over from Portugal) and the 3 yr old was 6 hours in an Equitrek....scary as hell at first (another never travelled in her life) but once on a motorway she calmed right down and switched off.
A lot of stopping and starting can unsettle them.
 
I don't see what is wrong with a five hour journey. If you stopped half way and offered water there is nothing wrong with that. I'd be inclined to half shut the top door on the drivers side of the trailer so the youngster is not panicked by lorries coming to close up behind and blocking out the daylight, but leave the other half open to encourage air flow unless a very windy day. When I watch Animal Cops Houston and they transport sick and injured horses for hours in the back of open sided trailers (some of these horses are extremely emaciated) and they suffer no harm or ill effects I have come to the conclusion that we worry too much. That said, when my horse had to go to Liverpool Uni Hospital for xrays whilst suffering from moderate ataxia (due to wobblers) I opted to use a professional horsebox transport company, simply because there was a danger he could have fallen in the trailer due to his ataxia. They gave him a terrible journey and were extremely negligent in his care the other end. The horse came out of the lorry dripping in sweat and the groom pulled him over with the leadrope by tugging on it vicously in order to prevent him escaping whilst unloading (although I insisted the horse needed to be unloaded with a chifney to prevent this from happening). Sometimes I really regret my decision not to transport him myself but to have a collapsed horse on the hard shoulder of a busy motorway would have been worse I guess.
 
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