Correct height of breast and breech bars for a 16.2?

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Lucy_Ally

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I have just purchased a lovely shiny new 511 and despite being a very difficult loader in the past (average of 2 hours!), Spring has decided that this is ok transport for her and wanders happily in, calmly stands inside and unloads without issue. Yay!

But I have a couple of questions, which I would appreciate some advice on:

1) For the time being I have taken out the partitions to give her plenty of space and got full width breast and breech bars - however, when on the high setting in the trailer the breast bar looks quite high, but the low setting definitely feels too low! She will be cross-tied when travelling, but I want to try and make this as safe and easy as possible, so what is the best height for a breast bar for a 16.2hh? Has anyone got any pictures of their horses against the breast bar so I can compare? The gap under the breast bar looks huge without the partitions in and I want to discourage any ideas she may have of disappearing underneath it, any thoughts?

2) Also, she gets a bit panicky about the back ramp going up. We have gone back a step so she is happy with the front ramp and breast bar up and will stand inside munching hay while I wander around behind her and play with the breech bar (not had it all the way up yet - doing this in baby steps, but she doesn't seem overly worried). Any advice to help her get over this anxiety, or will it just get better the more she gets used to it? To be honest she has totally blown me away with how good she has been and how quickly we have progressed, but I don't want to rush things and ruin her trust.

All advice appreciated - thanks! :)
 
I felt exactly the same with my 16.2 but I opted for the bar on the higher setting. The lower setting was just an invitation to jump over IMO :eek:.
I also had the same problems with my current horse with the breech bar as he panicked when I tried to put it up, so much so he started running out backwards at high speed at any attempt of me so much moving it.
Your horse sounds much calmer though, my boy was that nervous, he wouldnt eat and I gave up when he bent the ramp and tried to come through the jockey door :eek:.
Keep at it, she obviously likes her new shiny 'car' :D
 
My 16.3 only travelled in a trailer once, it was an Ifor and the breast bar was on the lower setting and we didnt think about it as it was hired and we never realised there were multiple settings.

Halfway through the (thankfully) v short journey he jumped front legs over the breast bar and was wedged there with the bar just behind his front legs, back legs still behind the bar, there was no quick release on this trailer; the bar had to lift up to come off and clearly that wasnt going to happen with 650kg of ID stuck on top of it.

In the end we had to get him out by persuading him to jump from a standstill forwards and then get him out. Thankfully he only had a few cuts but also a big haemotoma (blood blister) on his tummy. We then bought a lorry to say sorry to him.

So def the higher setting for the breast bar for a 16.2!!

Edited to add if your tie rope is fairly short ie they can hold their head normally but no reaching down a long way then they shouldnt be able to get under the bar at all
 
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Thanks for your replies, sorry to hear you both had such horror stories! Luckily Spring is pretty sensible and once in she has always travelled well in the past. I think I will definitely use the top height, but my OH has said he'll move the bracket if I tell him what height - so where, in an ideal world, should it be?
 
I would say between the two height options. I always use the lower setting for my 16.1 as he can brace his chest against it, but the higher setting comes to the base of his neck, ie above his chest.
 
Suggest that you don't cross tie - Have a tie ring welded to centre front. It is important that the horse is able to move it's head around to assist with balancing, cross ties are too restrictive.

Tie up from in front of the horse also helps reduce the risk of putting their head under the breast bar.
 
Really? I always thought to cross tie to stop them turning around when travelling in a box without partitions? I don't plan on tying her up tightly as I think she will probably stand on the diagonal (face buried in a haynet!). Any other thoughts on this?
 
I always cross tied when traveling without a partition after having got a horse wedged across the width of the trailer when he tried to turn. The horse had been tied to one side of the trailer though.
 
I would rather travel with partition in, it also gives you extra storage for hay bales etc. agree with short ties, but near the head, so the horse has the ability to "sway" forward, back and sideways about two feet to keep his balance.
I don't like adapting the vehicle by attaching things which the full force of a horse might test out in a panic situation.
 
Thanks! Partition will eventually go back in, but she has not been a great loader before and does seem to travel better with more room, hence why we have taken it out for now. Hopefully, as we continue to practice, her confidence will grow and she will be happy in a smaller space.
 
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