Why you should graze your horse in hand...

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ironhorse

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Not only is it pleasant and relaxing for them if you've got restricted access to turnout etc, plus a chance of a bit of bonding time, but could be very useful in an emergency.

We had a double blowout in the lorry on Thurs, on the M5.
VERY fortunately we were less than a mile from the services and my wonderful OH managed to trundle along the hard shoulder on the wheel rims to get into the services.

We called NFU recovery and they were wonderful, offering to take the horse onto our destination and organising a tyre fitter to come out.
As it was'only' a tyre and we weren't that far from our destination, we declined the horse rescue, but the tyre fitter said that while he could change the tyre with the horse on the lorry, the compressor might frighten her.

So in failing light, we unloaded into the lorry park of the services, and I grazed her for an hour and a half on a strip of grass verge on the edge of a wood (the burst tyre had wrapped itself round the lorry undercarriage so it was a long job to unravel it)

Altho the verge was a bit soggy, my fabulous mare's attitude was, 'Oh well, nice bit of grazing' and she stayed calm througout, jumping only a bit when the air gun was used to put the tyres on and in one very funny moment, frightening the life out of a sleepy lorry driver as he got out of his cab to go to the loo!

Lorries thundered past all the time, but because she's used to me grazing her on any spare bit of turf, she was completely unworried. Worth practising!
 
i agree with the sentiment entirely but bear in mind that i believe (i could be wrong) it is against the law to unload on motor way services (or any other part of the motorway) unless the police informed and the motorway closed.
bad enough if one gets loose on a normal road etc etc.
 
Same thing happened to us on the A30 4 years ago. 2 large horses in transit and the lorry tyre burst. Had to pull up on hard shoulder and the call out guy did it with the horses left in the lorry as it was right next to the road and considered too dangerous to unload them as they may have spooked and bolted.

Sounds like your mare was brilliant!
 
We had the a blow out on the main road coming out of Cheltenham one year....the road sheered off very, very steeply, and it's a wonder Mum managed to hold onto the steering wheel and stop us toppling down the bank
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There was no way we could unload, with or without police help, and in the end, the lorry was in such an awkward position that our friend came to rescue us and drove it home (30 miles) on the rim....with horses inside!
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Bad luck on the double blow out. Good job your horse was well behaved too - hope she got lots of polos later on!

NFU are brilliant aren't they? Think the guys who ring up to check if you want a horse box to take your horse away are very persistent - poor man was ringing me every half hour! Very good though, and wouldn't be with anyone else
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NFU are brilliant aren't they? Think the guys who ring up to check if you want a horse box to take your horse away are very persistent - poor man was ringing me every half hour! Very good though, and wouldn't be with anyone else
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Yes, he kept ringing us to see how we were getting on. Very sensible if you think about it - horse can start off being fine and then could get anxious. Also if I'd been on my own or with another female rather than OH, would also have appreciated the contact for that reason too.

Would be interested to get an official verdict on the legality of unloading in the services - a good point but would have thought the NFU recovery would have said if not legal.
Agree that there is a risk of the horse getting loose, but I do know my mare well and know that she trusts me.
If we'd had a youngster on board I'd probably have called out the entire Gloucs traffic police to cordon off the area while we took advantage of the rescue service!
 
I have always spent quality time with my horse grazing in hand, and also it is a good opportunity to get a horse to respect you, not barging, moving back and standing still when asked.
WRT blowouts, my horse was in a lorry on the A249 (Detling Hill next to Kent county show ground). We had a blowout of the left front tyre. My horse was an absolute star, but then again he has always been a very brave horse. He stood in the lorry calmly waiting for the repair man, and when he arrived and used some kind of bullet sounding machine to remove the nuts, Mick was again fantastic. Everyone was commenting how they didn't think their own horses would stand for it.
Could be really scary if a horse flipped out, and what a nightmare if unloading onto a motorway was the decided action.
 
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