Trauma travelling from ireland sales

[bubsqueaks]

Hello,
Just wondered if anybody else has experienced ongoing problems as a result of the trip over from Ireland & what exactly is involved when they transport them.
My Connemara came from Goresbridge & was dropped off in Midlands, we saw a photo of him on first arriving & he was like a greyhound.
We have had problems with gastric ulcers & loading & trust, am I right in thinking a lot of this stems back to the trip over & just wonder if anybody else has experience of this & how they have overcome it all, it sure has been a testy time!

 

[SplashofSoy]

Reasonably brutal at times. A friend had a horse arrive looking pretty dreadful inc a hole in its dock where it had rubbed it so badly it was an open sore. Weather had been awful, transporter driver wasn't happy they had made them cross. You just have to take everything slowly and one step at a time.

 

[ihatework]

I think the whole sales ring and transporting can be more traumatic for some than others.

Transporters do vary. The ones we have bought over from Ireland we have paid top transport price for and they have all arrived calm, hydrated, uninjured and in good condition.

 

[Antw23uk]

A lady I know brought unseen from Ireland, she haggled him down to a price, saw lots of pictures ect but personally I think when they accepted the offer the feeding stopped. Poor thing turned up very skinny and not like the pictures although clearly the same horse. Dont think the travelling helped but seemed to run smoothly enough for such a long journey without the 121 care I would give my horse when travelling!

 

[honetpot]

I have had three ponies from Ireland, from different venders, different ages but all papered Connemara's and they have all had issues. One so frightened she hated being touched, one from a two year old that had been sold at the sales as a weaned foal, I was her third owner, who would worry and was never really a happy soul, although she got better.
If you look at how many go through the sales, which is a lot, horse are pretty much a commodity and bred in large amounts and do perhaps not get consistent handling. The difference in buying a Highland pony, usually bred buy small breeders, which although may not be handled much, but have consistency in how they are treated, is huge.
The Irish bred nice ponies, but if I was looking to buy for riding I would by from an English breeder. I think your ponies trip was perhaps just yet another stress for it. Get it paired with another pony and treat it like a yearling until spring.

 

[Cortez]

Horses all react differently to travel. I've recently brought a young mare from Spain to Ireland, a trip of 5 days (with overnights along the way), and she arrived a bit tucked up, but sprightly, calm and happy to load again. The trip over from Ireland to the UK and back is one we do fairly regularly and while it is long, it's not usually that stressful for the competition horses. As a first travelling experience I'd imagine it could be a bit overwhelming for a young, unhandled pony, but not traumatizing. Much youngstock is relatively unhandled in Ireland, something I much prefer to the opposite - overhandling, with a lack of discipline.

 

[Rowreach]

There are a number of transporters I would never ever use. I've brought horses back and forth, and it really doesn't have to be a traumatic experience for them.

 

[Fanatical]

I recently had a few brought over from Goresbridge and I was seriously impressed with the process end to end. Horses arrived bang on time, and came off the lorry and into stables with no apparent issues at all. They don't travel with food, so were hungry but a net of hay and then straight out into the fields 24/7 for a few weeks and they look great.
I did pay good money though.

 

[JJS]

I've recently brought a young mare from Spain to Ireland, a trip of 5 days (with overnights along the way), and she arrived a bit tucked up, but sprightly, calm and happy to load again.

This was my experience too. My gelding was transported from Bantry in Southern Ireland to West Yorkshire when I bought him - a trip of just under 24 hours. Aside from being a bit sweaty and slightly tucked up, he looked pretty great when he stepped off the lorry, and has never had any issues with loading since. He really is a straight on the box sort of boy, which took me by complete surprise the first time as I expected his last trip to have left a more lasting impact!

 

[stormox]

It all depends what transporter you use. Pay decent money 3-400 and get a decent air conditioned fast lorry. Pay peanuts and get a ramshackle old bus....

 

[Pie's mum]

Mine had a lot of issues with trust, he would bite and then shake at the back of his stable, terrified of brooms etc. I think this stemmed more from his treatment before he left Ireland though.... He looked like a toast rack - again I don’t think this was all down to travelling.
He is my first horse and I’m not saying all I did with him was right, but I spent a lot of time with him just sitting in the corner of his stable chatting to him, stroking him while he had his dinner, that kind of thing. I never had a problem loading him - he didn’t travel for about 3 years after I bought him, then when I did travel him it took about 5 minutes of him looking at the ramp and putting one foot on then off before he walked straight up. He’s always loaded first time since then, in later years almost loading himself.
Nowadays you can sweep around him and the biting is ancient history.
Good luck - I hope you get to the bottom of the issues. I am glad I persevered as 15 years later he is a super chap!

 

[Rowreach]

It all depends what transporter you use. Pay decent money 3-400 and get a decent air conditioned fast lorry. Pay peanuts and get a ramshackle old bus....

Not entirely, there's some with the shiny lorries that don't water horses before or during travelling, don't rest them, and will leave some horses on for 2/3 days while driving the length and breadth of Britain before dropping the last ones off.

 

[stormox]

Not entirely, there's some with the shiny lorries that don't water horses before or during travelling, don't rest them, and will leave some horses on for 2/3 days while driving the length and breadth of Britain before dropping the last ones off.

Usually though the reputable transporters, gillies, castleford, lusk etc are better and stick to rules and regs more than some owner driver with an old truck. And the horses certainly travel better in a smooth well balanced air conditioned lorry than a bumpy old one.

 

[Abby-Lou]

I just accepted it would cost me more to bring my foal across myself

 

[paddi22]

some just melt with the stress of sales, and then with a journey added on top it can be too much.

I help out a rescue and get horses that would have been in the pound and then transported to me. Some of them just are so stressed, and other are fine and get back to normal quickly. For the ones that are super stressed, with signs and behaviours like yours, I just turn them out into a big field and leave them alone for a week or two, just going to feed. I find a lot of handling, adjusting to new stabling and routines etc, can add to their stress. Sometimes with very overloaded types they just need to be left alone to unwind without trying to cope with more pressure. You can see after a few weeks they start to relax and you can see the stress leaving them.

 

[stencilface]

Years ago we paid a transporter to return a pony we had on loan to his owner who had moved 4-5 hours away. When he arrived with her he looked awful and she accused us of neglect, she should have known her horse well enough that he was very stressy, he left us looking happy and fit.

Depends alot on the horse I think

 

[Puzzled]

Did you view him yourself at sales? How did he appear there? Which transporter did you use? Pm if you prefer. It can be upsetting for them but most usually settle within a week or two.