I have a hawk bp too and we always tie our horses to the ring inside at the top of the escape door - where you tie their head when they are traveling - that way they can eat their hay from the hay bag, see each other through the trailer, and, bonus points, I can see a horse on the other side better if I am in the opposite side of the trailer. You could tie one horse that way and the second in the standard tie ring further back with a hay net.
I am not saying I have never done this, but some places (like pony club for example) consider this to be unsafe because the horse might try to go in the escape door.
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I mean, they can honestly do all kinds of crazy stuff, but Iāve been doing it this way for 20 years and never once had a horse try that. Current beasties - one hunt and one event/dressage - get trailered and tied every week year round this way. If something spooks them I am certain they would break the tie, but I think the odds of them trying to jump on top of their hay bag with a head divider and chest bar right behind are vanishingly small.
@asterix I was not trying to say I would give you a second glance tying like this. (I said I do it sometimes.)
I was just pointing out (for those who are newer and reading this thread whose entire topic is safety when tying) that some places do not consider this a safe way to tie. Logical or notā¦
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This. There are horses who view their trailer as a safe place and wouldnāt hesitate to self load if something upset them. And they donāt always see minimal barriers the same way we do.
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I also have a Hawk, but I would not tie that way.
Maybe it is just my specific trailer, but the mechanism for holding the āescape doorā open is not reliable if the wind blows. I DO tie to the side of the trailer, with the escape door open, so she can reach the haynet. But she can quickly get her head and neck out of the way if the door starts to swing.
But, to respond to the OP, I have no qualms about tieing two compatible horses on the same side of the trailer, if all the appropriate safety precautions are taken.
This is also why you ALWAYS tie to a piece of (non-plastic) baling twine. If SOMETHING is going to give, better the baling twine than the halter or the ring, or having the horse pull the trailer over on top of them
I tie direct to a blocker tie ring, but the thought is the same. Never hard tie to a trailer.
Oh @Janet, I totally agree about the door latch problem! I upgraded those latches when I got a new hawk this year after struggling with them on my old equispirit. It is a good reason not to tie like thatā¦ and, yes, to the other point, if you arenāt sure about your horseās relationship to the escape doorā¦
@endlessclimb and @Janet ā I am fully aware of the need for ābreak awayā aspects when tying to a trailer (and my crossties in the barn, FYI) --secondly, the horse who pulled away the entire side of a trailer did so many years ago at a 4-H show where non-horse knowledgeable kids, parents, adults often do things more experienced horse owners wouldnāt do. In this case, the parent or adult had installed ātie ringsā to the wall (not the support) of the homemade trailer. No one and no horse was hurt, and I am sure the parent/adult rectified the situation.
As I said, I donāt tie to my trailer --UNLESS I am standing next to my horse putting a saddle on or off --even then I am more likely to throw on his hobbles as that is easier to walk around to untack than a tied horse.
What kind of hobbles do you use? Every horse I have hobble broke has learned to hobble run, so I have sidelines which I have yet to use because Iām too nervous.
The hobbles are called āquick releaseā and I do have a picture of them, but will need to find it if you want to see it. They are not āone strap figure 8sā which do have advantages, but not what I prefer. Both my QH were hobble trained before they became my horses. W, my 25 year old Hancock QH freezes in place with hobbles, wonāt take a step. Just quietly eats grass (or hay) in front of him until hobbles are removed. William Tell my young horse (Playboy/Poco Bueno) is quiet enough but does take tiny steps to reach more grass or ease toward whatever he wants to get closer too. Neither is much motivated to do more than that --BUT I supervise them in hobbles. I will be working one in the ring, and have #2 saddled and ready to go for his turn hobbled in the pasture next to the arena. Never out of my sight. Mostly I use hobbles for archery practice āI do my practice, then hobble the horse to go find my arrows that missed the target, reload and remount. Easier than taking horse to the barn and putting in stall. Works for me.
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Very cool. Iāve always thought that hobble breaking is a dying art, and is very important in the training process.
Iām familiar with āstandardā hobble breaking, but have never tried the side line, hence my nerves about it. I can just imagine a horse kicking out with the hind thatās hobbled, and breaking the front. I bet not possible if the length is correct, but my brain goes to worst case scenario.
Would love to see your hobbles if you have time to get a picture!
We have multiple tie rings on each side of our trailer, and have added extras to a previous trailer that didnāt have enough on each side of the maximum number of horses that could be hauled in it.
We donāt hesitate to tie two to a side, if thatās where the shade is. But, if in an already shady spot (under a big oak, for example), weāll probably tie on separate sides, in order to have more room to groom and tack up.
We use breakaway ties inside the trailer, when hauling; outside, we tie with a quick release knot, but no breakaway.
