Long Distance Travelling

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thatblackfriesian

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So I will be attending Edinburgh University this September and have decided that my horse will come with me. It is however a long drive (8 plus hours) from where I live in Medway to her new Livery yard in Edinburgh. I have a few questions about this:

1. Boots, bandages or nothing?
2. How often should we stop and give her water, let her put her head down etc.?
3. Would travelling at night be better than during the day?

Thank you
 
I would get a quote from Gillies to be honest. You can then fill your trailer with all your stuff and horse stuff, this does assume you have a lot of stuff.
You need to get trailer serviced, tyres checked for pressure and spare etc, and have full recovery policy for such a journey. There is also the issue of your driving hours, I assume you would have a driving groom, no way would I undertake such a journey without one.
I would want to stop overnight where she can go out in to a paddock overnight.
 
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That is about 425 miles which is going to take well over 8 hours without a stop so I would either get a professional transporter or plan to stop overnight en route to give the horse a proper rest and also the drivers to get a decent break.

As for what to put on her legs if she is a good traveler, and I would expect her to be if you are even considering doing this journey yourself, then I would use nothing to allow her legs to stay cool and reduce the risk of something slipping or rubbing and give a really thick layer of bedding so she can pee comfortably and it keeps the floor from getting so slippery. .

I would be more than happy to do 4 hours or so with just one short stop, I always give a well soaked net so they don't require much water as they often won't drink anyway and on a long journey tie up loose enough so they can lower their heads although not so loose they can get it under the bar or try to turn round.
 
Hi, we did a similar length of trip when competing at Burgie, the whole trip took 12 hours, but we did have 2 long stops.

We had a spacious lorry, which the horse was used to travelling in, and was used to journeys of up to 4 hrs to compete, so used to 8 hrs in total in one day.

We did the first 4 hours, before stopping and the horse had half an hour picking at grass. She had water too, and we soaked the hay.

After another 3 hours we had the second stop, which was actually at Gleneagles, where we hires the beautiful school, to have 20 minutes of gentle lungeing.

Last leg was OK as it was so beautiful. The horse arrived absolutely fine, and soon settled in the temp. stabling. She flew through the trot up the next day too.

I would not have done this if I had a trailer, as I think trailers do not have the same quiet and non jolty ride. I would not have done this if my horse were not familiar and good to travel fair distances. My lorry was 12.5 tonnes, so we had capacity for everything. We also had 2 drivers, I would not have done the journey if I was alone, or if both drivers were not experienced at driving and travelling horses.

On the way home (less than a week later) we did the same trip with just one offload. We did a fair chunk of the trip, then we stopped and let her lower her head and drain her nose, have a drink, checked her over etc. The second stop she did get off and pick at grass. Fine on offloading, and great the next day too.

If you are not confident than I would either get a pro, or plan the route to have an overnight. If it were me I would plan the route for a comp or a XC practice too, never one to miss an opportunity! Looking at where you are I would do 2 days. What about an afternoon lesson at Yorkshire Riding Centre? Fab facilities, close to the A1.
 
Bonkers2 said:
I would get a quote from Gillies to be honest. You can then fill your trailer with all your stuff and horse stuff, this does assume you have a lot of stuff.
You need to get trailer serviced, tyres checked for pressure and spare etc, and have full recovery policy for such a journey. There is also the issue of your driving hours, I assume you would have a driving groom, no way would I undertake such a journey without one.
I would want to stop overnight where she can go out in to a paddock overnight.
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This ^^^^^

There are strict regulations to transporting livestock long distances and although you might not be checked, if something goes wrong, you surely will be. Breaking regulations is an excellent arguement for the insurance not paying out.

I'd go for Gillies every time and it is a good point that you'd then have the trailer to transport your own stuff in.

Incidentally, I struggled to get boots on a pony going south and eventually gave up. When Gillies arrived, they said they don't recommend them anyway and advise travelling naked. I assume they meant the horse....
 
Are you going to be keeping your transport up north with you? If so, why not just plan the trip over two days with an overnight break somewhere?

If the lorry/trailer would be going South again, agree that Gillies is the best bet by far.
 
turnbuckle said:
Are you going to be keeping your transport up north with you? If so, why not just plan the trip over two days with an overnight break somewhere?

If the lorry/trailer would be going South again, agree that Gillies is the best bet by far.
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Thank you for your help.
What I was planning to do was go to University (drive up in my car and then my dad in his van for all my stuff). Then after a few weeks, once Freshers is over and I have settled in etc. then I will somehow get my horse up with me. I do have my own horsebox which I want with me so I can attend local competitions etc so I would like my horse to travel in this box so that I have it up in Edinburgh with me.
 
Red-1 said:
Hi, we did a similar length of trip when competing at Burgie, the whole trip took 12 hours, but we did have 2 long stops.

We had a spacious lorry, which the horse was used to travelling in, and was used to journeys of up to 4 hrs to compete, so used to 8 hrs in total in one day.

We did the first 4 hours, before stopping and the horse had half an hour picking at grass. She had water too, and we soaked the hay.

After another 3 hours we had the second stop, which was actually at Gleneagles, where we hires the beautiful school, to have 20 minutes of gentle lungeing.

Last leg was OK as it was so beautiful. The horse arrived absolutely fine, and soon settled in the temp. stabling. She flew through the trot up the next day too.

I would not have done this if I had a trailer, as I think trailers do not have the same quiet and non jolty ride. I would not have done this if my horse were not familiar and good to travel fair distances. My lorry was 12.5 tonnes, so we had capacity for everything. We also had 2 drivers, I would not have done the journey if I was alone, or if both drivers were not experienced at driving and travelling horses.

On the way home (less than a week later) we did the same trip with just one offload. We did a fair chunk of the trip, then we stopped and let her lower her head and drain her nose, have a drink, checked her over etc. The second stop she did get off and pick at grass. Fine on offloading, and great the next day too.

If you are not confident than I would either get a pro, or plan the route to have an overnight. If it were me I would plan the route for a comp or a XC practice too, never one to miss an opportunity! Looking at where you are I would do 2 days. What about an afternoon lesson at Yorkshire Riding Centre? Fab facilities, close to the A1.
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Thank you so much for this. It's really helpful.
Could I ask if you let your horse off of the box at any time and where? I'm guessing it's probably illegal to offload them at Motorway Services (as well as very dangerous!!)
Do you know of any professional drivers that you can hire to drive your box for you? Because I have the C1+E Drivers Licence but I have only just passed and I don't think I will manage the whole journey.

"Vehicles with a MAM exceeding 3,500kg but not exceeding 7,500kg.
You may tow a trailer with a MAM not exceeding 750kg. Drivers who passed their category B test prior to 01/01/1997 will have entitlement to drives C1+E with a ‘107’ restriction. This limits the actual weight of the combination to 8.25 tonnes. The trailer may have a MAM exceeding 750kg." Off of the BHS Website

Thank you
 
Best bet might be to phone round transporters - ideally local to you at one end or the other and ask them if they have a "spare" driver on their books who you could hire.

Otherwise Google Vehicle Movement Services, these are the firms who have the guys with trade plates hitching lifts back! But obv you must INSIST they send you someone with horse transport experience (and not for meat either)!
 
thatblackfriesian said:
Thank you so much for this. It's really helpful.
Could I ask if you let your horse off of the box at any time and where? I'm guessing it's probably illegal to offload them at Motorway Services (as well as very dangerous!!)
Do you know of any professional drivers that you can hire to drive your box for you? Because I have the C1+E Drivers Licence but I have only just passed and I don't think I will manage the whole journey.

"Vehicles with a MAM exceeding 3,500kg but not exceeding 7,500kg.
You may tow a trailer with a MAM not exceeding 750kg. Drivers who passed their category B test prior to 01/01/1997 will have entitlement to drives C1+E with a ‘107’ restriction. This limits the actual weight of the combination to 8.25 tonnes. The trailer may have a MAM exceeding 750kg." Off of the BHS Website

Thank you
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Haha its to be hoped if i was lungeing and grazing that we got off! As I also said I would look at YRC for an overnight stop. Even if you don~t have a lesson there is a lovely place for a leg stretch and 3 kinds of accommodation, and it is close to the A1. One thing, the RAC route planner suggests 2 routes, but I would do a slightly different one, stay on the A1 until Scotch Corner. Then go across to the M6. So. A bit of one RAC route, then a bit of the other. We have found this to be the best for horses, traffic etc.
 
Haha yeah sorry. Stupid me!
Thanks for all your help. I will look at YRC now. 4 hours to get there, then approx 4 hours to get to her Livery Yard with an overnight gap in between. That sounds much nicer than 8 hours straight.
 
I transported a horse I had sold from east Sussex to new castle in my 510 ifor Williams we left @ 7.30 am & arrived @ 4pm ish stopped a couple of times but didn't unload the horse 18.hh youngster he came off as cool as a cucumber no problem at all . I was very pleased I decided to do this myself as it was some what daunting but I had had the horse since a foal and he was very comfortable in the trailer having never travelled in a box before & the purchasers were talking about him going on a shared load probably been driven half way round the country so decided I would take him myself .We were back home by about 1pm next morning.
 
I ended up doing 8 hours Devon to Leeds this year, longer than expected as traffic was rubbish. I only stopped of certain for 30 mins, and he seemed fine so continued on. I wouldn't like to do that stretch again though so stopping is definitely a good plan! Is YRC the Yorkshire riding centre? If so I wouldn't exactly say it was close to the A1. If you're looking at stopping overnight around Yorkshire I would look at livery yards near Bramham estate, also Compton livery and Scarcroft hall livery, all almost spitting distance to the a1 yet quiet.
 
Thank you so much!
I will definitely be stopping for the night because if I do get stuck in traffic the journey will be much longer than 8 hours and I don't really want to risk it.
And thanks for your suggestions of places to stay :)
 
We would fairly regularly bring horses over from Ireland to compete in the UK; they are on the box for about 13 hours altogether, including ferry. We don't take them off, but do stop for water, haynet refills, checks, etc.
Never had any horse arrive anything other than absolutely grand, fresh and ready to compete the next day.
 
I wouldn't get too stressed about it - get the horse on the box, with hay, offer water every couple of hours, and personally once I get started I would take a short stop every 4 hours but not unload and just get there rather than mess about stopping etc for unloading.
 
We've done it in a oner and know most people in my area do it too when travelling down to England for competitions. Sometimes up to 10 hour drives... but we do stop regularly to give them wet sugar beet usually (to encourage drinking) and I usually take mine out at some point for a graze and leg stretch although I know others who don't. By choice though I'd do what you're thinking which is stop for a night somewhere. Not sure where, I think I'd probably look on the map at where is half way then where the nearest (easy to get to) competition venue / big yard would be and give them a call. They might be willing to give you a stable for the night. Personally, I wouldnt ask Gillies - I have used them in the past for getting horses from down south up to me and they've always been good but by choice Id rather take my own simply because they dont allow the horses to have a haynet and I hate the thought of my horse standing bored to death for hours with nothing to eat!
 
Honestly, not a problem -just have a stop every couple of hours for 1/2 hour, let her put her head down, offer her a drink and some wet hay. I've done from central Scotland to the midlands a few times and there's never been a problem. Try and work out your journey to avoid the busy times on the motorways. Make sure you also have a spare driver, just in case!
 
A trailer will not give a good ride like a modern lorry.
I am a pretty experienced driver, but would rather use Gillies rather than the more risky journey, which you are proposing. They will probably give the horse an overnight stop, which is at suitable stabling.
By the time you add on the cost of your overnight, your driving groom's overnight and the horse's overnight you will probably be out of pocket, and certainly more tired, I would not consider such an undertaking solo, and of course you will use more fuel when trailering a horse.
 
I don't know what the rules are re travelling horses long distance in the UK. Mine travelled by transporter 932km, (582miles)without a break - I must admit I was surprised, this also included the ferry crossing they left at 8am and a surprised property owner got a phone call at 3am to say my three had arrived. No break, a journey of 19hours and they were fine. The transport companies here don't allow boots as they get too hot.

A good bed of absorbent material, the offer of a drink and if you know your horse will load easily a leg stretch break or two. This will give you time too to stretch yourself.

Myself I've driven my truck on a 200 mile or more trip regularly without a break. My horse has always arrived without any stress.

If you are comfortable with driving long distance then go for it. I do usually do my drive at night or leave in the early hours of the morning, so that I miss traffic jams and stopping and starting which are more uncomfortable for the horse. If you are travelling on good roads then there should be no problem.
 
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