The Long Haul
Things to consider before hauling your horse....
By Austin J. Nowakowski of Safety Check, Inc.
quickly changes when you attempt
to load him in to a trailer. We have
all owned, helped load, or heard
about this kind of horse. The kind
of horse that associates riding in
a trailer the same way that you
might think of leaping head first
in to the Grand Canyon. As soon
as this horse sees the trailer, it begins to visibly become agitated and
resistant. Once loaded in to the
trailer, he kicks, resists, bites, and
generally makes the experience
unpleasant for himself, anyone
that is attempting to load him, and
any other horses unlucky enough
to be sharing the trailer with him.
This leads me to my first point.
Between the farm and the show stands one of the
most dangerous obstacles for both you and your
horse. No matter how high a jump your horse
can clear, failure to properly perform in this task
can result in injury to you, injury to your horse, or
damage to expensive equipment and other horses. What I am speaking of is of course the dangers associated with trailering.
Know Your Horse
Some things should go without saying. For example, I should not have to tell anybody that it
is a bad idea to load a mare in heat right next to
a stallion. I do not care how strong your trailer’s
separator gates are, something in that trailer will
be getting broken; if you are lucky, it will be the
A large portion of pre-show accidents result from separator gate and not your horse(s).
improper trailering practices. Knowing how to The above example is there to emphasize a point;
properly prepare, load, transport, and unload a do not just blindly load your horses in to a trailer
trailer can be the difference between having a without considering potential dangers. Ask yoursound horse ready for competition, or having to self questions such as, “have these horses been
detour away from the show toward the nearest trailered before?”, “do any of my horses not get
twenty-four hour emergency horse veterinarian.
along with other horses?”, and “do I have any
horses that have proven to be particularly difficult
Our farm has recently had the pleasure of owning, when previously being trailered?”
training and showing a beautifully bred stallion
with fantastic potential and wonderful presence. After considering the particulars of all the horses
Normally, he is quite the sweetheart when be- to be loaded, the next step is to prepare a
ing