Travelling unhandled youngsters

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LittleOwl

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Does anyone have any advice on travelling relatively unhandled youngsters?

An opportunity has come up to buy a lovely 2 year old with a great temperament and breeding, but he’s had very little handling. He’s not actually on the market and was bred and is owned by a friend of a friend so I know his history, but I don’t feel like I can ask them to do any loading practice with him given that we agreed on a price based on him being basically unhandled. We’ve had plenty of homebreds but do loads of handling before introducing loading and lots more trailer familiarisation before their first outing so I don’t have any experience travelling anything unhandled. The journey is just under an hour, mainly on dual carriageway.

We have a trailer with partition or full length bars. Im erring towards travelling loose with no bars and all the hatches closed. He’s worn a head collar and done very basic leading but never been tied up. Or do specialist transport companies exist who are set up for this? I don’t want to give him (or us) a traumatic experience
 
I’d go loose, bedded down, all shut up and windows blocked.
The only thing I’d ideally do with a trailer (and I have these specifically for travelling Youngstock loose) is a full length back bar and additional bolts on jockey door. The issue with trailers are, the regular catches (depending on the make) aren’t really designed to withstand a horse throwing their weight around, should the worst happen.
 
I would go for loose, with a headcollar on, with bars up - safer for unloading.
Just drive really slowly and steadily and really slow on corners.
 
Good thick straw bed, loose, not tied up. No partitions. This was how I travelled my first pony purchase and she was fine (2yr old 13hh)
 
I collected mine in a 3.5 tonne lorry, moved the partition out of the way and travelled him loose with a head collar on! he travelled over 4 hours with no drama
 
I sent a transporter to go get mine! He had a nearly 4 hour trip back and arrived fine in a 4 tonne stallion box. Loading took a while but they got there in the end.
 
Lots of times. Ideally in a box with stallion partitions and always loose - never tied. They cope very well.
 
I have a trailer, but would never travel a horse loose in one. If a horse can find a way to fall out of one, it will.

I hire a reputable 3.5t stallion box with driver, well bedded and no partition, and would travel a young unhandled horse loose in it.

Once they are handled and used to being tied up then I introduce the trailer.
 
I too would hire a professional transporter with a 3.5 to travel this youngster for you. Expensive, but it's your best chance of getting this youngster moved without injury.
 
I'd want to know a bit more about him before I planned out how I would load and travel him.


What type/breed and height is he? Is he gelded?

How has he lived up until now?

Has he only ever been in a field or has he been in a stable at all? How did he react in the stable?

Does he happily use a field shelter if there is one?

What are his herd companions like if he has them - are they all a similar age and level of handling?

How is he to come away from his friends (if he has some)? Does he settle better/completely if another is with him?

What is the area for loading like, and how far is it away from where he'd usually be? Is it somewhere he (and his herd mates if he has them) has been to before?
 
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I don't see it makes any difference what you know about him, he just needs moving from A to B,

I would use a transporter, with references/recommendations who will travel him loose. Then just make sure you are ready to unload him into a safe area loose if necessary.
 
PurpleSpots said:
I'd want to know a bit more about him before I planned out how I would load and travel him.


What type/breed and height is he? Is he gelded?

How has he lived up until now?

Has he only ever been in a field or has he been in a stable at all?

What are his herd companions like if he has them - are they all a similar age and level of handling?

How is he to come away from his friends (if he has some)? Does he settle better/completely if another is with him?

What is the area for loading like, and how far is it away from where he'd usually be? Is it somewhere he (and his herd mates if he has them) has been to before?
Click to expand...
I wonder if many of those questions may already have been asked .... 🤔🤔🤔
 
Partition out. Bedding down. Herd on if needed. Shut back doors and go. At the other end, park trailer in a small paddock or similar area so you can offload without needing to catch.

That is what I have done many times and what people do who buy from drift sales etc. It is also how my youngsters moved fields when they were not 100% with their handling.
 
I have had to move my foals around up to aged 2 without any trailer practice. Always loose, plenty of straw, no partitions. To load, set it up so that are safe - eg trailer in an arena with exits blocked, so they just sort of get herded on. Or follow anther horse though a few times. Unload into a safe space too, eg arena.

You could consider some light sedation too. My vet was very supportive when Mylo had to move unexpectedly as a yearling, and we agreed to sedate rather than upset him after trying to load for about 10 minutes. It did not seem worth getting him agitated. Once sedated he walked on fine and he travelled fine. A friend just picked up an unhandled 3 yo and in discussion with a vet they agreed upfront to sedate for traveling.
 
In case it is unclear, I'll explain why I've asked questions.

The OP has asked for input from a public forum, so my assumption is that they want a range of answers based on people's individual opinions. My understanding is that this post is open to anyone to respond to.

The OP has specifically said that they want to avoid a traumatic experience. This is mainly what prompted me to reply.

I have had an amount of experience travelling unhandled horses, or those who don't tie up reliably, and I also have an amount of experience dealing with horses with prior traumas, and I'm happy to share my ideas. But the only way I can share suggestions is if I put myself in the situation in my mind, and to do this I need more information because otherwise my answer would cover so many hypotheticals it would take too long to write. Especially as the answer to any one question might make a general suggestion to this sort of situation inappropriate, or it may give a hint at an unexpected way to ease some stress. There are alot of aspects in this sort of situation with the potential for stress, so a plan thought out in advance which tries to cover all the relevant aspects is the best approach I know.

I appreciate this may seem an unusual approach, but we're all different.
 
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