Horse Trailers

What style of horse trailer is best?

It depends.  Horses have preferences for their travel accommodations just like people do for their cars.  Some horses prefer a step-up to get in, others prefer a ramp.  Some horses are more comfortable traveling in a slanted position, others like to ride facing front, others prefer to be loose in a stock style trailer to alter their position.  I've even met horses who prefer to ride backwards.  The best trailer is a safe one that your horse likes and is easy for you to use.  Generally a bumper-pull hitch is acceptable for up to 2 average sized horses, if you are hauling more than that you are safer with a gooseneck hitch because of weight distribution and braking.  Backing is a little different depending on the lengths of your trailer and truck, and generally a gooseneck hitch is a little more forgiving of tight backwards corners than a bumper-pull.

Safety Notes

With a ramp, you need to be aware that a horse could fall off the sides when loading and unloading.  A horse can also fall off the back of a step-up.  You need to be sure not to ever find yourself unable to easily escape the trailer, like with the horse in between you and your exit.  Especially if the horse is tied you don't want to EVER go under a rope tying the horse to a solid object.  This is true for slant loads and straight-loads and standing at the hitch rail!  If you go in before your horse, be SURE that you have an escape door ahead of you which is easy to get through.  The safest way to load your horse is by standing at the back of the trailer, pointing into it, and the horse loads himself.  This leaves you free to fasten butt bars and close doors and keeps you out of close quarters with a flight-prone animal.  I'll address teaching this technique to your horse later.

Buying a used trailer - prepurchase inspection

Most importantly, lift the mats inside the trailer where the horses ride, and confirm that there is a wood floor that has no rotting, no softness, no mildew, no holes.  More than once I've looked at a trailer and lifted the mats, particularly on the right hand side of the trailer where the horse butts stand (and defecate), only to find the floor rotted out, and sometimes even just thin metal with rusted holes through it.  It would be a horrible wreck to put your horse into a contraption and get on the freeway only to have the horse's leg punch through sharp rusted metal sheeting to the asphalt speeding by below.  If the floor looks satisfactory, have the seller plug in the trailer to their vehicle, confirm that all lights (running lights, turn signals, brake lights) are working.  Look at the outside of the trailer for any rust or chipping paint, look at the inside for the same.  Check the tires for wear.  You can slide under the trailer and look for rust/structural issues from underneath.  If you are so inclined, have a professional trailer place inspect the trailer for you, including checking whether the bearings need to be repacked and confirming that the emergency brake box is in working order.  Keep in mind that most every used trailer will need maintenance, and bearings repacked and electrical work are quite common.  If that is the case and you have found the trailer to be in otherwise good shape and it meets your needs, you can always negotiate price based on what needs to be done. 

Travel Attire

There are a number of things your horse might wear when traveling in the trailer.  I recommend you get him used to any and all of them long before a trip is on the horizon.  The most basic are shipping boots.  As long as the horse is used to them, I think they are a good choice for every trailer ride.  They protect from minor abrasions, bumps, and scratches, and generally prevent the most common injuries from a horse stepping on himself in the trailer when he tries to re-balance or accommodate for sudden movement in the vehicle.  If you use them, they should be placed on the leg so that the bottom of the boot covers the back side of the heel bulbs, since horses often will step on their front feet with their back feet and injuries to the back of the front feet can result.  Always make sure they fasten with the opening towards the front so the back of the leg is adequately protected.  There are lots of different styles of boots, some look fairly industrial and go up as high as to cover the horse's knees and hocks, others are just simple fabric with velcro.  When deciding which boots to use I consider how much the horse tends to move in the trailer, how hot it is likely to get (always warmer than you'd think!), how likely it is that a companion in another stall in the trailer will try to kick him under the divider, and whether he has worn different styles previously. 

Another option for traveling is to put standing wraps on your horse's legs.  It's worth noting that if your horse is being shipped on a long haul, like across the country, most shipping companies don't allow the wraps because of their tendency to come loose particularly if applied incorrectly.  If they do allow them, once the wrap comes loose they simply remove them and don't reapply.  Shipping companies often will let you start the horse with shipping boots, but recommend that they go without because of the heat that can accumulate inside.  I only recommend standing wraps if you have been thoroughly taught how to apply them for the trailer, and are well practiced at it.  If applied incorrectly you can do damage to the horse's legs, particularly the tendons and ligaments.  Because of that danger I'm not going to go into details on wrapping, but correctly applying these wraps is part of the horsemanship instruction offered here at Bit of Honey Training.  

Odds and ends:  head bumpers I like to use if a horse has a history of tossing his head at any time in the trailering process, loading, traveling, unloading.  Again, the horse needs to have worn the head bumper prior to his trip so that the odd feeling of something resting on the crown of his head with his ears poked through isn't troublesome.  Better yet, I like to use a horse trailer that is tall enough that the horse can toss his head a bit without hitting the ceiling.  Tail guards, usually a neoprene padded wrap to go around the horse's tailbone, are good for keeping the bone in the tail from being bruised, particularly if the stall for the horse is a bit short front to back.  Better is to have a trailer where the horse has plenty of room to weight shift without bumping into the walls.  Tail bags are good for keeping shavings out of the tail for minimal grooming when arriving at a horse show.  A traveling sheet to cover the horse's main body will also keep him cleaner on arrival.  I often use a traveling sheet on particularly my white horses so they look better when they unload at their destination, and there is something crisp and professional about unloading your horses when they are uniformed similarly in the stable colors.  You want to be sure that it will not get too warm in the trailer, though, it's no good to have your horse be hot, uncomfortable, and sweaty when he's on the road.  

Why won't my horse load!?

This is probably the section for which you're reading this entire blog post.  Really trouble-shooting why a horse won't get into the trailer is best done in person, but here are some likely suspects:

1 - The trailer is not safe and refusing to get in is your horse's only way to tell you about it.  Check the floorboards for anything loose, wiggly, or rotten.  Check the rafters for insect nests such as hornets or bees.  Be sure that when he is being hauled the driver is very careful, turning slowly and gradually, accelerating and slowing down very smoothly.  No loose things (dividers, pins, ropes, etc) should be moving in the trailer to bump the horse or make agitating noise.

2 - The horse is scared of the trailer and doesn't want to get in.  See section 1, and if you determine that it is actually safe, there is a protocol for getting your horse over his fear of the trailer.  Positive reinforcement techniques work best for fearful horses.  I've found clicker training to be quite effective, because it associates the trailer with really good things, like treats and praise.  Taking some time and allowing him to investigate it himself while his breakfast awaits him inside with doors open works well.  For details about how to implement these techniques please do contact us at www.bitofhoneytraining.com

3 - The horse doesn't want to get in.  He has his own reasons, but he is not afraid.  There are lots of things to try, but I recommend what I call the "tappa tappa" technique.  This is primarily a negative reinforcement technique, for use when the horse declines to participate in positive reinforcement training.  It involves tapping the horse lightly on some part of his body with a "tap, tap, wait.  tap, tap, wait" rhythm.  When he takes a step toward the trailer you stop the rhythmic tapping and tell him he's a good pony.  If he backs away from the trailer you tap more persistently.  The "wait", or pause between taps, is very important, because it allows him a moment to decide what he wants to do.  For more details about how to best do this with your horse please do contact us at www.bitofhoneytraining.com.

4 - The combination 3 & 4:  trickiest of all situations, the horse was afraid of the trailer at some point and now has learned it's not required of him to get in, and he has the human's number.  OR, he was initially just not interested in getting in the trailer but due to an argument with a human he is now afraid to load.  These situations require quite a bit of finesse in reading the horse's body language so as to not make him afraid, but not let him "play" you, either.  In a combination situation the horse will fluctuate between fearful and "messing with you", and it's very important to be able to read which behavior you're getting at that moment.  For more help with these trickier scenarios, contact us through www.bitofhoneytraining.com

Horses of all sizes can learn to enjoy road trips!