Taking horse on ferry - long trip query!

frannieuk

frannieuk

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I am taking one of my horses on a 9 hour ferry crossing next week, and I've got a few queries that I thought you knowledgable lot may be able to help me with!

1. Do I tie her fairly short so she can't lie down or leave her loose (I'm intending to leave the partitions in)?

2. I'm going to leave her with plenty of hay, and offer a drink every couple of hours, but no hard feed til well after we've arrived.

3. Should I leave her travelling boots on througout, bearing in mind that the crossing should be fairly calm?

Can't think of any other questions at the moment, but any handy hints and moral support would be much appreciated. I am a little nervous about the whole thing, not least whether or not my old Bedford will make it onto the boat
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!

Cheers
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Portsmouth to Jersey! Got to work out there for a couple of months so I've left one horse with my friend in Devon and am taking my ASBO mare with me, lol.
 
I travelled horses back and forth years ago and never had a bad crossing, thank goodness. I left them tied up as normal with haynets and offered water every 2 hours or so. Its a good idea to not give hard feed till theyre settled at the showground. I always gave electrolites on arrival, just in case.As for the boots/bandages, I prefer stable bandages for the whole trip, 9 hours is a long time to stand still and could lead to filling. Take a strong torch with you as it can be dark in the hold. Good luck with the trip and your stay wherever youre going.Is a comp? Mairi.
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Thanks Mairi, I appreciate your advice! Hadn't thought about the electrolites but will make sure I have some. Sadly we're not going just for a comp, but am hoping to get a bit of SJ in while we're over there if possible
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I've got a month in Jersey and then a month in Guernsey through work so it was easier to take my big mare with me!
 
1. Tie as normal, dont leave loose if you dont usually in case does get down, caught up or any other drama while you are not there. put shavings down to encougage to stale while travelling.
2. Probably best not to feed on trip if horse not used to doing so. A good tip i got from time in the states where huge trips in trucks common is to give a mash/ low cal feed with plenty oil init before you go to make sure bowls working.

3 Leave her boots on if you are sure they wont slip. Our Mark Todd ones are fine. Even on boat not likely to over heat at this time of year. Dont use a tail bandage a wrap or guard much better.

$ in addition try and get the back down in the boat if you can. Other wise oopen few extra windows. Dont over rug, better put couple thin ones so can remove one if ness. it is very stuffy on boat once it has started moving dont be decieved when you initially board the boat doors are obviously open then! You can always tie a bucket of water up next to the horse i have one of those deep hook over feed bowls that i use so you can leave water with horses. The purses has to make special arrangements for you to be escorted down to boat deck so if might not let you go dowm every two hours and if there is water there a couple should be enough. i.e. put bucket in when arrive then check in three hours (mostly to check rugs as anything, then three hours then you will be back in lorry to unload by next check. if you desparately want to go down more often ASK the crew and remember they dont have to let you.
anything else do ask and hope this helps x
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Thanks for all your advice - its making me feel a bit more relaxed about it all! One good thing is that I'll have free access to the vehicle decks as I work for the ferry company so no probs with visiting en route, although I'm not gong to go mad with it!
Thanks again for all your tips - all you guys are all a great help and its very much appreciated!
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Done a fair few of these!
Check frequently as possible every 1-2 hours
Tie as normal, and hay as normal
I would bandage with pads, not boots (unless bandaging is not your forte, more damage done badly)
Dont tail bandage, use a wrap
put down a covering of shavings for defacating
have a window open to allow plenty of ventilation
As soon as it is safe to do so it is a very good idea to unload and graze in hand for a good 30mins, not only to stretch legs but also to encourage fluid to drain from nose, this discourages travel sickness
We used to travel around 6 horses to the continent SJ, had to hobble a few that were bad travellers, one used to cow kick when got bored, nightmare creature!
 
We put our ramp down on the way to Ireland but then Dol is a calm traveller and she stayed cool all the way. Kept it up to France. didnt make much dif tho.. just had lots of windows open.
Gave normal hay net and water regularly..
They were all fine....so dont worry..I know thats easier said than done tho..


Hx
 
bring sedalin with you as a just incase. Would never travel on ferry without having a tube of sedalin. It will get warm once the ferry moves off, so proabaly better not to have a rug on, or a very light cooler/sweat sheet.

We don't give much/any hard feed, just water and hay. As someone else mentioned when you get off the ferry, if possible unload and graze in hhand to help clear the nasal passages as the environment on the ferry is one of very little fresh air.
 
my oldie has done the journey from uk to Jersey and back many times, your horse will be fine, use common sense and just make sure he doesnt get too hot or too chilly!!
 
I had horses who went 14 hours a day for 4 days. They got hay (never used to being fed on a trip), soaked if possible, water every 3 hours, walked once a day if they could - do not unload your horse unless you are at a farm, far too dangerous and they do not need it that bad! Mine had no wraps on at all.

Do be careful about temp - try and keep ity as cool as possible! I would not blanket them or put any type of sheet on.
 
Not sure if anyone has already said this, but if possible give your horse soaked hay for the journey, as it will help keep your horse hydrated.
 
ah i was cr@p and never got back to you!

where are you stabling?

also which ferry are you on? you are obviously on one of the commodores (run by Condor) but is it the Goodwill (freight) or Clipper (freight but also passenger!)

if goodwill the stablisers arn't quite as good as the Clipper (not that the horses seem to care) BUT you are free to go down and check when ever you fancy.

If Commodore you need to get a staff member to take you down and normally they only like to do so every 2-3 hours max (i would go down twice on a journey unless a problem)

How good are your ramp springs? if decent take a long bit of rope and when onboard open ramp a fraction (about 20 degrees) ask for some wedges (big rubber things) from the loaders and wedge them either side of ramp to keep open. And then use rope to tie ramp in place (this presuming you have suitable things to secure to on ramp and at back of lorry! If on the Clipper they most likely won't let you drop your ramp (couple horses got out of lorry a few years back and damaged several cars although didn't sustain a scratch themselves
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) but they will let you wedge it open. I did this for Dan every time. Didn't trust him with it fully down (even on goodwill) but it allowed him enough room to stick out head so extra room to stretch but kepted him safely inside!

Hay have plenty to keep horse going and beware you will be waiting at docks at least a couple hours before.

To keep liquids on board I always made a VERY sloppy feed (tiny bit of chaff and lots of water) and also played apple/carrot bobbing. If you have a hook over bucket and it fits I put it over the end barrier facing out of lorry into ramp and fill with water. It gives water at head height without taking our space and more difficult for horse to knock over as on other side of barrier to it.

I also tended to put down some bedding more to soak up pee than anything.

Also didn't tie too tight or loose. Enough to allow him to stick head out ramp but not enough to lie down (not that he would as lorry too small!)

If on the goodwill also be warned you may have to reverse your lorry up the steep narrow ramp to the upper deck so practice your reversing. the dockers will do it for you but when they did it for my mum first time over (i hadn't passed MGV at that point) he lost imp rolled forward and slammed on air brakes. cue horse ruining a partition and nearly ending up in living! thankfully partition took the impact and dan was fine! i swore blue murder at docker though!!

Errr yeah so that what i normally do for the journey!

also as last comment weather gets a bit crap so if worst comes to worst try get contact of a local yard where you can stay over for a night or two if needed as sailings do get cancelled!

And if you partake in anything horsey whilst over you will probably bump into my mum!
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Will you be "driving" the ferry?
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Have a great time in Jersey, amazing to think that you could probably ride around the entire island! When are you off?
 
To all of you who have responded - thank you so much, got some absolutely invaluble advice!
Enfys - I'm not actually driving the ferry this time, although I was working on it 2 weeks ago! Might make it a mission to see if I can ride all round the island in the month I am there! We're off on Monday...will let you know when we get there!
Santa145 - PM'd you!

Huge thanks again guys,
Frannie
 
you can ride round a fair proportion of the island especially if you go round the cliff paths BUT at this time of year several will get overgrown. Get pally with Carly and she will take you on some good hacks in the area
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for info the 'official' round the island walk is about 50ish miles so there is a fair bit of coastline. One thing you MUST do when in Jersey is go to the beach and go swimming, but be very careful that you swim parallel to the beach as some horses once they get going don't stop and its very very hard to steer a swimming horse
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