One of those depends things- if it’s not going to make things worse and you’ve already talked about with your vet, I say go for it.
Ehhh I think it depends on a lot of different variables.
- Does the horse load easily and travel well?
- Is the weather even, not too hot not to cold?
- Are you prepared to pull a dead/downed horse out of the trailer?
If you answered no to any of those, I would NOT put that horse on a trailer. There is no reason to cause extra stress or sweating. You’ll just dehydrate the horse more. If the horse goes down in the trailer are you prepared for the worst? For the most part it’s not worth the risk to me. I’ve only done it with one horse who was impacted for 6 days. It was a last resort. He survived the bout, but the trailer rides had nothing to do with it.
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I’m with endlessclimb on this. I don’t care what time in the morning it was, how rural your area is, or how many cars you did or didn’t see. In my opinion, running a red light to get your horse to the vet hospital is never acceptable.
1am and you can see both ways for a mile and you slow down to double check, rather than sit for what could be 3-4-5 minutes depending on how badly the lights are timed for mid-night functioning, is never acceptable?
If it were a human who needed to get to the hospital in a hurry, is it never acceptable there either? Just sit there and pray the total red light time isn’t the life or death difference?
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I didn’t express an opinion about taking a person to the hospital. I don’t think people’s and horse’s lives have equivalent value, which is part of why I don’t think driving recklessly to take a sick horse to the hospital is appropriate. I also think that when someone is driving at 1 in the morning, and they are scared, upset, and stressed about their horse’s health, it is quite likely that they are not making the most rational decisions and may not be as aware of their surroundings as they think they are.
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But you never even asked details, you just assumed. That’s my point.
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Ok Karen.
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I’m sure the police would have been understanding of your need to get your “luxury pet” (not my words, words used here often) to the vet.
Very mature counter-argument. Definitely makes me rethink my opinions.
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Apparently there are many of you who don’t know the rural ignore traffic laws pass- put on your hazards, wave at whoever you see and do as you please.
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You never know.
I once stopped at a red light, looked both ways, and proceeded through while on my way to an emergency.
The light was at the same intersection as the police station…
In my defense, it had been set as a flashing red for several months due to bridge reconstruction, and I hadn’t even noticed it was back to working on a cycle.
Cop pulled me over, asked me if I was on my way to an emergency, and I told him yes, and where.
He replied, “Ma Green’s? I used to work for her when I was in high school. Get going, and tell her I said hello.”
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I think the success would have everything to do with why the horse was having an episode of colic. There are mild colics , gas colics and times when just moving the bowels brings immediate relief and the horse feels better pretty quickly once things get moving( so to speak). In those cases a trailer ride may just do it.
I always call the vet out when any colic symptoms are present ( even minor), I would rather pay for a needless farm call / exam ( which I have once) when the gas colic resolves before the vet gets there.
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I had an elderly pony who would colic about 4-5 times per winter. My go-to move was always a short trailer ride, which solved the problem most of the time. He needed vet assistance about once per year. Interestingly, he did not die from colic.
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A little OT, but…
I’m glad your horse was worth the safety of everyone else on the road. Good grief.
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My horses are definitely in the seasoned category and start pooping as soon as the shipping boots come out.
I do think that both the thought of a trailer ride and the bouncing around in the trailer can help with a gas or impaction colic.
That said, it obviously won’t fix a surgical colic and if the horse is violent it can be extremely dangerous-- I’ve had to ship horses that were colicking severely and probably half spent most of the ride down. Obviously in an emergency situation where your destination is the vet hospital they can deal with getting a downed horse up and out but it’s not particularly safe.
It has to do with the fight or flight reflex that a prey animal has when they are stressed. Their body prepares for flight by lightening the load so to speak. I was heartbroken when I took my colicky mare to New Bolton and found a clean trailer when we arrived. It doesn’t always work, especially if there is an impaction like in my mare’s case but is worth a try.
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It was 1 in the morning during a pandemic when everything was locked down. We didn’t pass a single vehicle in the entire 45 minute drive.
BUT I guess this wouldn’t be COTH without the presumptuous judgmental BS in every single thread no matter the topic.
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I’m sorry, but your presumption that no one else was out there was not an excuse to disregard basic safety laws, at the risk of not only you and your horse but also the other people on the road (essential workers?). Go drive in circles in a parking lot if you can’t stop without thrashing around. Or get on a highway.
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Trailer rides can help by bouncing things around a bit. Seems to help mainly with gas colics, in my experience.
Waaay back when I lived with dairy cows, we had a prize show cow with an LDA on an incredibly hot and humid summer day.
The vet was tied up with another emergency, but suggested we load her in the cattle truck and take her down the bumpiest road we could find.
So, we put her on and headed down the dirt road past the farm.
Since everything was going wrong that day, the truck overheated.
Bobby cursed, and we went to unload Bessie and lead her home.
Dropped the ramp, and she shot out the back, slipped on the ramp, and went ass over teakettle.
Stood up, let out a loud belch, and walked off right as rain.
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It’s not a presumption. There were no cars. I would know because I was there, unlike you. You might want to pick something more fulfilling to be outraged about. It’s 2020 there are plenty of better options than how I ran a few stoplights during an emergency while rushing my horse to the hospital ffs.
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