Flying vs driving -- any actual evidence of which is better?

[PonyRiderMom]

I was wondering if anyone has any empirical evidence of which is better for a horse – a long road trip or a shorter flight? I have one horse who mentally has a lot of trouble with travelling, and another one who has significant stifle issues and ideally would be wrapped in bubble wrap and then suspended from the ceiling for the whole trip. The mentally difficult one, I am concerned that he will stop eating and drinking if he was on a long trip, and then colic.

I was really leaning toward flying them, but now I’m not sure. I’ve talked to a lot of people, and of course everyone has a strong opinion. But no one has any actual evidence of which is better. Since this is a large forum, I thought someone here might?

This would be flying three of them in one of those containers FedEx uses for shipping horses (they are not large horses and should fit fine) vs sending them by truck in “box stalls” and “air ride suspension.” Flying them would take approx 14 hours total travel time, including driving time to and from the airport. Going in a truck is a three-day trip with no stops.

Even if you don’t have empirical evidence, if someone has horses that have travelled both ways and can compare how their horses did with each, that would be really helpful.

I’ve priced out both options and I can make either of them work. Who needs a retirement account anyways…

[2tempe]

I have shipped horse back and forth between Ohio and Florida. Said horse was a laid back, easy TB. First 2 trips were pretty much straight through and if my memory is correct they ran about 18 hours. He had no problems
I purchased a low key mare from California and had her flown to Florida. Then a 3 hr ride from PB international airport. No issues.
My thoughts: If you can cut the travel time by more than 1/2, that is a lot less stress time for your special ones. Second you dont mention the departure and arrival geographically. If the roads are twisty or hilly, if bad weather is a possibility, these things can also add to stress.
Horses dont know they are on an airplane. Except for take off and landing, I would think they feel, like we do, that they are just floating. Horses are flying all the time these days, so it cant be too hard on them.
And lastly - You will have way less time to let your own worry run amok. That’s why I flew the mare; didn’t want to be sitting around for 3 days fretting, hoping the shipper would call, not wanting to bug them, etc.
FLY

[NancyM]

I have not flown a horse. But I have done some long distance shipping, and I do it myself. Not more than 12 hours driving per day. No one touches my horses but me. I do the driving, not some dick head I don’t know earning minimum wage. My trailer, which I have chosen for it’s safety and ride. I line up overnight stops in advance. I bring my feed and hay. Can bring water from home too. See how this goes? That’s just me I guess.

[happilyretired]

It seems to me that reducing the absolute time traveling by such a large amount argues for flying as long as you can swing the finances either way. Competition horses are routinely flown large distances with no serious issues. Plus just statistically speaking flying is always a safer proposition than driving. And as others have noted the impact of bad weather, long delays due to highway wrecks, etc etc are a more serious risk driving vs flying.

[Zevida]

I think all you are going to end up with is more opinions unfortunately! I doubt there is scientific, empirical evidence.

For my take, if you can afford to fly and it greatly reduces the travel time, I’d always fly. I can’t think of why flying would be any worse and experience for the horse than driving and it may be better - other than take off and landing it’s likely a smoother ride than highways. Maybe in the air ride trailer they will have more room in a box stall - but with a shorter trip they may not need more space.

[MunchingonHay]

I used to work for an FEI 4 in hand team.

We flew to the EU and I had driven them up and down the east coast regularly, both in our 6 hours box van and in 18 wheelers. Heck the year we went to the EU, they first were in a 18 wheeler from Atlanta to NYC rested for a few hours and then got on a plane flew to Germany, then rested at the horse hotel for a day then hit the road again to Vienna.

They traveled the best flying. Then in box stalls in the 18 wheeler, lastly in the old International box van that was older than me.

They were always more tired being on the road verses in the air.

BUT all of the horses were good travelers to begin with. In their mid to late teens.

[tabula_rashah]

I have been a flight groom and have professionally trailered. I assume you are talking about domestic travel? In which case, flying is probably easier on your horse.

[NancyM]

Just came back to add… for the price of flying them, if you don’t already have your own horse trailer, you could buy a used trailer for the same price (or less) as flying, do your own shipping, and resell the trailer (if you wanted to) after the move is complete. That way, your “retirement account” is retained in the long run, and you can look after your own horses during the move.

[PonyRiderMom]

I appreciate the thought, but it’s four horses and I currently have a two-horse trailer. The move is from Texas to Western Washington State, over two mountain ranges. I considered doing it with one or two horses, but I wouldn’t be comfortable with that big a trailer on that drive.

[walktrot]

I’m in the midst of reading Jim Wofford’s memoir Still Horse Crazy After All These Years: He was a 3-time Olympian among other signficant accomplishments. I love the book. It is fascinating because he takes us through his childhood and adolescence. He talks about the demise of the US Cavalry, history of eventing and world champships, for starters. If you are a boomer you’ll connect with his efforts to keep riding horses when he was drafted druing the Vietnam War. Terrific book.

One area that stood out in my mind was the changeover from shipping across the Atlantic Ocean to flying, back in the 1950-60s. It was a challenge for many horses. They shipped several horses by plane early on. One horse hated travelling. His reaction to the plane was so extreme and his injuries so severe that he had to put down in the plane.

That’s an extreme example from a long time ago. But I would avoid at all costs putting a horse on a plane if I thought he might have a severe negative response. Noises, turbulence… If you are in a trailer you can pull over and get him off. Then you can figure out where to go from there.

I assume that you can still find farms that provide overnight stabling along your route. That might be more comfortable for him.

[findeight]

@PonyRiderMom

This would be flying three of them in one of those containers FedEx uses for shipping horses

Those are called pallets and are used on many aircraft to ship horses. Typically 3 to a pallet. Its the same container used industry wide for regular cargo, even for checked baggage on widebodied commercial aircraft. Typically loaded on the ground then put on the plane, slid into position and secured, it eliminates a step loading cargo.

IMO, the two big advantages in flying horses are 1) TIME and 2) easier ride.

1. Even if you own a trailer, not easy to be gone for several days, for some just not possible with work and/or family responsibilities. Thats not including traffic woes like construction with stop and go for hours, wrecks and bad conditions weather wise, like icy, windy or water covered roads.

2. Plane is climate controlled. No long periods of rough roads or stop and go. Yes, can be turbulence but crews have current info on where and how to avoid the worst of it or just go around. The pallet stalls are quite comfortable and supporting, most horse ride very well.

My barn once had an old warrior show Pony needing to ship from SW Ohio to Malibu Cal. There was concern about potentially 2-3 days on the trailer (even an air ride). It was taking some time to arrange the trip for the single Pony. One evening, trainer got a call that a horse flight had a cancellation on a LEX-LAX flight the next day at noon. Old warrior Queen pulled out of the farm driveway at 8AM EST. 90 min trailer ride to airport. “Little rest stop”. 6 hrs on the plane, “little rest stop”. 1 hour trailer ride to see the sun set in her new, ocean view home meeting her new tiny tot partner.

We figured total time door to door including breaks was about 13 hrs, cost was about 30% more than ground shipping. That was the first time anybody I knew flew domestically but not the last. Course most were not quite this easy thanks to that young race wannabe who couldn’t make the flight with his buddies and the local trainer network.