Travelling a Mare & Foal at foot

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Holly7

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Hi all,

Need a bit of help opinions please ! Im taking my mare and foal to a county show on the 17th June , foal will be just under 6 weeks old then. Ive only got a trailer (the larger model of Ifor williams ones) ....... now put them both on last nite with no partitions etc , all fine (didnt travel them or anything just wanted to check foals reaction) then after some debating I put all the partitions back in, and put foal on one side and mum on the other. Mum fine about this no probs. Thing is baby is only about 9hh !!! so am going to have to block her in some how. Now have tied 2 bales of straw together and wedged them into the front (where the breast bar goes) and then had the idea of four bales lodged in at the back (as you are now imagining how small baby is!) but easily accessible to pull out if needed.....

What are your thoughts on this?

****** Must mention Mum now has front shoes on as was very foot sore....and has an active back end as in will happily bang in to you as if you weren't there!!!****

Thanks
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When we use the trailer for mare and foal, we take all the partitions out, travel mare cross tied and foal loose. If you travel foal with partitions, and it falls over going round a corner or something, it might get wedged or really hurt itself.

Out of interest what county show are you off to? And what classes are you doing with your mare and foal?
 
Same as above for me, travelled my mare and foal in an Ifor Williams 510 and cross-tied mare with foal loose. They both travelled fine with no probs.
 
Make sure you travel them with a full width breast bar!! It's inadvisable and illegal not to!!!
 
Thanks. This is what I wanted to do but have been sort of put in this other position and am feeling uncomfortable about it as Im worried Im just asking for trouble with it !!

So Im OK to cross tie but not have any full breast bar in??

Its just a worry about the mare knocking or standing on baby (and with having fronts on couldnt bear the thought of any legs being broken) but then surely she would try her darn hardest not to stand on baby? I would be right in filling the trailer full of straw as if its just a mobile stable?

Im off to Cheshire County, SHP breeding.
 
Single full length breast bars are about £35! Honestly it is totally unfair not to travel her with one - if you are worried about her possibly standing on the baby, this will help her balance! I was serious when I said it's illegal to travel without one!
 
Full width bars aren't expensive. Often being sold second hand too. I got a pair for my Bateson for £50 secondhand.

Mare crosstied and foal loose. I was going to put plenty of bedding in too, although mine are on shavings.
 
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Single full length breast bars are about £35! Honestly it is totally unfair not to travel her with one - if you are worried about her possibly standing on the baby, this will help her balance! I was serious when I said it's illegal to travel without one!

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Ditto that.

It is also damn irresponsible too to separate mare and foal behind a partition; foals are notorious for getting into trouble when you least expect it; to ask it to travel separately from Mum at that early age is dreadful, I'm sorry to sound harsh! Foals are liabilities waiting to happen and by taking it out of the comfort zone of home you have to make sure you have done all you can to make it safe for them.

Just pad underneath your breastbar so foal can't get underneath. If you use bales, make sure they are secured safely, you don't want foal overbalancing into them and them collapsing. Alternatively, If you have a handy OH or something, get them to drill holes in a piece of strong ply that covers the gap very nearly. You need 2 or 3 holes along the top which you thread with straps, bale string or similar (don't use a long piece to do all 3, use short pieces for each) and attach to breastbar to let it hang beneath it. At the bottom of sheet you need a hole in the middle or either side threaded with a long enough piece of string to find somewhere to tie it to on the front of the trailer. It needs to be able to hang straight but not flap into the horse bit where it could knock their knees. It's easy to remove when necessary or in an emergency, just remember to travel with your penknife handy.
With so many using IWTs for travelling mares and foals I have always been surprised that they haven't come up with a safe front 'gate' or something just for this purpose; no use asking them though, I'm still waiting for them to make me back door grills so the horses don't cook because they have to have the back doors shut obviously in case the foal tries to jump out and they were asked for years ago!

Good luck at the show, let us know how you get on and safe travelling.
 
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I was serious when I said it's illegal to travel without one!

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This isn't wholly accurate, as I heard this somewhere before, and on checking with defra they said it is advised, but not a legal requirement. We had one horse that would always try and get his front legs over the breastbar - don't know why he did he, he just did, so we checked with defra on the regulations. The horse in question now travels in the lorry anyway, and we do use a full width breastbar in the trailer with mare and foal, but according to defra it is not a legal requirement.
 
Well then the law has changed in the 2 years since I checked, as I checked with DEFRA in 2006!

To OP please make sure you shut the doors above the back ramp.
 
Question about the back doors, I have a Bateson Ascot with a solid flap, when closed the trailer gets VERY hot. Close it, or get my Dad or OH's Dad to weld a grid to fit?
 
[quote - if you are worried about her possibly standing on the baby, this will help her balance! [ QUOTE ]


Its not her falling over the baby Im worried about she strikes out with her front legs ......

It is also damn irresponsible too to separate mare and foal behind a partition;

Can I just say this wasnt my idea .....!!! Im not happy about and thats why Im asking for advice I would rather travel baby loose with mare tied up and nothing inthere to get either of them stuck on.

you have to make sure you have done all you can to make it safe for them.

Again Im travelling them before hand to get them used to it

Just pad underneath your breastbar so foal can't get underneath.

- dont understand this bit? Are you staing cover the botom of the breast bar - if so isnt that literally the baby just being behind a partition?

Alternatively, If you have a handy OH - if only i was so lucky!

foal tries to jump out and they were asked for years ago!
- ill be amazed if my 9hh foal can jump over the ramp at the back - seriously it will be sold as an amazing jumper !!!
 
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It is also damn irresponsible too to separate mare and foal behind a partition;


Just pad underneath your breastbar so foal can't get underneath.

- dont understand this bit? Are you staing cover the botom of the breast bar - if so isnt that literally the baby just being behind a partition?

Yes, but it will be in with the mare silly! All the bit of ply does is make the trailer like a box where they travel together with the mare cross tied so she can't turn around; it just means that the foal is confined in with her not the other side of a partition where it could damage itself. The foal, as it's that small, will have a choice whether he wants to face forward or backwards and which side of the mare he wants to be. I'm almost willing to bet he won't be the same way round you loaded him on when you get there, they nearly always change!




- ill be amazed if my 9hh foal can jump over the ramp at the back - seriously it will be sold as an amazing jumper !!!

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Have you ever seen a foal get out of somewhere it does not want to be because it's frightened witless? They can get out of a mousehole and climb through or over too if scared enough, your back *ramp* whoops, meant back doors over ramp, would be no problem if scared enough. With the back ramp open it will have far more traffic noise and large lorries behind could be very frightening to something not used to them which is why people travel with back doors shut even if they do sometimes get too hot inside. Is it honestly worth the risk? I've heard of farmers losing cattle out of trailers and not noticing until they got to the auction, it would be a shame if you lost foal and got all the way to the showground; your mare would be distraught let alone the carnage the foal might have got into from falling out.
 
Prepare to be amazed! Even if your foal doesn't try to jump out, he/she may attempt it and may get legs stuck over the ramp. I have had to look after and treat a foal that had tried to climb out over the back ramp - made a real mess of her front legs - scarred badly too. Also being followed by large vehicles could frighten the living daylights out of the foal! It's not something I would ever risk.

I hear what MFH_09 is saying about filling in the gap under the breast bar, but I have never ever done this when travelling mares and foals in a trailer and I have travelled some very valuable TB's in this manner (stud didn't have a box at the time), when taking the mare to be covered.
 
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Question about the back doors, I have a Bateson Ascot with a solid flap, when closed the trailer gets VERY hot. Close it, or get my Dad or OH's Dad to weld a grid to fit?

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Is there no other ventilation?
 
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Prepare to be amazed! Even if your foal doesn't try to jump out, he/she may attempt it and may get legs stuck over the ramp. I have had to look after and treat a foal that had tried to climb out over the back ramp - made a real mess of her front legs - scarred badly too. Also being followed by large vehicles could frighten the living daylights out of the foal! It's not something I would ever risk.

I hear what MFH_09 is saying about filling in the gap under the breast bar, but I have never ever done this when travelling mares and foals in a trailer and I have travelled some very valuable TB's in this manner (stud didn't have a box at the time), when taking the mare to be covered.

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I've never done it either, probably because mine have always been horse foals, always used bales, but I know of two pony breeders that do this although theirs are a bit more permanent type of fittings; I was just thinking what would be easily done for a possibly one off trip.
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Mare and foal loose in the box, no partitions, no breast bars, just a hay net and some shavings. Been doing this for years in an Ifor, up to the big sales in Paris, never ever had a problem. Like most things in horses..................keep it simple.
 
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Question about the back doors, I have a Bateson Ascot with a solid flap, when closed the trailer gets VERY hot. Close it, or get my Dad or OH's Dad to weld a grid to fit?

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Is there no other ventilation?

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Just been up there since I wrote that, yes there is, so will just close the flap. Just hadn't been something I'd thought about in much detail yet, and always had adult ponies. Was just a thought really.
 
Im not even sure I want to do it at all now
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Ive got terrible visions now of Maggie spewed over the carriageway with Hol going stir crazy and tipping the trailer over !!

I guess I will just have to take my heart in my hands at weekend and try it out.

Best get to the shops and purchase a full breast bar.
 
Having had a mare (16hh tb) get wedged under a breast bar by the withers, in an IFOR I wouldn't use one without having something below it to stop such an accident occuring. two straw bales stacked at the front of the trailer and secured are ideal.

travel with plenty of straw down to help protect against knocks and bangs
 
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Having had a mare (16hh tb) get wedged under a breast bar by the withers, in an IFOR I wouldn't use one without having something below it to stop such an accident occuring. two straw bales stacked at the front of the trailer and secured are ideal.

travel with plenty of straw down to help protect against knocks and bangs

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Yes this happened to my mare the first time we loaded her she went and did the limbo under the breast bar. So I started to load with straw bales and another spare breast bar at the lower level. Now she is engaging her brain to realise that if she stays in she goes for a nice trip out!
 
I'd agree with most people on here but would use a breast bar, in an accident the mare would be thrown against the front of the trailer and they aren't made to take that sort of hit.. the breast bar supports them and prevents this.
You need to be able to make it so the foal can't get under it (plywood fastened up with something secure will be fine, or bales filling the whole front and tied to each other and the breast bar securely.)
You must have a grill or shut the doors, foals can climb astonishing heights when worried, I've seen them!
Cross tying is safest, then she is unlikely to be able to squash the foal.
 
Thanks for all your help. Am going to sort it out at the weekend and do a trip around the block and see how we get on.

Congrats Henryhorn by the way on your new little one
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