Travelling a horse on the wrong side of the trailer?

MissSBird

MissSBird

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Hi guys

A while back, for no reason we ever established, my pony B started stumbling and struggling to balance whilst on the drivers side of our ifor williams trailer. At the time, in order to try and return home without an accident, we switched B and our other pony over as we figured it couldn't make things worse. This immediately solved the problem on that day.

The next time out we put B in the passangers side again, and he didn't sweat up at all which he had been prone to doing. We assumed our problems were solved; slight lack of foresight here!

We were supposed to go to a show yesterday, but a few days ago the other pony came in lame. Thankfully not serious, but enough to put her on box rest for a few days. I made the decision not to go to the show with B, as uni work had piled up.

It got us thinking, however, what will be do if we're taking B somewhere and the other pony isn't coming with? I've heard that it is unsafe to travel a horse on the passangers side of a trailer without a horse in the drivers side, because of the camber of the roads. Since asking around, however, I've heard everything from it'll be fine right through to absoloutly 100% don't do it. Is this true or is it an old wives tale?

I do have full length bars for the trailer so thinking of trying him alone with those and seeing how he gets on. I was just wondering if anyone had experienced this issue before and how you have handled/solved it?

Thanks!
 
My Mum told me very long time ago that you always put the larger or heavier horse on the drivers side when traveling with two. And to always load a single horse on drivers side. She told me that this is because the roads slope slightly towards verge on the insides to allow drainage and this can alter the balance of your horse box. After she said it to me i see what she ment. I have stuck to it ever since and have never had any problems.
Hope this helps
 
Travelling on the drivers side is to do with the camber on the road, which still exists as much as ever so makes sense that the safest way would be to travel them on the right.
Why not just try the full length bar if you have to travel him alone!? They don't usually take long to swap over and many people say that their horses prefer this above travelling on the left even. He'd be able to arrange himself diagonally to get as comfy as poss and keep himself a happy pony for the journey :)
 
Completely agree with Flannigan : I was told the heavier horse is on the driver's side, and if travelling alone to put the lone horse on that side. It's to do with the level of the road like she said above.

I was told never to travel the horse on the passenger side. To be honest if your getting mixed reviews on it you're always better off playing safe and not doing it rather then risking it and you being made the example of why its not done (worst case scenario).

I would go with the full breast bar and let him find his own feet. It could be as simple as a balance thing, or theres something irritating him on the drivers side and hence why he wants to get away from that side.

Best of luck and I hope its all resolved fairly easily :)
 
It is correct that the load should be near the crown of the road, however I have the same problem with my 17.1hh big boned TB. I spoke to the guys at my local Ifor dealership, they said that it wasn't such a problem because of the way the trailers are built now with independent indespension units (axles), I do travel him on the left and although it feels wrong he travels better and gets a better ride. You could always try the breast bar only option?
 
I had exactly the opposite problem - my 16.3hh mare cannot tolerate travelling passenger side - she actually falls down(it's a much bumpier ride) and it took a horse transport company to assure me this would be the problem with her before I dare try her again drivers side.

I now have a n Equitrek trailer and they recommend in the handbook when travelling a horse solo to put it passenger side - I think this is to balance the side load ramp?

Anyway I do not heed that advice as I know my mare cannot travel passenger side and I have had no problems, but the recommendation is definately to travel a solo horse drivers side in other trailers/lorries.
 
Flannigan#1 said:
My Mum told me very long time ago that you always put the larger or heavier horse on the drivers side when traveling with two.
Click to expand...

Interestingly B is the large and heavier pony, and he's been all over the place now on the passanger's side and we've never felt the difference. Perhaps this illustrates what has been said about more modern trailers having better balance.

That being said, the general consensus seems to be full length breeching bars, which is easy to do. I just wasn't sure if it was a good idea to change things about when he's currently happy with the way things are.
 
We also have an Equitrek and have taken to travelling a single horse on the passenger side, as my mare in particular (who is a fabulous traveller in every other way) doesn't like the ramp coming towards her when she's on the ramp side.
We've also been told it's a good idea to counterbalance the ramp in this way - our thuglike 3yo is an excellent counterbalance :)
 
I also have a horse that likes to travel on the passenger side of the trailer, the first horse I've owned that has. Afaik it is to do with the road camber, but she travels happiest on the passenger side whether she has company or not, its whatever works best :)
 
I've always been told that when travelling one horse they should be on the drivers side due to camber.
Does the ifor have a swingable centre divider? When I travelled a scrambler in a straight load, I had the divider across on and angle. Gives the horse not only the drivers side bay, but room for his back legs in the passenger side bay with the security of the centre divider.
Best of luck!
 
I had to take out the partition in my trailer as my horse was getting in a right state travelling. It instantly solved the problem and funnily enough he chooses to stand on the passenger side of the trailer. I have never once looked in and found him on the drivers side.

I know the reasons behind travelling them on the drivers side due to the camber, but I feel far happier having a horse standing on all four legs and travelling comfortably on the "wrong" side than the poor thing struggling to balance and throwing itself on the floor on the "right" side.
 
I had a horse that wouldn't travel on drivers side but very happily travelled behind the passenger. Youy just need to take it steadier around bends, but we never had a problem.

Eventually we took the centre partition out and bought a full length breaching bar and cross tied the horse.
 
We had this exact problem, so took out the middle partition and put the long breast bars in, solved the problem immediately. He stands diagonally across the trailers with his back end wedged in the passenger side corner. Partitions take 5 mins to take out and once you get into a routine of doing it, it is not hassle at all.

He had always travelled in a horsebox before we got him, so last year we tried him in the trailer with the partition back in, thinking he might have got used to the sensation of travelling in a trailer...but he scrambled and fell and we hadnt even gone 50m!! we can only travel him alone which is a pain but if thats how he travels then i'd rather he is happy than risk taking another one!

Hope this helps x
 
Well i've tried mine without the partition and the full-length bars and he always ends up trying to press himself against the passenger side. So whenever the partitions are in I put him on the passenger side as he much prefers that side. He tends to arse about behind the driver side and is much more 'active'.
 
I was told it was cause the ramp was on the passenger side so it was to balance the weight but obviously cant be true to all trailers :) but does on my ifor williams
 
I guess it can only be safer/less stressful for everyone involved if he is on the side he is happier/balanced on. Weird though that he just suddenly took a dislike to being on the right hand side though? :confused:

I would probably try the full length breast/breech bars and cross tie him and see if he's any happier. Hopalong travels in a HB401 (mare and foal/single version Ifor Williams) and so has 1.5 x "normal" partition width and I think she opts to stand on a slight diagonal in it. A lot of horses seem happier standing slightly diagonal and with more space to balance in, worth a try and would keep your trailer more balanced.

Good luck!
 
You've had lots of good advice here, but since there seem to be so many differing views in your shoes I would ring up Ifor Williams and ask their advice. They are normally very helpful, and obviously the experts here.
 
clairecorbell said:
I was told it was cause the ramp was on the passenger side so it was to balance the weight but obviously cant be true to all trailers :) but does on my ifor williams
Click to expand...

This doesn't make sense, though, cause the ramp of all ifor's I know is on the driver's side, not the passangers side. If it was to counter-balance the weight of the ramp you'd be reccomended to put horses on the passangers side, rather than make the drivers side more heavy...or am I not understanding this right?

Thanks for all the stories guys! Making me feel a bit better about it. I'm so nervous about travelling them as my old horse got very bad.

Little pony seems to be on the mend, so now that I've asked this, hopefully the situation won't arise again :)
 
hi
all good advice but have you thought there could be something wrong with the trailer causing the horse to become unhappy if he has been ok till recently

there was a thread on here a while ago about a horse traveling badly when he was normaly ok and it was a problem with the trailer ,either a wheel baring ,the breaks or something like that

and i hate to say it and don't mean to cause offence as i obviously don't know you but you mention your old horse got worse & was a bad traveler so i'd also be asking if you or whoever is driving is going too fast
 
Flannigan#1 said:
My Mum told me very long time ago that you always put the larger or heavier horse on the drivers side when traveling with two. And to always load a single horse on drivers side. She told me that this is because the roads slope slightly towards verge on the insides to allow drainage and this can alter the balance of your horse box. After she said it to me i see what she ment. I have stuck to it ever since and have never had any problems.
Hope this helps
Click to expand...

This :)
 
angelish said:
hi
all good advice but have you thought there could be something wrong with the trailer causing the horse to become unhappy if he has been ok till recently

there was a thread on here a while ago about a horse traveling badly when he was normaly ok and it was a problem with the trailer ,either a wheel baring ,the breaks or something like that

and i hate to say it and don't mean to cause offence as i obviously don't know you but you mention your old horse got worse & was a bad traveler so i'd also be asking if you or whoever is driving is going too fast
Click to expand...

I had a problem with the springs sticking in mine . It was one of the new 511s and the dealer that sold it seemed to be aware of it - don't think I was the first. I nearly always travelled just one horse in it and he told me it was better to switch sides periodically to stop one side always being used.
 
I just wanted to add, that if you ever travel with just a single long bar across the front - please, please, please make sure you cross tie your horse. I once travelled my old horse just tied up on one side - he managed to twist himself right round and his nose was practically touching his side and got stuck! Put his back out for weeks afterwards. I would just say I was a teenager at the time and didn't know any better - would never, ever do it again though.
In relation to the original query, my friend always travels her's on the left side of her Ifor Williams, she says it because her horse struggles to get out down the ramp at the front. She never has any problems.
 
The opposite way round to OP but our pony use to travel absolutely fine on the left with our horse on the right then one day all of a sudden he just kept falling over :confused: I know its more common for horses to not like being on the left as its more bumpy but he was literally falling over before we have even got off the drive. He even did it in a lorry (2 horse lorry) when he was on the left. Even though he came out dripping in sweat after only 5 minutes he loads back on without a fuss and is absolutely perfect if he's on the right.

I have always been told that the heavier horse should be on the right but after reading peoples opinions maybe it would be ok to swap them...the horse is 16.2 and the pony 14.2 so do you think it would be ok to have the pony on the right if I need to travel them together? We have an HB510.
 
angelish said:
hi
all good advice but have you thought there could be something wrong with the trailer causing the horse to become unhappy if he has been ok till recently

there was a thread on here a while ago about a horse traveling badly when he was normaly ok and it was a problem with the trailer ,either a wheel baring ,the breaks or something like that

and i hate to say it and don't mean to cause offence as i obviously don't know you but you mention your old horse got worse & was a bad traveler so i'd also be asking if you or whoever is driving is going too fast
Click to expand...

Valid questions. The trailer has been serviced recently so everything is ok there.

I'm paranoid about my horses travelling becaue of my old horse, as is my mum who is one of my drivers. She crawls around corners and the issue was still there.

My old horse travelled perfectly fine for years (with the same trailer, car and driver). Then one summer, after a long dry period, she started to struggle in the trailer. This was at the same time as she began to have off-on lameness issues. We didn't know it at the time, but she was suffering from pedal osteitus - basically her pedal bone was disintegrating. This was brought to a head and discovered following the very dry summer acouple of years ago. Thinking back on the pattern of when she started to struggle, I'm fairly sure sore feet caused the initial problem which then resulted in bad association, as she was a highly strung mare who was prone to panicking/stressing. So yeah, bit of a story there.

B has always sweated up slightly on the drivers side, yet walks out the passangers perfectly dry, so I don't think he's always been a little unhappy on the drivers side. It's just I put the sweat down to his age/inexperience at travelling.
 
Hi, My mare travelled fine on the right side of the trailer and then started stumbling, throwing herself on the floor and finally she ended up injuring herself and then wouldn't load and if she did before we set off she would through herself to the floor! And then someone mentioned to me to try her on the left side of the trailer, I was sceptical as I had also believed that they should travel on the right but they said that the newer trailors weren't affected as much and that newer roads are smoother all accross. Well the first time we tried it she travelled like a dream! No falling or stamping, she is able to get her balance and has never fallen or stumble since! I believe that if they are happier being travelled on the left then why force them to travel on the right side where they aren't happy and might injure themselves? My horse has now travelled on the left for a number of years and has never had a problem!

Hope all goes well for you!
 
I now have same prob, my mare travelled for years fine on drivers side, then in my 505 got worse to the extent I stopped taking her out. Thought maybe was the prehistoric leaf springs that are said to create a bumpier ride so changed it for a trailer with independant suspension....first time out she was 90% better, but then on way home (with me driving like a granny!!) even the slightest left hand bend had her falling all over the place :( Now I am like yourself, do I try left hand side knowing you shouldn't etc (she is a solid girl & often take just her out) Does anyone know if you can get (or even have that you'd sell to me?!) a full width breastbar for wessex olympian? Would love a rear face trailer but all seem too heavy for my 4x4 & have run out of money!!! :) p.s vet wasn't much help!
 
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