Stuck on the breast bar in the trailer

V

VicC

Member
Joined
13 August 2011
Messages
18
Location
Herefordshire
Visit site
Any thoughts?

Mare we have on loan has travelled 3x ok, on her own in the trailer, all sorts of roads. Last weekend went to take her out and she was restless in the trailer for a couple of miles, this escalated to banging and kicking, so we stopped to turn round - checked she was fine, no obvious problems.

Started going home and then the trailer started snaking and i could see her legs through the window. Pony had managed to get both front legs over the breast bar and was hanging there. Got her free after a bit and i travelled in trailer with her home for 10 mins as she was in a state.

Bit nervous about taking her out now, we've not done so since. No idea why it happened. Any ideas what to do??
 
Very scary isn't it? My horse did it whilst we were stationary. He saw the other horses tied to the other trailers and he wanted to get out. He didn't panic just stood there with his legs on the bar, we knocked them down and he did it again. I brought some good thick quality travel boots which stopped him from getting his legs over. He also did it on the 5 bar gate when I go to fetch him in, we've taped it off now. Seems like it's his party trick. Good luck with your pony.
 
Black_Horse_White said:
Very scary isn't it? My horse did it whilst we were stationary. He saw the other horses tied to the other trailers and he wanted to get out. He didn't panic just stood there with his legs on the bar, we knocked them down and he did it again. I brought some good thick quality travel boots which stopped him from getting his legs over. He also did it on the 5 bar gate when I go to fetch him in, we've taped it off now. Seems like it's his party trick. Good luck with your pony.
Click to expand...

Argh, that sounds horrific!! Not the best party piece hey?! Maybe i'll try the big travel boots as she had no padding on at the time. thx
 
Its truly terrifying! I used to have a horse who would occasionally do this - he'd never panic, just stand there with his front legs dangling over it not being able to move. We had to force him backwards off it (although once he was so far over, we had to get him out frontways). What trailer do you have? If you've got an Ifor, I believe you can release the breast bars from the outside. We have a Bateson and you cant... its my only problem with this trailer - you have to lift the bar up to get it out which is impossible with a horse on top of it.

I dont know how you'd stop them doing it in the first place though!
 
My horse did this and then went up an over backwards onto his back on the trailer floor :-( if I ever manage to get him in a trailer again I will have fashioned some sort of weave grill type thing or raise the bar so high and fill it in underneath with boarding. Good luck xx
 
Another idea would be to have a strap over the bottom of his neck/withers, not tight but if he tries to go up it will prevent/make it harder for him to do so. A few others suggested this with horses in lorries which get their feet up on to the storage space underneath the tie up points..
 
Maybe try travelling on the other side or opening the while trailer up? My friends horse used to travel fine and then suddenly starting panicing. She took out the partition and is now fine
 
One of mine used to do this, think cars and lorries coming up behind him startled him. I shut the top doors to travel and he was fine (if it was a hot day then just the door on the drivers side). He was a sensible horse but just not that experienced in traffic, must have been quite alarming for him to suddenly have it all rushing up behind him.
 
As EB says - get floor - and also all running gear of the trailer checked out. A horse can pick up all sorts of vibrations from something loose etc. Even loose lights, flapping numberplate or loose mudguard can freak out a horse.

Also, try travelling horse on pillar reins as much more difficult for it to go up enough to get over partition/ breast bar.

Good luck
 
I have a mare who does this we cross tie her, and also thread the lead rope under the breast bar attach to the side of the headcollar each side this stops her throwing her head far enough up to get her front legs over, she is a very cheeky naughty pony and will mainly kick and rear when waiting at traffic lights etc, the trailer is in perfect condition, she's five we hope she will grow out of it but probabley not, also if its an Ifor williams breast bar you could when fastening the breast bar put the pin in upside down so if she's on the breast bar once released it falls down, so you wont have to lift the breast bar up with the horse on it, hope that makes sense, good luck.
 
Last edited:
One of our ponies did this but I managed to get his leg back over using brute force and ignorance. The trailer is a IW 505. Next time I was determined to be ready in case he did it again and kept an electric screw driver in the Landrover.

Sure enough, he did do it again but the screw driver bit kept slipping in the dome headed screws outside the trailer. I have since replaced them all with socket headed screws as in the picture and made sure they have a good coating of Copper Ease. They are easily undone with an Allan key and won't burr over or slip. Another thing, put the end of the bar with hook on the inside or the bar won't drop down when the screws are removed.

I would strongly advise anyone with a Ifor Williams trailer to replace the existing screws with these socket headed screws. They are quite cheap off Ebay, I think you need M8x45 or maybe M8x35. (Measure the ones you take out! The M8 part is correct but I'm not sure about the length - 45 or 35 millimeters).

socket-head.gif
 
HandTS said:
I have a mare who does this we cross tie her, and also thread the lead rope under the breast bar attach to the side of the headcollar each side this stops her throwing her head far enough up to get her front legs over, she is a very cheeky naughty pony and will mainly kick and rear when waiting at traffic lights etc, the trailer is in perfect condition, she's five we hope she will grow out of it but probabley not, also if its an Ifor williams breast bar you could when fastening the breast bar put the pin in upside down so if she's on the breast bar once released it falls down, so you wont have to lift the breast bar up with the horse on it, hope that makes sense, good luck.
Click to expand...

That is an interesting idea. I could do that in my Bateson too. Out of interest though, have you ever had a pin break and the bar then fall out? (when it wasn't meant to) my old boy used to fall asleep and rest his head and neck heavily on the breast bar....
 
VicC said:
Any thoughts?

Mare we have on loan has travelled 3x ok, on her own in the trailer, all sorts of roads. Last weekend went to take her out and she was restless in the trailer for a couple of miles, this escalated to banging and kicking, so we stopped to turn round - checked she was fine, no obvious problems.

Started going home and then the trailer started snaking and i could see her legs through the window. Pony had managed to get both front legs over the breast bar and was hanging there. Got her free after a bit and i travelled in trailer with her home for 10 mins as she was in a state.

Bit nervous about taking her out now, we've not done so since. No idea why it happened. Any ideas what to do??
Click to expand...
Which type of trailer do you have? The new Ifor Williams trailes have 'quick release' systems. This meas that if a horse were to jump the bar you use the wheel brace (that comes with the trailer) and you let down the bar quickly,safely and easily from the outside of the trailer. This is so good as you then dont need to move the horse and is so good just for peice of mind.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top