Heart failure, why she started?

niko

Well-Known Member
Joined
3 July 2008
Messages
543
Visit site
Took my mare out in the horsebox last night to go jumping, she was on the left side of the box with no partition has cannot travel with one. Since i got her she travelled on this side and previous owners had said she falls over with a partition. She fell over twice going around 2 very mild corners my heart was in my mouth i could see her hanging from the leadrope, obviously as soon as we could i was out checking her and my mums mare & although shaken they were ok. Second time she recovered but she had skinned the inside of her legs above the hoof somehow i was feeling very sick by this time. She came out ok and chilled jumped some fabulous courses and we decided to load her on the right on the way home. She loaded like an angel even though she scared herself & fine on the way home. Why would she have started this if she was ok before?
 
No its a new VW jeep but is soo smooth & automatically puts the handbrake on so they cant feel it? She obviously is out again most weeks now winters here but im terrified & mum must have drove about 5mph for me & the corners were'nt even, more like gradual roundings!
 
well, we have found that most horses dont like being towed by an automatic (except for merlin, he seems oblivious
tongue.gif
) for some reason, it could be the automatic handbreaking thing or in my case the changing of gears.

she has had a bad experience in the past and her way of acting im guessing is to throw herself around the corner, and as there is no partition to lean/bang against she simply falls over.

I think the best way to help is to drive slowly for a while
laugh.gif
 
Its a 2 horsebox without the partition (falls & cant get up) with my mums horse on the right. I dont undersatnd because i thought if a horse had a bad experience she wouldnt want to load or sweat up of which she does neither! There is some bang that comes out of the trailer but on the way home she was better on the right. We always drive slowly (much to the annoyance of road users) as shes normally so good in the box & when i unloaded she didnt try to bolt off! Either shes a very accepting mare that is trustig enough to go back on or she doesnt sense the danger!!! Just back in from tending to her cuts
 
Do you mean you travel both horses together with no partition?
My mare will not travel with a partition, i use a breast bar cross tie her and travel her alone, i watch her on the cctv and she stands diaganol across the trailer and travels well that way.
 
Yes i never use a partition they hate it & can 'spread' their legs abit better without one. She travels great like your horse when on her own cross tied but im just wandering if shes starting to favour a side?
 
It is actually illegal to travel two horses in a lorry or trailer with no partition. You can get partitions that do not go down to the ground. It is also highly dangerous.

What flooring do you have in the box, this could be slippery and making her lose her feet, what height is she, is the box actually big enough for her? Some just have to be travelled by themselves so they really can spread their legs out or as said above stand themselves diagonally.
 
Is it actually a horse box as in lorry, or a trailer? I agree with poster above that it is I think illegal to travel 2 without a partition, and certainly dangerous. I would stick to travelling her on her own if you know she is okay. We have to do that with Murph, frustrating if you want to take 2 but I would rather make 2 journeys if I have to rather than risk the horses.
 
it's definitely illegal to travel 2 horses without a partition, not to mention dangerous.


and i'm not convinced about the manual/auto thing. i think it depends how you drive. i have an auto and my horse travels fine. my old horse also travelled fine towed by an auto as do all my friend's horses who also have autos.
 
Thought I was reading that right..... what a silly thing to do.... talk about risking both horses.... they are probably competing as to who gets the best travelling position!!!

This maybe the whole reason why she is falling over. You are lucky that it is just cuts and bruising that you are dealing with... Eight legs tangled together is a recipe for disaster
mad.gif
 
Interesting here i know of ALOT of people that travel 2 without a partition, a lady that evented for ireland done it too & not known of anyone to be stopped or told it is illegal and most of the horses i know that travel this way, travel a long distance maybe 4-6hrs. I will look into it now. Shes a 15.2 in a larger ivor willams trailer (new one) & ground seems ok for the other mare she travels fine!
 
Your posts got me intrigued regarding the welfare of my horses and looking a DARD and DEFRA website regarding the regulations for animals in transit it seems that it is legal to travel without a partition with two horses as the regulations seem to only be implemented for animal transporters and not the 'pleasure horse owner'. Obviously i'm waiting for them to get back to me regarding this as i don not want to do anything illegal!
 
Would be interested to know what the actual law on this is. I understood it was okay for unshod ponies but anything with shoes on had to have a partition. I would still say though, having seen how a bad traveller spreads his hind legs and tries to stand across the trailer, that legal or not I really don't think it is safe to travel 2 together in this way.
 
As far as i have been infomed by DEFRA even though they are for england, scotland and waled our governing body DARD uses the same laws. I was speaking to a guy and he said that any journey under 40miles is an exemption and does not fall under the laws ruling this which means it is legal, also on a safetly aspect if your horse travels better without, it is within your discretion to know what is best for your animal. He has to get back to me again regarding a couple of other of the matters but i will update. I know some people would say to use the partition but i generally and many others dont, but again it is down to each individual animal.
 
My little mare used to travel perfectly in her trailer with a partition, but one day from some unknown reason she freaked out and managed to get one front leg over the breast bar and completely lost her footing behind.
From that point on, even though she would load perfectly, as soon as the trailer moved she tried to lean against the partition and place all 4 feet on the opposite wall to balance, but even at 5mph she would fall over.
Richard Maxwell came out to help me and said that 'leaning' was quite often a mare thing and removed the partition, cross tied her, and from that day on we never had any more problems, however it did mean that I could never again travel her either with another horse or partition.
PLEASE PLEASE do not continue to travel your horse without a partition with another horse. You are risking not only your horse but also the other horse travelling with her. Accept that she is happy to travel alone and without a partition and be happy that although it is inconvenient at least you are still able to take her places even though it will be by herself.
I eventually bought a lorry where the horses travelled sideways and my little mare had no problems with coping with partitions whilst standing in this direction and we were then able to travel her together with my step daughters pony. Several years later when I again tried her in a trailer with a partition, she immediately started leaning and falling. I think once they get this into their heads it is really difficult to cure.
 
Top