Horses to travel on Eurotunnel for first time

After the recent breakdown I wouldn't be putting my horse on a train going through the eurotunnel. I know trains are used heavily in the US to transport horses but if anything did go wrong (horse panicing I'm thinking) the train would be able to stop somewhere safeish if it really came to it. In the tunnel that wouldn't be possible so I'm thinking they would have to have a vet on board like they do on flights?
 
Horse really aren't shipped that much by train in North America anymore, for precisely that reason and because the horse handling facilities are simply not up to the standard of airlines. They either fly or go by road. (I do believe slaughter bound horses still go by rail but that's a different issue . . .) In all the people I know who routinely ship horses over routes such as Ontario to Florida or California to Kentucky, I've never heard of one going by rail.

I wouldn't send a horse through the tunnel. There is simply no way of getting it out if something goes wrong. I suppose the same applies to travelling by ferry but somehow that doesn't bother me as much. I guess I figure at least you could get the horse out of the box or the box onto another craft, if it became absolutely essential.
 
Yes -35 mins, on a lorry parked on a train - or 90 mins on a lorry parked on a ferry. A third of the risk timewise, no rough seas, no drowning, less chance of hitting another vehicle - why wouldn't you want to do it - apart from cost?
 
kerilli said:
because if the train broke down, and was totally stuck, and everyone had to walk out (as has happened before), i would not want to put a horse in that situation.
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With the exception of pegasus I dont think horses have wings - so they couldt jump out a plane, the also cant swim that far - as in they WOULD drown if they had to abandon ship. Yet, if they had to walk off a train then they could - in fact - they could even be ridden if you had their stuff!

Horses were used in tunnels back when we didnt have cars! They coped fine!

Look at pit ponies
 
Erm, yes, horses were used in tunnels, as were pit ponies, and they were accustomed to it.
most of the horses going through the Chunnel would prob be top competition horses, i cannot really imagine some of them coping fine with the dark, noise, people everywhere, claustrophobia and possible chaos of an emergency disembarkation... plus, unless the lorries' ramps were at nearly ground level, how would you get them off? jump them out? eeek.
i agree that they'd probably drown if the ferry went down (well, i read The Black Stallion, so maybe they could swim...!) but then so would hundreds of people... :( :(
i don't think i said anything about them being able to fly out of a plane! i doubt they make parachutes big enough, and i have no idea how you'd train them to pull the rip-cord at the right time... ;)
 
How many trains go through the tunnel without breaking down, catching fire etc compared to the trips through that have problems?
I'd say the risk was minimal.
 
I would use the Chunnel.
The recent issues were very 'newsworthy' weren't they. Exceptionally unpleasant, but very rare - far rarer than storms at sea.
The horse would get a much better, shorter ride.
 
Great news - less travel time, no rough seas... And no one has ever does on the Chunnel - the same is not true of cross-channel ferries - far less risk than the horsebox being on the road either side of the tunnel - thumbs up from me!
 
kerilli said:
i don't think i said anything about them being able to fly out of a plane! i doubt they make parachutes big enough, and i have no idea how you'd train them to pull the rip-cord at the right time... ;)
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Actually they do make them big enough. Army drop landrovers etc by parachute. Pressure sensor device or GPS could be used to deploy parachute at appropriate height. :p
Sorry couldn't resist but then again perhaps I should work on this :eek:
 
okaaaay, and how are you going to train the horse to fold all its legs up for a nice soft landing...?! i've seen those Army landrover drops, i think they bounce a bit (and they're very well packed!) airbags for horses, anyone...
 
dieseldog said:
Yes -35 mins, on a lorry parked on a train - or 90 mins on a lorry parked on a ferry. A third of the risk timewise, no rough seas, no drowning, less chance of hitting another vehicle - why wouldn't you want to do it - apart from cost?
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I'm with you dieseldog, I'd personally prefer them to travel in the tunnel compared to flying or by ferry, maybe I've read to many books and watched to many films with horror stories in them.
 
My four are moving to France in September and I have my fingers crossed they will be able to go on Eurotunnel. It's a lot faster and the risks of delays and problems are fewer. Bad weather often delays ferry crossing and I think 2-3 days in a strange stable would just unsettle them. At the same time a sinking ship means certain death by drowning, whereas a broken down train is less likely to result in death (most of the time it would just be inconvenient and stressful).
 
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