Ifor trailer? Take your allen key with you

ponymum

ponymum

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If you travel your horse in an Ifor trailer please make sure you take your allen key with you and if you don't have one - get one! I took my daughter and her 15hh horse to a PC ODE this morning and after a pretty lack-lustre performance we booted him up and put him back on the trailer with his haynet, leaving the front ramp up but the top window open while we went to check the results, about 50 yards away. We heard a bit of a commotion, obviously a horse banging in its box and looked over to see our trailer rocking from side to side and a small crowd gathered round. We ran back over to find said horse panicking as he had reared up and got his front legs over the breast bar and was now hanging half over it with his back legs off the ground. A passer by was in the trailer trying to calm a stressed horse with not much success. Luckily I had my allen key and was able to drop the breast bar from outside the trailer at which point he leapt through the jockey door and escaped. He is a very lucky horse, he has multple cuts and scrapes but I dread to think how we would have got him out if we hadn't been able to drop the breast bar, the vet says she doesn't know either - probably a fire brigade job. Afterwards, a couple of ladies came over to ask me how I did it and were amazed to learn about the allen key. I never travel without mine and have never needed it till today. Archie normally stands happily on the trailer and I always believed he was safer on there than tied to the back but things can change so quickly, he won't be left again! So please - if you have an Ifor trailer, make sure you know where you can find your allen key - it may save your horse's life!
 
Good idea, as anything can happen at any time during travelling. However, I personally wouldn't leave a horse or pony in a trailer or lorry alone whilst out and about anyway, regardless of how good they were. But it's still a very good idea to carry the allen key as it could happen whilst on the move, which is a time when of course you cannot be with the horse and have to leave it in the lap of the gods, so to speak!
 
So glad that your pony is ok. I have an Ifor and I'm pretty sure my allen key is in my glove box.......I'm going to check tomorrow though now and make sure it is. Thanks for the warning
 
I guess it would be a good idea for owners of any kind of trailer to have a look how their breast bars attach, it's certainly something I've never thought of!!!

Think I'll be checking out the lorry to see if there's anything I can make even safer. I know its a normal cross facing lorry without breast bars etc, but I never thought of this when I had my trailer, so going into my lorry with fresh open eyes will be great. There must be something that could be made safer with quick releases of something!!!!!
 
Good idea...sadly some idiot has rounded the heads off on our bolts, so couldn't even get them out if we had an allen key, reading this makes me think we really need to try & get them out & replaced with new ones.
 
I always keep mine in grooming bag attached to top bar of trailer but thing that ifor could do a small holder , holes in corner for that and wheel brace. so trhey are readily available and in a recconised place incase needed.
 
Tennessee said:
Good idea, as anything can happen at any time during travelling. However, I personally wouldn't leave a horse or pony in a trailer or lorry alone whilst out and about anyway, regardless of how good they were. But it's still a very good idea to carry the allen key as it could happen whilst on the move, which is a time when of course you cannot be with the horse and have to leave it in the lap of the gods, so to speak!
Click to expand...

If you are really worried, why not keep a socket wrench in the glove box, of the same size as the allen key, with a cut down section of allen key in the relevant socket, it means you can get the bolts out extra quickly if you have to!
 
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