Lots of trailer questions, please help.

G

Grumpystiltskin

New User
Joined
2 May 2016
Messages
9
Visit site
I'm a long time lurker but first time poster here. Had a bit of a disaster yesterday when Horse got his leg over the breast bar of the trailer and I've had a sleepless night thinking about all the things I'm doing wrong. Please read and comment if you can help?

1. Horse is 15.3hh Cob and was in an Ifor Williams 505 with the partition and breast bar on high, breach bar on low. Is this too small for him? Some women were really nasty to me shouting that I shouldn't be allowed a horse as this trailer is too small even though it's advertised as for 2 horses up to 16.2hh.

2. I was at the show (local village show type) on my own and had left him in the trailer with a hay net whilst I went to enter, walk the course and collect some tack I had bought. He was on his own for about 30min. Is this too long to leave him? If so then how does anyone ever compete on their own? I can't afford a lorry as use the 4X4 for work and couldn't run both vehicles.

3. He travels ok but I had several minor heart attacks driving back as every time I stopped I thought he would do it again. How do I stop him doing it again? I think he would have done it even if I had been in the 4x4 so how do I stop him trying to do it again?

I'm so grateful to the people who got him out of the trailer (he had got the hay net stuck under his shoe and it was tied well off the ground so he was really going for it) but some of the crowd who had gathered were really vile to me. I thanked everyone and chatted to the steward but these women just stood there being really nasty for about 15min afterwards until an absolutely lovely gent helped me load him again and I could escape from them.

I've seen this happen before at shows and always thought it was just one of things that horses do sometimes, we can't always predict them, perhaps I'm wrong and it's the handler's fault all along?

After an accident many years ago when someone fell asleep and drove into our LR and trailer, I was just starting to become a bit more confident (having passed my towing test). Now I just feel like it's all pointless because I can't take him anywhere as I can't stand with him the whole time.


Thank you for getting to the end of that ramble.
 
I'm not familiar with ifor trailers but being a 15.3 cob he will probably be wider than your average 16.2 horse which is the trailers max. Does he have enough room width wise within his trailer stall? I used to travel my 14.2 sec D in a richardson supreme rosette which is the smallest of the richardson and designed to take up to 2 x 15.2 and although he was ok I did feel that although height-wise he was ok, that his weight and broadness wasn’t ideal to be travelling in one side of the trailer when there was no horse weight on the other side. Have you thought about buying full breast and breach bars – they can balance themselves better and you don’t have all the weight on one side of the trailer.
 
Thank you for replying. This came up in my extensive googling at about 2 this morning!!

I just worry that with this cob, the extra room will give him more chance to be a bit of a dick (which he can be sometimes). Isn't he more likely to do it if he's got more room?
I could give it a try but it doesn't do anything for my nerves! Thanks again.
 
I've travelled my 17hh ID in a 505, with breast and breech bars. She stood at a slant and actually had more room than you'd expect. She has a very low head carriage though, and wouldn't have been comfortable with a partition in. I only did it once as she had to travel and it was all I had available at the time.

How did your horse get stuck in the haynet? I don't quite understand that bit. Maybe a haybag would be better, as it just has a small area of mesh?

I don't like to leave horses on their own, so I usually lead mine with me to enter etc, although I appreciate you can't do this while you walk a course. If I had to, I would definitely leave mine on the transport rather than tied outside. None of mine have shoes so the haynet thing isn't an issue - although either of the chestnuts would get themselves into trouble somehow, I can guarantee it! So I would only take them if I had help. The Gypsy Cob would be fine.

What exactly did he do to get caught up? this would have a bearing on how I handled it :)
 
Crikey that must have been scary. These things do happen and I doubt you did anything wrong. An IFor 505 should be big enough but have you tried him without a partition? When travelling my new horse home just after we collected him, he smashed through the breast bar and got it stuck between his legs whilst travelling. We had made sure everything was safe as possible but it still happened. I like you was a nervous wreck about going out again but I want to compete so I had to. I cross tie him and travel without a partition. I also use a small holed haynet to lessen the possibility of him getting caught up.

If no one can go with you to comps perhaps you could ask someone to watch him whilst you enter? Also most secretary's are accommodating and may let you pre enter if you mention your problem. Hope it works out for you x
 
From what I can tell, he put his right fore over the bar and the Hay net was tied in the middle of the front (over the window if you can imagine). And somehow he caught it with his hoof and it got under his shoe and stuck.

I can't think how he got so close to it tbh. The hay is in the middle as we travel 2 horses about half of the time but he could easily reach it as I double checked when I tied him up.
 
"If it can go wrong, it will go wrong" is my motto. You have been brave enough to ask for advice on here which is the totally correct thing to do. Accidents happen and hopefully we learn from them. There are always those willing to throw stones and that story is at least a couple of thousand years old.

At some shows, it is against the rules to leave any horse unattended. Personally, I wouldn't do it, even inside a trailer, see motto above. So although my ponies have been shown quite a lot, I've very seldom seen them in the ring because I am always the poor sod stuck on trailer watch!

As for whether a 505 is big enough, the women were trying to score points and, as usual with people like that, they get their facts wrong. Ignore them and if they persist, call the police. It's called 'Causing a breach of the peace'. I think DEFRA have published what is acceptable and I have an idea the roof of the transport needs to be 750mm above the withers, but I could be wrong. As usual, apply commonsense.

The bars are there to stop the horse being injured if the driver has to brake suddenly or the trailer is shunted from behind. So think on those terms and adjust the bars accordingly. **** happens.
 
Last edited:
There will always be some people who have nothing better to do than be nasty, they seem to get pleasure out of others misfortune, it was an accident that you couldn't have prevented, other than to have not left him, he probably just got impatient and started pawing the ground initially and the pawing developed into a rather more violent behaviour which ended up with his leg over the bar and stuck on the haynet, if the haynet had not been there he may well have got his leg back and been fine.

I do think 30 mins is rather too long if he is not used to being left but many horses get left far longer and are fine, don't beat yourself up over it all is fine, he is not hurt, he loaded back on and you got home safely. You now have to find a way round it to prevent it happening again, if you have to go alone then you may need to tie up outside, something I hate doing but again many do, he may be best got out and ridden as soon as you arrive then put back on for a while with you or someone else staying to watch him, if he starts pawing stop him as soon as he starts, he must learn to be patient and you will find a way round this if you take time to work out what works best for him, what works for one may be the worst thing for another.

I bought a pony which I collected in a trailer at a show, within a minute of him being loaded he had got over the partition and was stuck in the area in the front, having got him off and back on he was cross tied with a haynet securely wedged right in front of him and I set off very quickly on the 2 hour journey home, it was not the best drive ever as I was so worried he would do it again while on a busy junction but he was fine and has never done anything like it since, I think he frightened himself as much as me.
 
Thank you everyone for replying (and being nice).

So to train him to be quiet on the trailer (although the optimum would be to not leave him obviously) I can take him somewhere, ride him for a bit then load him again and listen for him becoming impatient, stop him then and leave him for a few minutes then maybe take him off?

I'm thinking that I don't just want to unload him as soon as he gets impatient because to be honest, I've been stuck in traffic for longer than 30min and obviously then I wouldn't be able to unload him so I don't want him to think that misbehaving = getting off the trailer?

Does that sound reasonable?

I will check the trailer size advice and measure things as well to double check.
 
I'm sorry you met some of the nasty set in the horse world. Always there with their unwanted opinions giving it large about how fabulous they are and how it wouldn't happen to them. Until it does. Mostly bravado to hide their own shortcomings.

A 505 is a tight squeeze for the larger boned, although it is advertised to carry two x 16.2 horses my own 16.1 can't fit comfortably. Your own horse does fit, and has enough room to rear and get his leg over the breastbar!
 
No. hes quite nosy. Do you think he would prefer it or would it make him more likely to try to get over the bar? I've read about horses trying to get out over the front ramp so I didn't want to risk it. And now I can't decide which would be best for him. I have visions of his front legs over the top of the ramp and I would honestly be absolutely terrified.

Really grateful for advice.
 
Some potential ideas.

Do you think he reared up, or was the breast bar too low?

As another suggestion, try a hay bag next time, less string to get caught up in.

Try tying him up shorter so it's a lot harder for him to rear up.

Put straw/hay bales in the front of the trailer so he can't get stuck. (Would involve him Coming off backwards though.

Make sure you have a tool for releasing Breast bar to hand all the time
 
A bit of an aside, but on the older 505's at least, the fittings on the side wall of the trailer that the bar clips into can be undone from outside, but there are a few points you should be aware of...

The bolt heads on the outside can become burred so they are difficult to undo in a hurry. I replaced all of mine with socket or barrel headed screws that can be undone with an Allen key. The bolts and key cost pennies from Ebay.

Also, the hooked end of the bar should clip into the fitting on the central partition and the straight end goes to the outside so when those bolts are unscrewed the bar drops down.

Small points easily fixed, but anyone who has kept horses for a while has had one get a leg over the bar. It is easier and safer to drop the bar than try to lift the leg back up. I think in the newer IW trailers, there is a small ring on the head of the bolt which might be even easier to undo with a small piece of bar.
 
If I have to leave mine, I do open the front ramp. She can see what is going on and knows she hasn't been abandoned.

It also gets really hot in a closed trailer, he could have panicked through lack of airflow.
 
I don't think it was too hot as it was wet and blustery but I will bear that in mind thank you.

I replaced the quick release bolts last year and the Allen key is easy to find so the quick release is all working and he bars the right way round!

Wench thank you, all taken on board.
 
Sorry to hear you had such a scary experience. It's a good idea if travelling and competing alone to create an 'In Case of emergency' (ICE) document. Laminate it and fix it to the inside of your jockey door. If you're not at your trailer and something like this should happen again (god forbid) someone can contact you. This document has all the info needed should I have an accident and someone needs to sort out me and/or my horse. I had a fall out hunting last year and was knocked out. I was able to call a friend to come and drive us home as I just had concussion but it made me think what if I was injured and unable to communicate? I have the following on my ICE info:

Owner/Rider/Driver - My name and mobile number mobile
Emergency contact - husband’s name and mobile number
Horse – horse’s name, colour, sex, size and freeze mark
Stables – name, address and postcode of yard, phone number and yard owner
Other contacts – names and mobile numbers of three friends with own transport who will help if needed
Vet - name and telephone number
 
Last edited:
Having the top door shut is safest, IMHO. Also reversing them out when unloading, so they aren't thinking that forwards is the way to the exit. Tie him to a low down ring, so there is resistance if he tries to throw his head up.

I've got a trailer vision wireless cctv camera and monitor in my 510. The monitor is portable and can get a picture a fair distance away from the trailer, given a clear line of sight. Very handy for solo trips out.

Having done this once, though, I wouldn't be keen to ever leave him unattended again, I'm afraid.
 
I can't really see that you did anything wrong. It's just one of those things and those women are obviously nasty pieces of work with nothing better to do with their time. I have no doubt that while they were standing there b*tching , their own horses were left unsupervised on their vehicles. If you go places alone, you simply have to leave them for little periods of time. Maybe next time cut it into smaller chunks of time and go back to check on him in between jobs, but there's probably not much you could have done about it even if you were there when he did it. He could even have been stung by a wasp or something causing him to panic so it's probably a situation that won't arise again.

A friend's horse (a compact 16.2) reared over the breast bar in her 505 (he has plenty of room on it) and forced his way out through the open jockey door. He wasn't even left alone. She was loading him, he saw his friend walk past the jockey door and freaked (he's very clingy) so it can and does happen, regardless of the horse's size. Luckily, she let him walk on and was behind him doing the breaching bar up or she'd have been in his way.
 
I don't have a trailer so can't comment on the specifics, but the bit about leaving them alone I can really understand. I travel on my own and there just are inevitable times when you have to leave them on their own, albeit hopefully for short periods. I try to ask someone nearby if they are hanging around and can keep an eye.

I'd prefer them tied up in the lorry rather than outside. I tried tying up outside once and came back to learn that horse had broken free and gone for a wander round the car park. Nothing else bad happened, but it was a worry.

Horrid experience OP, I hope you can get some good tips to reduce the risk of it happening again, but as others have said, horses are capable of doing the stupidest unexpected things at times. Best to be prepared and do what you can to reduce the risk but short of not going out, you can't eliminate all risks.
 
Glad you are ok OP. Some people are horrid. A 505 is big enough for a 15.3 horse dont let anyone tell you otherwise. I like travelling mine with it departitioned to give her more room, but I think you were extremely unfortunate and sadly subjected to the worst of the horsy world. Hugs
 
Thank you everyone. I'm feeling a lot better about it now and have come up with a plan for practice.
It's really interesting to search for this problem and see how common it actually is.
 
9tails said:
That's why the bars are quick release!
Click to expand...
And why the ever common 3.5t lorries with fixed, welded on breast bars, plus narrow rear doors, are death traps.

My 510 has just been serviced, and whilst it was there I had all the breast bar allen key fixings changed to the modern fitting, as on the 506/511, which is easier to release in an emergency. (You can get more torque on them with a wheel brace or similar).
 
Tiddlypom said:
And why the ever common 3.5t lorries with fixed, welded on breast bars, plus narrow rear doors, are death traps.

My 510 has just been serviced, and whilst it was there I had all the breast bar allen key fixings changed to the modern fitting, as on the 506/511, which is easier to release in an emergency. (You can get more torque on them with a wheel brace or similar).
Click to expand...

I really like the new 511 and 506 fixings, they also have good lynchpins with a hook so they can't work their way out.

http://uk.picclick.com/Genuine-Ifor-Williams-HB403-HB506-HB511-321607273557.html
 
i agree you did nothing wrong and a 15'3 in a 505 is no problem at all. I would also agree that you need to tie him a bit tighter, perhaps cross tie him so he has restricted head movement and move the bars to the shortest settings so he has less room from front to back in that section. That will prevent him being able to move back to get his legs up. He clearly was not that bothered as he loaded again. And I would also probably leave the front door open. so he can look out and see whats going on. Mine have all settled well with the top door open and never attempted to get out. But I have also never taken my horses out forwards, only ever backwards, so they never associate going forwards with coming off the trailer.

I love the fact people were telling you he was too big for it.......... hell I would have received a total rocket when I had to travel my 17,2 in a 505 alongside my 15'3. It was an emergency. I had no other way of getting them away from a bad situation. Guess what, they survived. In fact they travelled beautifully. But then the 17'2 would have climbed into a caravan to travel if I had asked him :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top