Setting breast/breech bars at the correct length horsebox

[heidi124]

Hello there,

I have the weirdest question, which I can’t seem to find any answer to anywhere. I have just bought a second hand ifor Williams trailer and you can not only set the height of the trailer bars but also the length which I hadn’t seen before.

How do you set the length of the trailer stall? Do you give some room to your horse to take a step forward or back to get his balance back or do you set it pretty « close » to the horse for him to be more secure?

I have a youngster who hasn’t travelled much at all and when I was looking into setting the bars more tight on him he looked really uncomfortable, but I’m guessing once you move the horse just sets himself and too long isn’t helping either.

thank you !

 

[rabatsa]

I like to give them space to move. The only time I shortern the length is for those who rub their tails on the ramp.

 

[Tiddlypom]

I like to leave a good 12" - 18" front and back, ideally more, so that they can move a little.

Too big a gap could encourage a nervous horse to think of jumping over the breast bar, though.