Travelling With Horses

[DLChappers]

I *may* be due to be travelling with my horse at the beginning of September, if it's possible I would like to know the Do's & Don'ts of travelling. Also vital info, which side of the trailer does the horse go in if travelling alone? I've never travelled with my horse before so I really would appreciate the help

The journey will also be quite hefty so if there is anything in particular I need to know about long-distance, it would help

[Expert_LizPitman]

From a horse behaviour point of view, he's a little list for you:

- if you can, do a trial run with your horse to see how he travels before you set off on your long journey. More horses are bad travellers than you'd think;

- if you can, hire a CCTV system and have a passenger to watch it. This will let you know exactly how your horse is travelling. The key indicator for me is whether they are eating or not, but also poos, high head, etc are early signs. If they stop eating, then know that your horse is just starting to feel a bit of stress. Check your driving to see if you can make it easier on him or maybe give him a break. Sometimes horses just cope and appear to settle but frequently stress will just build;

- some horses react to sights and sounds outside the trailer/box. Be careful to avoid branches/hedges on the passenger side of the road as the noise of a branch hitting unexpectedly can be scarey. Some horses also react to movement seen through the windows. The don't think in terms of seeing the view outside, they just see something moving in front or to the side of them. If you think that's exactly what a horse's eye is designed to do in order to spot danger, it's actually a wonder that not more react! Take some fabric and tape with you to block out the windows if you're not sure.

- drive almost as if you had a loose egg in the back. Having watched a few horses through a journey, the worst things are roundabouts, where you brake, go left, go right, go left all in quick succession. Bends of any sort can be hard on the horse who has no idea they are coming and so cannot brace themselves

- don't use travel boots. They are not nice for the horse and cause more accidents than they prevent. Instead, either use well put on bandages (make sure they won't slip or come undone) or sports/medicine boots, the ones that fit snuggly round the expletive.

- Give your horse regular breaks if you are on a long journey. Even motorway driving is tiring, their bodies rarely stop moving as they cope with slight changes in speed or direction, and bumps.

- Make sure you have the tastiest hay new on earth in there for him. A horse who is borderline stressed may well be tempted back to relaxation if they haynet is good enough. Pepper it with slices of carrot for him to work to get. That'll help with the beginning of a journey which is often the worst.

I'll add if I can think of any more!

[Expert_LizPitman]

Someone has just pointed out my obviously dreadful language in this post. Sports boots should not fit snugly round an expletive, but a... ready for this bad word... f e t l o c k. Shocking, isn't it?