Ifor Williams head partition?

[tatty_v]

Has anyone fitted and/or used an Ifor Williams head partition in a trailer?

My friend’s horse is a bit of a thug in the trailer and I was wondering if this might help keep him out of my horse’s space.

Are they easy to fit and how much extra faff do they add to loading/unloading?

 

[Green Bean]

I bought a secondhand one for my trailer as it was proposed to just be an occasional use as I usually only trailer my horse alone. Although I was 'missold' the partition (505 instead of 511, so smaller) it is reasonably basic to set up. It is a bit of a faff to move when decanting horses but worth if the non-naughty horse can have some peace and the naughty doesn't have to be tied up tight on his side.

 

[tatty_v]

Thanks @Green Bean, that’s really helpful. Sounds like your scenario is very similar to mine - I own both the trailer and the non-naughty horse so would be for occasional use only but worth it to avoid further injury/general harassment!

 

[Tiddlypom]

I posted a thread back in 2015 asking about these. I decided against getting one.

https://forums.horseandhound.co.uk/threads/ifor-williams-510-head-partition-yay-or-nay.674559/

Do a search on here for more opinions on how they work in practice. It seems that horses can still grab each other even with the head partition in place.

 

[tatty_v]

Oh dear, perhaps not the magic solution I had hoped for then ? I probably just need to man up and say I’m not travelling them together then - last time my horse got a cut on his forehead from where he’d thrown his head up on frustration to get away from the harassment.

I’ve never had this problem travelling mine with another horse. I drove behind last time to check and it’s definitely not mine that’s the instigator, he just wants to be left in peace! I suggested tying up short but my friend was worried about balance issues.

 

[Annagain]

We borrowed one to take Monty (who is also a bit of a thug on the trailer) with a friend's horse. He'd hacked out with him but didn't know him particularly well and other horse's owner was a bit of a worrier. It worked well in the sense that Monty couldn't attack the other horse but the other horse, who was much smaller could back up to the breaching bar and get his head behind the partition to wind M up. The so called 'angel' and 'wimp' tormented him and poor M couldn't do anything about it! On the way home I insisted on leaving it off, the other horse tried to wind M up again, got the telling off he deserved and they travelled happily the rest of the way home.

So yes they work but only if both horses are big enough so they can't duck behind it.

 

[tatty_v]

Mines definitely smaller so theoretically he could get behind it then as other horse is much bigger ? I’m not sure if he would though... he did try and defend himself and tell off the bigger one, but 20 seconds later the harassment recommenced! Maybe I should just respect his wishes and not make him share his trailer unless he’s a fan of his travelling companion ?

 

[dorsetladette]

I'd just tie your friends horse shorter. it doesn't have to be a lot just enough that they can't make contact. We travelled working stallions like this for years with out injury or issue.