I am going to be taking a mare to be rebred when her filly from this year is about a month old. Not my mare – a friend’s – and I am not enthused. Or at least I am nervous at the prospect.
I have a two-horse slant trailer. I am guessing I should tie mare, let baby ride free (halter?) and leave the divider open? Please correct me if I am wrong, and let me know any other tips or tricks for a safe ride. I think it’s about four hours.
I ship mine in a 3 horse slant loose (and touch wood) have not had any problems. I have done it with 4 day old foals up to 4 month old foals. I do have one mare who needs to stand in the first stall (makes her ride much better) then the foal will have the other two stalls. I would then make more frequent stops for meal time. I guess it would depend on the mare, but I prefer the whole trailer to the mare and foal. (I also take the dividers out when I can and halter off, unless they have proper fitting leather halters on)
I travel mine on a slant load truck using two spaces. The mare is tied but the foal is free. A halter is not necessary but I had one on mine as I was going to shows and a halter was mandatory. I find this gives the mare and foal support when travelling but allows the foal freedom to move and turn around and feed when it wants. Mine travelled really well this way and came off looking happy and relaxed.
I trailer mares and foals every year. I have even trailered foals that were a day old or less. The way I do it is I let the mare and foal loose, and take out the divider in my 2 horse trailer. I put a lot of shavings inside so the foal doesn’t slip of the rubber mats get wet and slippery. I also put hay or straw bales under or behind the chest bar, so that the foal doesn’t try to sneak under and hit his head or get stuck.
I hauled my mare and foal in a stock with a divider. Divider locks to wall to create a big open trailer and that’s what I did. I left the mare and the foal loose and removed halters. Both of mine were easy to halter and this made me worry less. I hauled several times with no issues (had to haul for breeding and pregnancy checks). For short trips, I did not bed the trailer (stock blows dust into their eyes with bedding). For hauling to inspection I did bed the trailer heavily and they wore fly masks.
It actually gets harder when the foal is older because they loose interest in following momma onto the trailer–definitely becomes a two person job at that point. I do think the lack of ramp made it easier–we did load once onto a ramp trailer and the baby jumped the ramp on and off, which was NOT ideal. More hands to help out would have been good that day.
There is no chest bar on the trailer I use, but I agree with Callaway and would want to do something to discourage the foal from going under/over it if there was one.
Sort of a follow-up question to this, since i will also have to transport mare and foal but my 2-horse is a straight load not slant. Do I tie the mare? I was thinking of tying her but the foal loose and no divider. Would that work? I’m afraid if the mare is not tied she will turn and move around and there is not a whole lot of room.
I would tie the mare so that she doesn’t get turning around. I’ve trailered lots as well and always leave the foal loose. Never had a problem.
Nancy!
We always tie the mare!!! You don’t want the mare in the process of turning around in the trailer when you drive into a sharp curve or have to stop!! Squish the baby!!! No halter on the foal.
While I understand the concern of a foal being squished, I am also concerned of a mare tied up by her head with no “brace” of trailer sidewalls to lean against if she loses her balance- horses can have neck fractures from falling down with the head tied. I have chosen to let mine loose as a boxstall.
Since the CotH breeders are predominantly warmblood breeders I suppose this is a silly question but… for those of you who let the mare ride loose, are we talking BIG mares?
I ask because I used to think the idea was pretty cool – treat my 2-horse as a box stall for solo travelers – until I brought my TWO-YEAR-OLD draft cross filly home from a groundwork clinic. She is a curious girl and liked to go from side to side trying to see out of the windows. I was seasick. And she doesn’t compare to the size of the mare I’m going to be hauling. Maybe with a baby the mare would know enough to be a bit less raucous?
The mare I described in my above post is 17.3hh and it works perfect with her! She prefers to stand backwards so I hang (very high) or place loose on the ground her hay…this way it helps keep her still. If I don’t know about the mare I will put some in the fron and back just in case.
I hAven’t had a lot of experience trailering mares and babies, but I have always done it with mares and foals loose, with no problems.
My mares are warmbloods (one of them being a very wide, old fashioned mare). I breed Hanoverians. I trailer mares and foals every year, at least a few times. I never tie the mare, and I’ve never had a problem. I had a bunch of horses shipped to Devon last fall–and hired a shipper because I only have a 2 horse–the shipper kept the mares with foals loose. For those of you concerned with a foal getting squished, I would challenge you to think of what would happen if the foal wedged itself in between the mare and something else–a tied mare may not be able to get out of the way. That being said, I don’t usually feel much movement when they travel loose. My mares, who were all previously show horses, are very good travellers and usually end up where they started.
I’ve done it a few times. Regular two horse. Divider out and Mom tied. Drive slow. Never had a problem. As long as Mom is a good traveler you should be okay. Good luck!
I have a head to head. Mare and foal are transported in one box stall. Mare loose and wearing halter. Foal loose. Box stall bedded.
2 horse trailer with all dividers and chest bars etc. removed. So a large box stall. Both loose with leather halters. You will usually find that Mom will rest her bum against the front wall. Well bedded to avoid any slipping.
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