Leaving horses tied to lorries unattended.

Those of you who say you don't leave a horse unattended on a showground whatsoever, I'm assuming you don't go to shows alone?

I always go alone, if I didn't, I'd never get to compete. If its a riding club event, I know people that will be there, but I'm still alone. I always endeavour to leave my big boy in the lorry whilst I enter and coursewalk, but like anything in life that's not always possible.. A couple of weekends ago I went to a rc event where the lorry park was on a steep hill in a field. My boy isn't the best on the lorry and I was concerned that he may be silly and slip in the lorry as it really was quite steep. So, I tied him up outside as I thought this was safer, bearing in mind he usually snoozes in the sun outside the lorry. I asked a neighbor to keep an eye out while I went and got my number. I would never, ever leave a horse tied up alone unnecessarily - even at home. But even if I were there - possibly getting changed in the living - and he spooked badly, what could I do?

However, I think a much more important issue needs addressing at shows and that is the closure of ALL gates. So many times I've seen horses heading towards the open car park gate when they've gotten loose. I have a bad loader and I refuse to argue with him at shows as I'm terrified of him getting away from me and getting out of the main gate.

What is the problem with closing gates? Would the organisers leave their field gates open and hope for the best!?
 
equi said:
Just because it is done in other places doesn't make it okay :)
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Just because you think its not Okay doesn't mean everyone else should - I've often gone to shows alone, my horses have to tie up unsupervised. I've taught them to tie up properly and stay tied up. Even my ratbag TB eventually got the message and could be left unattended.

You don't watch them 24/7 in the field or stable.

How many of you tie to a weak link? When your horse pulls back he breaks the link then runs around terrorising everyone elses horse and himself with the rope swinging around, threatening to trip him with each step?

Try instead to tie several short lengths of split twin directly to your head collar. If your horse pulls back the string breaks at the link leaving your horse free of the demon ro[e and you left with the rope to go and catch him with. :D
 
I will never leave mine tied up unattended at the side of the lorry because of the potential for accidents (he does on occasion untie himself when nobody's watching and is also rather spooky and daft and in need of someone to protect him from the monsters). If there's someone to watch him he'll normally be happy to watch the world go by for an hour or so munching from a net (and then he gets bored). On the rare occasion there's nobody to watch him (eg if me and person driving me both go for lunch at same time) then he goes back on the box for a bit. He's not as happy on there but at least he can't get loose or annoy anyone. Tbh even when I do this I normally ask if someone nearby is ok to keep half an eye on the box and shout me if it sounds like he's doing something stupid
 
As always there are limits. I compete on my own and my horses all tie up and stand beautifully either in or outside the trailer. Leaving them for hours on end is different.
 
There's too many variables at a show you can't control so I don't tie mine up outside unless I am there .
They stand in the lorry when I have to go and get my number etc .
I would not take one who was not good at standing in the lorry to a show alone .
I do leave horses standing tied at home I also leave them standing tacked up untied and I expect them to learn to stand where I left them or follow me if that's what I want .
 
Tiddlypom said:
The combination of unsupervised horses tied to lorries, and an unmanned gateway, is a disaster waiting to happen. (Spottyappy, I note that your chap was supervised at the time.)

If anyone has a horse who traces back to the warmblood Fellow Fuego, by Wolfgang, you may have me and my lovely late dressage horse to thank! We set off up a busy A road in hot pursuit of him when he broke free in the lorry park and escaped through the open gate at an affiliated dressage show. Lassoing, and then keeping hold of, a very excited young stallion after riding him off the road onto the verge was 'interesting' whilst still mounted on my own chap.

Its just common sense to have someone keep an eye on your horse at the trailer or lorry. I always used to compete single handed, and coped just fine. Its just a matter of organisation.
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Wow, Kudos to you, Tiddlypom. You have set up the BEST image, cowboy skills on fancy dressage horses, on the highway at that!
 
It's the complete norm here in Aus, apart from the occasional stallion, as they have extra restrictions on how they can be tied up so it's easier to put them on board. As being tied up is a fact of life for our horses, they all learn to tie, and stay tied, and not to panic to pressure. As a precaution though, it's common to tie to something breakable ie hay band. The other thing to consider is that our horse float industry has manufactured floats that are horse friendly on the outside ie flush handles/tie up points, round edging etc. Our venues usually have vast parking areas so it's possible to have up to 3 horse lengths between vehicles. There is also an etiquette of; if possible, don't tie your horse up on the side of your vehicle if it leaves him rump to rump with a horse from a different vehicle.

It's interesting how what you are used to seems so sensible, but something new can appear odd. For example, I can't wrap my head around getting in a float/truck and saddling up, wrapping legs of a horse. To me that seems utterly dangerous, but obviously it's 'the done thing' and all your horses are used to as they are exposed to it from day dot.

I have kept a horse on board during extreme wet weather or when competing in evening events though!
 
You've hit the nail on the head - room. My original post was from a venue where over a hundred lorries were packed into a small field. Classes were starting and finishing with moving wehicles all the time. Lorries were jammed together and the cross country running past the lorry park.
Yes, tacking up, bandaging in a lorry or trailer is unsafe unless you have some pretty wide partitions. (I coped when competing one horse with a trailer by removing the partition, cross tying horse and then was able to get all the way round it quite happily - and I had no wish to get squished or kicked) Tying up outside to do that is perfectly fine. My post was the leaving of horses for some considerable time, tied up, fretting, in a howling gale.
I've been to shows in NZ and Australia where you can't see the fence over the horizon! Not so in UK's minute lorry parks!
County shows are the worst, where everyone is packed in tight, you've just got your horse out, and a coach and four goes past! I defy any horse not to be slightly aware!
 
I don't mind horses tied up correctly, to a point above their wither height, with a haynet. They should be able to stay like that all day, if told to do so, with regular checks and watering, and should be just as safe and secure as on the lorry where they can also do damage of course. I have seen more horses break free while being tacked up than when correctly tied.

HOWEVER ... I don't see many horses safely tied! Long flapping leadropes that can get twisted around the head (or when tied too low can get caught around legs or even under the lorry (SHUDDER!)), badly fitting headcollars, rusty leadrope clasps, stressy horses that are clearly not comfortable to stand tied up ... or my particular favourite, a horse tied with a long lunge line, standing 3m away from its lorry grazing without any attendance or supervision ... it was blocking other horses and indeed pulling faces at them ... and wearing studs all round! Unbelievable.

Personally I do leave my horses tied up but always within eyesight, and if it's far away then I take them with me as close to sec office/cafe as I can get and ask a kind soul to hold them for me. I don't like to be too far away, but they are fine if I have to be.
 
Mooseontheloose said:
You've hit the nail on the head - room. My original post was from a venue where over a hundred lorries were packed into a small field. Classes were starting and finishing with moving wehicles all the time. Lorries were jammed together and the cross country running past the lorry park.
Yes, tacking up, bandaging in a lorry or trailer is unsafe unless you have some pretty wide partitions. (I coped when competing one horse with a trailer by removing the partition, cross tying horse and then was able to get all the way round it quite happily - and I had no wish to get squished or kicked) Tying up outside to do that is perfectly fine. My post was the leaving of horses for some considerable time, tied up, fretting, in a howling gale.
I've been to shows in NZ and Australia where you can't see the fence over the horizon! Not so in UK's minute lorry parks!
County shows are the worst, where everyone is packed in tight, you've just got your horse out, and a coach and four goes past! I defy any horse not to be slightly aware!
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There's a local show I don't go to now because it's just outgrown itself. Everyone squished in, it's an accident waiting to happen. No-one seems to stop people cantering about the parking area and I've seen a few horses being upset over this.

It's different in different places, we are a reasonably small island compared to other countries and because our history dates back 1000's of years, our infrastructure has built up around the passing of time. We have little room to expand in some places, our cities were built without someone thinking 'Oh, in 2015 it might be better if we set our roads, buildings and agricultural land in a less 'crazy' way....!'.....
 
Franks always been happier out of the trailer than in - where he fidgets wanting to know where he is and is more likely to do himself a mischief inside. Always tied up short with a haynet if allowed and mentioned to neighbours if they would mind keeping an eye. Mums mare treated differently as she pulls back if a big lorry comes past ;). I don't see an issue with people doing what they deem safest knowing their horse- we are always making risk assessments for them. Lots of dogs outside the shop here too ;). It's not exactly tescos ;)
 
I am in a quandary about this debate.

I always compete with my non horsey partner.

My mare is very anxious on the lorry, and is desperate to get off. She travels with no partition and is great to travel but very stressed when stationary. I always get her out of the lorry at competitions and she instantly changes personality. She is placid and quiet instantly and just at ease at seeing what's happening.

Therefore, when competing she is tied to the outside of the lorry. We always stay with her as you never know what might happen.

Yesterday, we got her out and tied her up as usual. The gates of the lorry were open and she was tied to the side of the lorry, but at the rear, near the ramp. Somehow, whilst I was grooming her and my partner stood by the ramp, she caught her leadrope on the ramp gate. She backed up and raised her head, which caused the gate to come off the hinge and fall outwards, onto her.

She naturally freaked out, backed up and tried to run. I was right there so calmed her down, which worked, whilst my partner grabbed the lorry gate and moved it back/fixed it. She didn't even break the twine as I got there just in time, if she had then she'd have been off at 100mph. She's been tied to this lorry umpteen times with no problems.

Had we have not been there, the gate would have landed on her head, she would have been hurt, along with backing up and damaging the lorry next to us, which she was close to.

At the same competition, someone had left their horse unattended in a trailer, it was going absolutely mental. The car was bouncing, the trailer must have obtained serious damage. I also know that I would not leave my horse unattended in the lorry, as I simply do not trust that she will not attempt to get out or get extremely agitated. Having discussed this with my partner yesterday, we are going to aim to try and get her standing on the lorry occasionally, with the aim to resolving this issue.

There are dangers to both scenarios and I think the safest solution is dependent on the horse. I believe my horse is more harm to herself whilst in the lorry, at the moment. I do hope to change this though with gentle encouragement.
 
Red-1 said:
Wow, Kudos to you, Tiddlypom. You have set up the BEST image, cowboy skills on fancy dressage horses, on the highway at that!
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Ha, thanks :). We didn't intend on performing any heroics, but we were the only ones in the right place, at the right time, to stop him.

I must admit I was rather proud to be given a round of applause afterwards by a very helpful lorry driver. He'd seen the loose horse, and had stopped his vehicle in the road to block off traffic. He said 'It was as if your horse knew exactly what to do'.

I did get the wobbles afterwards, though. I'm good in a crisis, but I tend to 'crash' later.

Subsequently, I wrote to Horse and Hound highlighting the need for entrance gates to be manned or closed at shows. It was 'Letter of the week', but it seems that very little has changed.
 
Chan said:
Same, never once had a problem! I tied Annie outside lots of shops and never had a problem there either, not in the 14 years we had her. Depends on the dog. Annie was good in every way possible.
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it doesn't depend on the dog - but the passing opportunist.
 
The thing is with horses, no matter how good they are, how good the training, there is always the one time they don't do what is expected. I was once parked next to a horse who was left in the trailer and it managed to suspend itself over the breast bar - apparently I was normally good.
 
I wouldn't own a horse which didn't tie, all day if required. Most places which still use horses in practical ways will have horses that do as they're told. I once saw a horse in Portugal tied to a rosebush, and there he stayed - all night, and perfectly content. I also regularly make use of a picket line (rope strung between two trees), and ours are mostly stallions too. Properly managed and trained horses should stand tied.
 
I would usually leave mine on the trailer while I check in/walk a course/go to the toilet etc. Then I unload and tie them to the trailer to groom/tack up. Same in reverse when we are finished, tie to trailer to untack, wash/groom, get ready, load car etc then load up and leave them to go and thank organisers. I did lose a pony once, was loading the car afterwards and someone came up leading her, she had pinged her string and gone for a graze. I was only stood 5m away and hadn't noticed as she was the far side of where I was packing the car. Mine are quite happy to be tied up (something they have both learnt since being with me), I just don't trust other people not to be stupid near them so it is easier and safer to keep them onboard as much as possible.
 
I have left mine when I get my rosette or results or photos- if possible I would prefer to have someone wait with them but since when I did sponsored rides I met a friend I had no options.

That said if I had a horse who got stressed or pulled back then I would not leave them
 
I would report them to the show stewards and everyone else I could..Is the stallion registered,I would report them to the breed society.
equi said:
There is only one group who do this in my "show crowd" and they are also the ones who stand in the lorry whipping their stallions penis if it dares show and dehydrate it so it is well behaved. They've been asked to leave before and got pretty grotty. They left two tiny yearlings last year and went off. They could have been literally picked up and ran off with and one got tangled and I had to free it.

I tie my boy to the trailer so he is in the fresh air and can watch the world go by but I would never have him out of eye shot.
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Tiddlypom, thanks for that, one of my friends has a Fuego daughter and another a grandson, who ironically I watched at a hunter trial today (where he was not left tied unattended to a lorry at any point ;) )
 
I have sAdly seen many serious accidents and incidents over the years with horses and ponies left tied to or inside horseboxes and trailers unattended. It cannot always be completely unavoided sadly, as things such as toilet breaks arise. I have seen legs through vehicle sides, horses galloping out of show grounds onto main roads, fights between horses, and so much more. Please always try to get someone to keep an eye on them if you need to leave them and do not leave them so you can watch the show jumping or dressage where you may be gone a long time.
If we all helped each other we could avoid many incidents,, obviously things will still happen but quick action can lessen injuries.
 
I'm sure that most horses are trained to tie up and be left. I do it at home with the yard gate shut just in case, while i'm mucking out or otherwise busy. It's not the same as expecting them to stand unattended at a show in a confined space with moving vehicles, loose horses, dogs, I once saw a horse cantering round the lorry park attached to a car door. I've met two horses coming down the road flat out with a haynet tied between them when they'd pulled back and escaped from a show - interesting trying to decide which way to duck! As I posted earlier, I also saw one bleed to death after falling onto a trailer hitch which pierced it's heart after being left tied, tacked up. It had swung round, caught it's teeth in it's tack and panicked, falling sideways.
It's not alwas what your horse does, but what someone else might do.
However, what you do with your horses is really up to you, but I know some venues do now ban the tying up, often because people don't clear up the half a trampled net of dirty hay and droppings they choose to leave behind them.
Of course things can go wrong in trailers, especially when people leave the front ramp down and the horse panics and tries to jump the breast bar, and I've seen a large horse come out through a small grooms door (mind you the people were with it at the time).
I've also attended a lot of horse fairs here and abroad where horses, foals and donkeys are tied for hours on end, often to the burger van - which seems tactless in the extreme! It doesn't mean to say I like it or would advocate it as a practice.
 
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