Youngster putting head under trailer breast bar....

[soloequestrian]

Took the three year old out for her first proper shot in the trailer yesterday. It's an Ifor 510 and I have the bars set at the highest and widest positions for my older horses, so I left them there for her (she is over 16hh). When we got to our destination (2 miles down the road), she had her head under the breast bar. Nudged her back into position, and moved the front bar back to the 'shorter' setting for the journey home. Got home and she had her head under the bar again. She wasn't worried by this - she unloaded quietly despite my having to keep hold of the breast bar so she could come out 'underneath' it. I will move the breech bar to the shorter position next time we try, but worried that she will make this a habit. She is still quite a short horse (6' rug fits) so I think she just has room to wriggle. Any suggestions or experiences? I'm not keen on tying them up in the trailer which would be the obvious next step.

 

[TheMule]

I would always tie up in the trailer for this reason and in case they try to turn.

 

[ihatework]

Why would you not just tie up?

 

[Tiddlypom]

Tie her up.

 

[be positive]

If you are not tying her up then she will probably continue to put her head wherever suits her and may even try to turn round, I would only travel loose in a lorry with no bars in front to cause trouble or a very young horse/ foal in a whole trailer with the top doors shut at the back, I cannot see any reason to not tie up or ideally loosely cross tie to ensure the safety of your horse and yourself if something does go amiss and you end up trying to sort out a panicking horse.
Having traveled many over the years in various types of transport I have hardly ever had a problem and none were related to them being tied up.

 

[PorkChop]

I am someone who does travel my horses untied sometimes.

However with a youngster I would definitely be tying up or it will become a rather dangerous habit.

 

[soloequestrian]

I don't tie in a trailer because I don't ever leave a horse with its head fastened to something if I'm not there to supervise. To me, the high probability of their managing to do something with the rope that gives them a scare far outweighs the low probability that the rope will prevent something undesirable. I realise that I might have to alter my strategy in this instance, but I posted on here to see if anyone had had a similar problem and solved it in a novel manner i.e. without tying. I can't see how a rope would stop a determined horse turning around, unless the whole tying system was unbreakable right through from the ring to the horse's head, and in that case the horse would likely damage itself if it started struggling anyway.

 

[Tiddlypom]

Best spend time working on the tying up at home when not travelling, then.

Once the horse respects this, then you can transfer the skill to travelling her tied up.

My now 15yo mare was travelled to me as a 2yo untied in a Bateson trailer, as the breeders (who transported her), 'couldn't remember' if she's been taught to tie up or not. It took me more than a year to recover her confidence after that debacle.

An 18hh horse would comfortably fit into a 510 with the breast and breech bars set to the highest/widest positions, I'm not surprised that your youngster got into a pickle. At least she didn't break her neck, she might not be so lucky next time.

 

[Britestar]

My now 19yr old often travelled as a youngster with his head under the breast bar. He was very happy that way. Even now, if for some reason I don't tie him up, he'll have his nose on the floor.

Its never been a problem for him, and he's never tried to turn around.

 

[soloequestrian]

She ties up nicely, as do my older horses. I still don't ever leave any of them tied and unsupervised. I didn't post to start a debate about tied versus untied, I'm just interested to know if there are any novel solutions to this problem out there that don't revolve around tying up.

 

[be positive]

I find it odd that you will not tie up unsupervised yet leave a horse untied, unsupervised and contained in a potentially dangerous situation, tying up loosely both sides with break points or safety release ties will prevent most well trained horses from struggling enough to do any damage and will certainly prevent her getting her head under the bar which could cause a fatal injury if you had to brake suddenly or they did really panic.
I think we owe it to our horses to ensure they will tie up and be happy to do so, traveling with no headcollar on, which I assume you do so she cannot get caught on anything, would mean in an accident she is at far more risk than a horse restrained in a normal way.

I know some pro transporters travel horses loose but that is in a lorry with at least 2 experienced people in charge.

 

[ozpoz]

I would never travel a horse untied where there is a breast bar. So dangerous..

Tie up, with a haynet to occupy your horse - it will be much,much safer.

 

[Red-1]

I think you were lucky she did not try to go over rather than under.

Tying up with break points, cross tied, will gently encourage her to travel in a sensible and safe way. If she does not pull back then a break point will be fine, as it will not break unless it has to.

If you do not like this unsupervised then get a camera in the back, viewable from the vehicle, for your passenger of course, as it would not be legal for the driver ;-)

Having seen horses under and over breast bars, and turned round, and through the tiny window at the front (the trailer peeled apart like a sardine can), as well as through the grooms door, I am afraid that, in a trailer, I would not travel untied.

If you prefer untied, what about a rear facing box? But with no breast bar. Like a Bloomfields Professional?

 

[HBB]

Tie up small holed haynets, stuffed very tightly with hay or straw and attach securely to the breast bar. That should stop her putting her head under the bar. It would make better sense, if you were going to travel loose, is to remove the partition completely.

 

[soloequestrian]

Tie up small holed haynets, stuffed very tightly with hay or straw and attach securely to the breast bar. That should stop her putting her head under the bar.

Thank you - I was trying to think of ways to make the space at the front less of a space and this is a nice idea.

 

[peaceandquiet1]

i also can't see an issue with tying but plenty without...but I know someone who made a wooden gate thing under her breastbar to stop this, also think you can get anti weaving grills to stop them going over. I tie mine though and can't see a problem. A friend had a big cob turn right round in a trailer once and the road had to be shut while they got him out etc.

 

[catroo]

The only way I can see to stop her putting her head under is to fill it in, to me this sounds far more dangerous than tying up. It would have to hang from the breast bar and be easily moved unless you back her out of the trailer.

I have used straw bales in the front of a trailer to stop loose youngstock going under, tied down so they don't move. Fine for one offs but a bit of a faff for frequent travel.

Don't raise the breast bar too low as that just creates more risk with her going over it or injuring herself if you have to emergency stop

 

[SarahWeston]

It isn't safe to travel a horse in a normal horse trailer (rather than a stock type trailer) without any bars in because the horse can move forward of where the bar would have been and thereby seriously compromise the stability of the trailer and towing vehicle (nose weight). Also, the bars, whether single or double with, are an integral part of the stability and structure of the trailer if there were a collision. My concern about travelling a horse with its head under the bar would be that she could damage her neck if there were any sort of emergency stop or is she simply lifted her head up without moving backwards.

 

[FfionWinnie]

I don't tie one of my horses when she's on her own and she's fine. Difference is she's a seasoned traveler who would never put her head under the bar or do anything silly hence I don't need to bother to tie her. You need to teach your horse how to travel correctly and that is going to involve tying her up before a serious accident occurs.

 

[Kafairia]

I think everyone is recommending tying her up as not because that's how we personally travel our horses, but with her best interests at heart.

Why not take some binder twine and reduce it to two or three threads and tie her onto that. It should be enough to keep her tied unless she really really wants to put her head under, and it's so small that it would break in a panic without question, with very little problems.

I could also recommend using one of your more seasoned reliable travellers to show her how it's done - make sure they wouldn't consider doing that.

I've never considered not tying up - seasoned or not. I use equiipings (I'd recommend trying them - my 16hh TB was tied on the loosest weakest setting and was reaching for some grass and managed to trigger it open. On its tightest - it's enough to only give way when he panics.

Also be careful tying a small holed Haynet onto the breast bar is she has shoes on! My pony caught his shoe on a Haynet as a youngster - because it was tied to twine it gave way, however he panicked with it stuck under shoes...

 

[Dubsie]

I would get one of those breakaway clips - she can easliy break it free if needed but it will hold her head up and above the breast bar. If she's travelling with it under the bar I'm sure if you had to do an emergency stop she'd be far more likely to be injured on the neck/withers than the chest if travelling normally.

 

[soloequestrian]

Thanks - I will have a look at all the breakaway clips. I hadn't thought about them (didn't really know they existed!).

 

[Rollin]

one of my young horses went under the breast bar during loading training. She hurt her withers and took months to get over it. I have ties with panic clips installed in our Ivor W. We never travel a horse loose and they always have a hay net.

 

[Lintel]

I've got an "oldster" who does the same. I tie with balertwine high enough up so he can get it under and it can be quite dodgy when you need to hit the brakes!

 

[SarahWeston]

It's interesting that the horses that are putting their heads down low are trying to adopt the natural stance that they need for balance and clear respiration. In an ideal world, and if we ever get there, transport will be changed in the future so that it meets the horse's needs to be able to stand with its weight on the forehand and head low, rather than as now where the back legs have to straddle wider than its rib cage, and push back into their hind quarters, in order to absorb the movement of the vehicle and balance. This is why horses can end up with sacro-iliac pain and why we used to be told to walk them around a bit before having them measured at a show!

 

[Goldenstar]

You risk horrible injury to the horse if you have to break hard when it's head is under the bar .
I would tie it up .

 

[Tnavas]

I don't tie in a trailer because I don't ever leave a horse with its head fastened to something if I'm not there to supervise. To me, the high probability of their managing to do something with the rope that gives them a scare far outweighs the low probability that the rope will prevent something undesirable. I realise that I might have to alter my strategy in this instance, but I posted on here to see if anyone had had a similar problem and solved it in a novel manner i.e. without tying. I can't see how a rope would stop a determined horse turning around, unless the whole tying system was unbreakable right through from the ring to the horse's head, and in that case the horse would likely damage itself if it started struggling anyway.

I've been travelling horses for over 50 years and always tied up and never had a problem. Untied you risk problems with head under the bar, around the vertical partition, biting the travelling companion.

Tie your horse up to a high tie point so that she can move her head around but not get it around and low enough to get under the bar.

 

[scats]

The way I see it is that horses have a knack of getting themselves into trouble, so when it comes to travelling, all we can do is try and make it as safe as possible and minimise the risks of anything happening.

We've travelled horses for near on 30 years, we always tie up and have never had a problem. We have sometimes had to adapt to a particular horses' needs- for instance, my Dales pony could not cope with partitions, so he was travelled with full width breast and breech bars and tied to the corner. This solved his loading and travelling issues.

In your circumstances I would tie this particular horse, as you do run the risk of a serious injury if you had to brake suddenly and they were under the breast bar.

 

[Exploding Chestnuts]

Madness not to tie up, I have travelled hundreds of horses and only ever let them loose eg mare with young foal The mare is usually tied up [quick release baler twine] and partition removed for a short trailer journey.
Colts and stallions need a chain type short fastening with a quick release type clip, and if anything can get in to trouble, it is a TB colt.
Only seen accidents when stupid people tie up with long ropes. I have my youngsters tied up with mum by the age of seven months, they understand the idea of restraint easily, you just introduce it gradually, grooming them with the lead rope thru the ring while you hold on to the other end, it won;t take long. I would not expect them to travel tied up this young as they may try to lie down.
If you starve them for four hours then have a haynet in trailer to share with a quiet companion , hopefully you will break the habit. You need to be careful he does not rush to escape when you open the jockey door, or drop the ramp, be ready for this, you may have to hang a heavy carpet from breast bar to floor to stop any accident, he will not realise he is getting taller each journey.

 

[Milly-Molly-Maisie]

A friend's horse got stuck under the breast bar and broke his back. Please do not travel your youngster this way