Best way to haul a single horse in stock-type trailer

[Florida_Gator]

Hey all! I have a 3-horse slant load stock-type trailer almost exactly like this one:

http://www.maintrailersales.com/images/sundowner-stock2.jpg

It is a step-up with a full size swing-open door in the back and removable dividers inside. I will only be hauling one horse at a time and said horse is much more comfortable when not smashed into a single slant-load partition with his head tied. He hauls like a dream with a buddy but gets a little anxious when he is hauled solo and I think a lot of that has to do with being crammed in a small space alone. I am thinking of different ways to haul him safely and comfortably when he is by himself. I have also thought of adding a small Plexi-glass mirror to the inside of the trailer, despite which way I decide to haul, to make him think he has a friend. We do this all the time with orphaned livestock in the veterinary field and it works wonders on their little brains.

So for hauling…

Option #1: Removing the first divider and making a “stall” of sorts. Should I keep his head tied or let him ride loose?

Option #2: Removing both dividers and letting him have the run of the entire trailer; however, I’m not sure if this would make unloading him (especially by myself) more difficult since I have never tried and I would like to leave him untied if possible.

Option #3: Keep him in the front partition with his head tied like we have always done in the past

Any other configurations I haven’t thought of?

I’m really interested in giving him as much space as possible and leaving him loose because I think he would much prefer this but I have never hauled this way so I’m turning to the COTH experts for advice and moral support

[Lucassb]

I would make a stall type arrangement (option 1) but I would not personally ship a horse loose. I know people do it, but it seems like an invitation for one to get away from you when unloading.

[Florida_Gator]

That was my concern too about hauling loose! I haul by myself and although “people do it all the time”, they don’t do it with this horse :lol:

[CLB15]

Not a slant trailer, but I have a 2+1 and had to move my mother’s horse who was accustom to riding in a stock trailer. I opened up a big space- probably the size of a slant with 1 or 2 dividers removed, and tied him around the center of that space (so he could stand on a forward facing angle or a rear facing angle). It’s about the size of a box stall in a stock trailer- even when tied the walls are “close” enough that he could step over & lean on them if needed. I know someone with a 4-horse slant that pulls out a divider between 2 of the slant stalls when moving a large horse, but ties them the same as if it was a single slant stall. I wouldn’t want a horse loose with slant dividers in place in case they slipped under or got hung up over them.

[Bluey]

Around here, cowboy horse manners is that a horse walks into the step up stock trailer and stands where told, not turn around.

You start by tying them first, then later, once loose, if you feel them turning, you stop, unload and load them straight again.
After a time or three, if they keep turning, you tie them again for a few hauls, before trying again to have them haul loose.
Horses catch on quickly and learn to ride there without turning.

One reason, they are hauled and loaded and unloaded several times, as you check this and that pasture and so you haul with their headgear and you don’t want to tie with the reins.
If you have to tie, you use a halter, so it is quicker, over the lifetime of a horse, to train the horse to stand there.
One or up to four horses fit in our 16’ stock trailer standing there without tying and back only when you ask them to.

Plenty of times you may have several head of cattle in front and a horse or two behind.

With your horse, you could haul him in there with the trailer open, but tie him, since he is wiggly and won’t stand there.

[NoSuchPerson]

I haul in a 16’ stock trailer. If I’m only hauling one, I put him in the front compartment, either loose (if he rides quietly) or tied to the side (if he doesn’t stand still in the trailer.

I used to have a big draft mare who didn’t fit well in a single compartment. For her, I latched the divider door open and cross-tied her in the middle of the trailer, because if she started wandering around in the trailer while I was going down the road, I was in trouble.

[csaper58]

I see threads like this, and I just keep thinking how well Newton’s Laws of Motion work. In particular the law of Inertia.

Does anyone remember riding a really crowded school bus, and having to stand in the isle? Remember what happened if the bus braked suddenly? Or turned sharply?

Now imagine you weigh 1000-1200 lbs and you are standing in a big empty bus going 60 mph. Some idiot cuts the bus off and the driver hits the brakes. What happens to you?

Now, maybe give ‘the horse loose in the trailer’ a second thought?

[Brigitte]

I do Option 1 all the time. First divider removed and horse in double stall, tied. This arrangement keeps my OTTB very happy.

Have hauled a friend’s over anxious TB mare and she breaks her tie and rides happily turned around. You just have to be careful to grab her before opening the rear door all the way

[Florida_Gator]

Wonderful advice, thank you all so much! I will try Option 1 with him tied, I think he will like that

[cowboymom]

We have a 20 foot stock, no dividers. We tie them to trailer, every time. I don’t need anyone running laps trying to look out all the windows at once when I have to hit the brakes for the out of state driver that just pulled out in front of me.

I have infinitely better things to do than train my horses to stand in the trailer without being tied there too… that’s an admirable thing to do but it’s not for us.

[wildlifer]

With the back door shut.

Sorry, couldn’t resist.

Mine is divided but I ALWAYS tie (with a hay string breakaway between trailer tie & wall in case some idiot one time forgets to unclip a horse or something :o) – after a several decades watching horses do incredibly stupid/unpredictable things, I try to reduce the risk factors I can!

[Bluey]

Around here, when someone has a “ranch” horse for sale, it better know to ride properly, or it is probably not one that has been many miles doing ranch work where they have to keep being loaded and unloaded to go check different pastures day after day.

Now, that is not for going down the highway for many hours, is for pasture work.
For travel, they are not saddled and bridled and ready to go work right off the trailer, but hauled with a halter and tied to the side.

Here is a picture of our 16’ pasture stock trailer with two of our horses, both loose in there, ready to go take fresh cattle to water.
Horses stand there wherever they want, as long as they don’t turn around.
Most horses, if given a choice, like to stand at a little of an angle and over the axle, not walk all the way to the front or stand on the back part, or wiggle and walk back and forth.
There seems to be a “sweet” spot on a trailer where horses like it best, where it may be smoothest for them:

[NoSuchPerson]

[QUOTE=csaper58;7937127]
Now, maybe give ‘the horse loose in the trailer’ a second thought?[/QUOTE]

The last time I read one of these debates here people made equally impassioned arguments against tying - something about not wanting their horse’s head tied up high if they fell down, if I recall correctly.

[shrug] In the front or rear compartments of my stock trailer, given the relatively small size of the box stall it makes, there isn’t really a significant difference in the amount of bouncing around a horse could do tied or loose. The only question is whether he would be bouncing around like a tether ball on the end of a string or like a loose soccer ball.

[Shammy_Davis]

I’m late to this, but in a stock trailer, the most comfortable place for the horse to ride is over the axles. Some stock trailer dividers are not consistent with this method but most are close to it. With multiple horses you want most of the weight over the axle.

I trailer horses loose in a stock trailer in separate individual dividers. They stay occupied with plenty of hay which also reduces stress.

This link might be of interest to thoses interested.

http://www.journalofanimalscience.org/content/79/E-Suppl/E32.full.pdf

[cowboymom]

“properly” is in the eye of the beholder. Ours are all good citizens, traveling as perfectly well for anyone as any other horse in our area.

[merrygoround]

I’m quite happy to have my horse loose, if alone, facing the rear. They seem to be able to balance better when rear facing.