Follow up on Trailer top door thread

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POLLDARK

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I gave this some thought re some horses being anxious about big lorries close behind & having trailer top doors shut (apart from the security angle) so they aren't frightened. My young lad really dislikes the top doors shut but I wouldn't like to think he was being scared by lorries close up behind
. What do you all think of putting blinkers on him (or any horse) like racehorses wear not the driving type. Do you think that would stop him seeing the lorries even though the top doors are open ? This only applies if I was going on a motorway or really busy roads of course. Mine is a single trailer these days.
Any thoughts anyone for or against. I would be really interested. Thanks:)
 
i dont think it is just seeing them that scares them but the noise too, either way for long distance/motorway driving i would always shut top doors for safety
 
I would have thought blinkers would actually make it worse because they can't see.

The problem with lorries is partly the noise, but also the slip stream around them. Anyone who has pulled a trailer will be familiar with the push that comes as the lorry comes behind you, then the suck as they get level / past you. That pulls the trailer and of course the horses are aware of it.

The only reason I have ever shut the top door is where the rain is absolutely driving in from the back and soaking them. You need to doors open to ensure ventilation. Horses get very hot in trailers and they have little or no air flow. I know you can leave the top vent open - but it isn't much. We tie thier heads up so they can't lower them to drain fluid from the sinuses and then usually stuff a dry hay net in front of thier nose where they have no choice but to inhale all the dust etc. Plus the exhaled CO2 and moisture from thier own breath. Then add ammonia from sweat and from any urine / dung. Shutting the top door traps them into an increasingly stale fug.
 
Thanks for the input, on balance from what you say, I will forget the blinkers idea & the top door will stay open as he really doesn't like it shut. I'll stick with the A roads then, no motorways for me.:(
 
If I have to travel on the motorway (and often there is no realistic alternative without wandering through busy town centres) I close the door behind my horse and leave the other one open for light and air. Best of both worlds so long as he travels in a settled manner with the centre partition in place which mine always does.
 
My first Ifor Williams was the old type and I made a gadget which allowed me to close the top doors all but a few inches. It was just a piece of flat bar with a hole at each end for the catches to clip through. It was just a spacer to secure the doors open a few inches rather than closing them completely.

I made it so I could safely carry yearlings but allow ventilation too. I am sure with some imagination something like that could be made up and used to get the best of both worlds.
 
Been watching these debates with interest but I think what we need to remember is how many cases have we heard of where the horse has escaped over the closed rear ramp compared with how many journeys have been undertaken.
 
Double_choc_lab said:
Been watching these debates with interest but I think what we need to remember is how many cases have we heard of where the horse has escaped over the closed rear ramp compared with how many journeys have been undertaken.
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I agree with this. The norm in this country is to leave the back top door open, IMO trailers here therefore aren't designed to be closed with the horse inside so they arent nearly ventilated enough to allow this. In the US, I've seen horses travelled in basically cattle floats where the sides are slatted and open up - there is full airflow in the trailer, I could actually see the entire horse fully as all the slats where open. We dont have that here. My Bateson only has a little gap in the front window. Having travelled youngsters with the back top doors done up fully (until they got used to travelling) - it gets damn hot and humid in there even when it isnt very hot outside.

OP, personally I'd just travel your horse as she's used to. I also don't like lorries coming up close when the very few times we've been on motorways but my horses have always been fine. You could maybe put up a big sign on the back of your trailer asking lorries to keep back?! Dont know if that would help!
 
zigzag said:
I would be more concerned he was in a single trailer...
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H

How so?

New to towing but have only travelled mine with rear top door open. I must say, it is very rare around here to see horses travelling with top door shut. I may however try mine with top door closed and see how we get on. Alhough the model of trailer I have has a gap of a few inches even with the top door closed.

ETA: I think the idea of a sign on the back of trailer is a very good idea. I have actually looked at these on ebay having considered getting one before. Especially good if top door is closed as its easy for driver to forget that there is an nimal in there.
 
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Double_choc_lab said:
Been watching these debates with interest but I think what we need to remember is how many cases have we heard of where the horse has escaped over the closed rear ramp compared with how many journeys have been undertaken.
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How many times have you fallen off compared to how many times you have ridden? But I assume you still wear a riding hat ;)
 
I unfortunately have to travel 2 junctions of the M4 to get to instructor in Swindon. Our old mare never moved a jot and was never warm or excited travelling with the doors open and I was always aware of when she moved. I just worry about horses becoming claustraphobic and warm with the doors closed. I'm not utterly convinced one way or the other which is why I say I've watched with interest but I must admit for every trailer I see with the doors closed I reckon I see at least 30 or so with them open.

I must admit in my long years this is the first case I've heard of a horse escaping over the rear ramp PRIOR to an accident.
 
To throw something else at you all to think about.

My 14.1hh arab once jumped over the front bar and smashed open/down the side top door and ramp and fell out at 20 mph.

He had both back top doors open and was tied up properly.


But he wanted out and got himself out. He was thankfully ok, but to this day is terrified of trailers/boxes.


If he has to be loaded he has the middle partition out, is cross tied and all doors closed and he has to be heavily sedated. These trips are only ever to the vets though who is 5 minutes up the road.
 
Neburu - How on earth did your pony burst through the front door?! Was it an old trailer? I just dont see how a pony could bust through it unless it was an old wooden type front ramp. I used to have a 15.2hh Welsh D (so rather solid chap!) who jumped the breast bar a few times while travelling - one time he jumped it completely (he was being travelled as normal with the centre partition in etc.). He ended up squished in the front lengthways and he was NOT a small horse. He was seriously wedged in to the point that when I opened the front ramp, he literally fell out. But the ramp held perfectly well while he was in.
 
This is why I chose the Bateson Ascot with the continental doors, as my horse used to be worried about lorries coming up close behind the trailer on the motorway. The very top of the door flaps open, so there is still a good through draught, but he cannot see anything coming up behind, it is like travelling in a lorry from that point of view. There is plenty of light though.

I feel a lot happier about going on a motorway with this trailer - although whether it is as practical and easy to use as a normal ramp is debatable.
 
ester said:
Do you know that your horse is actually unnerved by lorries behind/passing?
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I don't actually know as he doesn't kick up a fuss but on occasion lorries have come so close they unnerved me ! so I don't know what he thought. I have tried closing one top door & he objected to that. He is an excellent loader & traveller. The trailer is very stable, roomier inside than half a double trailer & I always drive with the horse in mind. Perhaps I worry too much:o
 
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To deal with tail gaters, gently put your foot on the brake pedal. The brake lights will come on before the breaks engage and. hopefully, the tail gater will back of!
 
POLLDARK said:
I don't actually know as he doesn't kick up a fuss but on occasion lorries have come so close they unnerved me ! so I don't know what he thought. I have tried closing one top door & he objected to that. He is an excellent loader & traveller. The trailer is very stable, roomier inside than half a double trailer & I always drive with the horse in mind. Perhaps I worry too much:o
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I only ask as we have one who is very much not good with heavy traffic but is perfectly happy on the motorway when we use it, with doors open.

MM there are a few pics of horses/ponies coming through the front door/getting stuck albeit it stationary trailers iirc. I think essentially if they are going to get upset enough to cause a major issue then however you have your trailer laid out is possibly not going to help.
 
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