Youngster putting head under trailer breast bar....

[9tails]

tying up is the ultimate solution despite evidence to the contrary.

What evidence to the contrary? One story of a horse breaking his back, another of terrible damage to withers, a few stories of horses turning round and getting wedged. These are just the ones we hear about, there are plenty of people who have damaged their horses who don't tell their mates because they were stupid. Horses can put their heads down for the rest of the day, a trailer journey isn't going to cause respiratory problems.

 

[Tiddlypom]

This is a Marlborough Hunter 3.5t stallion box. No breast bar for a horse to get hooked up on, and the horse travels facing the rear. The centre partition can be pushed over fully to make a double width space, ideal for travelling youngstock loose.



510s are good trailers, I have one myself. The only choice of travelling though is whether to to have the centre partition in or not, and if not then only one horse should be travelled. It is designed to be be used with breast and breech bars in position, and the horse tied up.

Youngstock can sometimes be carried loose in one (though I wouldn't do it myself), if the front nose area is blocked off with straw bales or similar). At 16hh+ your mare sounds too big to do this.

It is not 'new' news that horses would prefer to travel with their heads low down, its just that it is highly dangerous to do so by allowing them to duck their heads under the breast bar. Those of us who are restricted to certain trailers like the 510 have to accept this.

 

[soloequestrian]

What evidence to the contrary? One story of a horse breaking his back, another of terrible damage to withers, a few stories of horses turning round and getting wedged. These are just the ones we hear about, there are plenty of people who have damaged their horses who don't tell their mates because they were stupid. Horses can put their heads down for the rest of the day, a trailer journey isn't going to cause respiratory problems.

One horse who was tied up and got itself undone (see an earlier post); no mention of whether the horses in the horror stories were tied up or not. I've said already, if the horse is determined, having it tied to something that breaks is not going to stop it. I'm not denying that it may be part of the solution, or even the whole solution for horses that are not determined, but I am shocked that people think it is an infallible solution when travelling horses.

 

[ihatework]

One horse who was tied up and got itself undone (see an earlier post); no mention of whether the horses in the horror stories were tied up or not. I've said already, if the horse is determined, having it tied to something that breaks is not going to stop it. I'm not denying that it may be part of the solution, or even the whole solution for horses that are not determined, but I am shocked that people think it is an infallible solution when travelling horses.

Nothing is infallible where horses are concerned.
But it's about risk management.
And leaving a full grown horse untied in a trailer (even if make shift attempts to block below breast bar have been made) is a risk taken by (insert choice of non complementary words here).
I'm going to stop wasting my breath now. Adios.

 

[9tails]

nothing is infallible where horses are concerned.
But it's about risk management.
And leaving a full grown horse untied in a trailer (even if make shift attempts to block below breast bar have been made) is a risk taken by (insert choice of non complementary words here).
I'm going to stop wasting my breath now. Adios.

wait for me!!

 

[milliepops]

I've said already, if the horse is determined, having it tied to something that breaks is not going to stop it. I'm not denying that it may be part of the solution, or even the whole solution for horses that are not determined, but I am shocked that people think it is an infallible solution when travelling horses.

As already said up thread though, it's not about making it impossible for the horse to break free. Tying the horse up so it is lightly restrained will almost always prevent it from even having an idea that can result in it trying to turn around or get otherwise stuck. Horses rarely go looking for trouble, they kind of walk into situations by accident through curiosity most of the time. That slight restraint stops them in their tracks and then their attention will refocus on something else, like a haynet.

If the horse was 'determined' to get free to the point that it could injure itself then I'd either not be travelling it, or putting it in a stallion box with no opportunity to get up to mischief.

In addition, if the horse is tied to a well placed tie ring, it can be given sufficient freedom to move its head and neck around, which I understand you are trying to achieve - that's admirable and I do the same ; they do use their head and neck to balance and it's good for respiratory health to allow that movement. But, travelling is usually for a short space of time, and we owe it to our horses to keep them safe during that short time, so IMO compromise in terms of horse's preference vs safety is necessary.

 

[ljohnsonsj]

The good ideas are not falling on deaf ears. What I am baffled about is why many of you seem to think that tying up is the ultimate solution despite evidence to the contrary. I keep saying that I may tie up so I really don't understand all the yelling that is going on.

Because by now tying up you are asking for trouble, it's an accident waiting to happen especially since your saying your horse is already putting his head under. Tying up is the best option so it baffles me that you are still debating doing other things. Blocking up under the breast bar is completely ridiculous and this problem can be solved by simply tying the horse up like everyone else does and has suggested.

 

[sprytzer]

Surely a breastbar is there for a reason, ie so the horse can brace against it should you stop suddenly.
Unless you are travelling for hours on end then I see no point in risking a potential accident, even then if you are you would surely stop regularly so the opportunity to untie so it can stretch is then!
So what happens if he unbalances the trailer whilst in motion due to being untied and you have an accident, causing life changing injuries to an innocent person, how is your insurance company going to respond?....you obviously won't lie and say he was tied up !!

 

[Tnavas]

The good ideas are not falling on deaf ears. What I am baffled about is why many of you seem to think that tying up is the ultimate solution despite evidence to the contrary. I keep saying that I may tie up so I really don't understand all the yelling that is going on.

There is no evidence to the contrary. If you travel a horse in a float it needs to be tied up. As it is facing forwards a solid partition in front of it is a risk to knees.

Tieing up is not a problem, it prevents the horse turning its head around and becoming wedged with its head on the wrong side of the vertical. It prevents it from getting its head so low that it can put it under the breast bar. If you have a short horse then you need to have the float modified by moving the rear bar forwards, so preventing the horse from moving backwards.

It's really not benificial for the horse to see behind it, especially when travelling with the top door open as physically seeing a truck getting close is very un-nerving. I've travelled thousands of miles with horses in a float and the ones that are most unnerving are the ones that have untied themselves and become too mobile.

 

[Tnavas]

One horse who was tied up and got itself undone (see an earlier post); no mention of whether the horses in the horror stories were tied up or not. I've said already, if the horse is determined, having it tied to something that breaks is not going to stop it. I'm not denying that it may be part of the solution, or even the whole solution for horses that are not determined, but I am shocked that people think it is an infallible solution when travelling horses.

Yes it will stop as to break the string their has to be some force behind the effort, the horse is confined, it cannot produce sufficient force to break the string. It may be able to untie itself but the string in its self will generally prevent the horse from getting free.
I'm with everyone else, why put your horse at risk by not tieing up. An accident waiting to happen!