It sounds like you have been giving them have plenty of experience hauling. Do they eat their hay? Could the trailer ventilation be an issue?
Finally, we are set up for heading on our journey south. We will leave MI tomorrow morning probably around 9:00 with our two horses and our two dogs and drive to Lexington. We will layover in Lexington Sunday night and then drive on to our property in N. C. on Monday morning.
I am not dosing them with any sedatives at all. Theyāve had electrolytes this week and they will get a dose of gastroguard tomorrow morning and Monday morning as well. I will update later on how the trip goes for us. Thank you all for your comments and advice. Itās very, very helpful and appreciated.
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Have a safe trip!
You & 
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Yes, be safe!
Safe travels!!! 
Thank you all for your kind words! We arrived safely here in Lexington a little after 7:00 having left MI around noon. The weather there was cold (about 37 degrees) with wind. Very unpleasant! We got two very nervous horses loaded up with very little problems and headed off.
The horses did not do any sweating at all and stayed busy eating their hay. My big 17.1 hand mare had a manger (came with trailer) filled with hay in front of her. My smaller mare had a hay bag that she used with no problems at all.
While on our first stop for gas we checked to see if they needed more hay. We found that my big mare had tucked her head down in front of the breast bar.
She apparently had decided to try and eat the loose hay from the floor. There she was looking out at us from under the bar. She was not stressed but we were.
She had pulled the safety trailer tie apart (velcro) and stepped back enough that she could lower her head, leaving her manger totally alone. We took down the breast bar and got her set up again. Well, this happened again.
I then told my husband to get some hay twine and jury rig a second crosstie. It worked! (We are going to use a lead rope tomorrow in place of the trailer tie.)
We got stuck in back to back traffic around Louisville (no accidents or construction - go figure) Set us back a good hour. But we arrived and unloaded the horses at Newtown Station Layover owned by Dr. Barbara Poole. She got them into two very nice box stalls.
We are now at a nearby La Quinta hotel with two energetic border collies and ready for a restful night. (They are now sleeping on the bed with us.) Off we go in the morning, heading south toward NC.
Thank you for all comments and advice. We used no sedatives at all! Very happy with our outcome today!
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Weāre (us in NC) are expecting weather in the 70s and low 80s by midweek.
Salt supplements (I use something like Apple-a-day in his feed) and salt blocks (I have a large, brown salt block but my horse SOOO much prefers the Himalayan salt block hanging in his turnout) are key. A few horses have trouble sweating in the south so good salt and water intake are key. REALLY keep an eye on how well your horses sweat here, equine anhidrosis is a real thing and took my good friendās gelding less than a year after moving here.
Safe travels and good luck in your new home!!!
PS, Iām in NC and am happy to be a resource as much as I can for you!
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@going_gray I do hope that you had an uneventful second leg and are simply too busy getting your NC life organized to give us an update. I hope you, ponies, and doglets arrived safely.
Iād also like to offer to be an NC resource, even if I am not super local to your exact location. Iāve got some contacts everywhere down here.
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Hello to all of you! Yes, Iāve been exhausted and then got super busy the past couple of days. The second leg of this journey did not go well.
Horses were nervous Sunday but there was no commotion and we took our time. Literally took ten minutes to get them both into the trailer.
Put trailer at entrance to barn, closed sliding doors, put my big 17 hand mare in easily (sheās a self loader), and then walked my smaller mare up to the ramp. She stepped up and stopped. My sister waved a dressage whip way behind her to get her attention and she walked right in.
We then set off for Lexington (got in around 7:00) where we overnighted the horses at Newtown Layover Station. They got roomy box stalls, lots of hay, and settled down pretty quickly.
Monday morning we asked the owner/manager if we could back our trailer up to the barnās entrance and shut out the noise and commotion. There were rigs coming in to drop horses off and picking up others to head out. Horses were nickering and lots of drivers walking around.
Owner said no because she has had too many people back into her barn entrance and causing damage. So we parked our trailer on a driveway, loaded my big mare and then tried to get my smaller mare loaded.
She was a no go. Up to the ramp and would put her front feet on the ramp. Waving a whip did nothing but set her off. Backing up and then she reared. Lots of things (noise) going on that just added to her nervousness.
Owner who is a vet said it was time for some ace. She gave both horses some oral ace and we unloaded my big mare so the divider could be moved over. That did not do any good because someone walked my big mare away and that set my smaller mare off again.
Owner said go ahead and back truck up to barn entrance and we would try it there. Mare got more sedation. It took two guys (big rig drivers) and my husband who literally pushed her into the trailer.
We then loaded my big mare and got the hell out of there. Horses were fine for the rest of our trip. Unloaded fine. Shocked with a new place - pasture! We were exhausted.
Our two horses have been loaded where it was quiet and we took our time. Got them in with no or little resistance on the part of my smaller mare. The circumstances just didnāt work out on Monday morning.
We will need to practice more too. The previous dayās trip of seven hours didnāt help at all.
So glad we are here now. (small town of Union Mills and ten minutes from Tryon!) Horses have settled in. Iām having to use grazing muzzles on them now too.
Drugs helped take the edge off. Just not the easiest experience. Thanks for all your good advice and encouragement! So appreciated. (Oh, dogs are doing well too. They slept the whole time and are now getting adjusted to living in a RV while we finish building our new house.) Lots to do!
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Our first long distance move we cut the 16 hour drive in half and offloaded the horses for overnight stabling, thinking it would be easier on all of us. We were wrong!
On every long distance move thereafter we hauled straight through.
Glad you got there and your trip is over.
I just found this thread, but my horse is a recent transfer to NC as well. This past week I have noticed he isnāt sweating which is very unusual for him as heās usually a very good sweater. Iāve been in contact with the vet and trying to get her to come out, and also starting him on daily electrolytes. Iāve been hosing him off and sweat scraping when he gets hot, and we are adding another fan to his stall too. Do you have anything that youāve found effective in helping a horse to sweat again? TYIA for your help!
Guiness Stout! Empty a bottle into a feed pan and add some pelleted feedā¦ Let it sit to make a mash and de-carbonate. This, combined with Sweatwerks from Horse Tech has worked the best for mine. One AC and acupuncture help some, but not mine.
Some people feed beer, but Iād recommend you WATCH HIM carefully. I have a good friend who purchased an Irish horse when she lived in the UK and imported him to NC. He progressively lost the ability to sweat and succombed to this condition at a relatively young age 2 years ago. It was terrible. This is a serious condition and we just had a week of heat advisories.
We have fans in the run-in sheds that turn on over 80 degrees and the horses always have a source of shade and moving air (horses here have individual, paired and group paddocks with a dedicated stall for inclement weather). We have fans in the barn aisle as well as the stalls. After more intense rides I rinse him off with coolish warmish water (he hates cold water) and Iāll stand him under the aisle fans. When heās cool enough, I let him self-graze with his run-in door open. Itās a small-ish gated private farm with more training horses than boarders. Iām a boarder who really helps the BOs out.
I give him electrolytes year round in his feed, backing off in the winter and ramping them up a bit in the summer. He has a traditional mineral block and a Himalayan salt ārollerā block in his run-in. I know this all is working because he pees undersaddle only in the summer, which he never, ever used to do (he has been an uptight horse for his earlier years). Heāll even pee in the barn aisle. Iām happy because that tells me heās drinking enough water and relaxed enough to expel it these days.
Your horse may have a serious condition if he hasnāt sweat in the last couple of weeks, which have been almost record high temps for much of the state. Definitely press your vet (where are you in the state?) Hereās hoping your guy will sweat again! These temps/humidity are crazy high. Hereās hoping your vet can get her butt out to assess your horse.
Check back in about your horse!!! Or at least PM me!
One other tip while he is not sweating: You can make a cooling spray of water and rubbing alcohol. I have also added scented witch hazel and/or mouthwash. The alcohol in the mixture evaporates faster and cools quickly.
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Platinum Refresh and One AC are good supplements to try. I have had success with both. You might try One AC since you are already giving electrolytes. Be sure to follow the dosing on One AC if there is any chance your horse is over 1100 lbs. Too little if a dose will not be best results.
Loose salt. Either in feed or in a pan. Blocks are not sufficient.
Overnight turnout and inside under fans during daylight can help a lot.
Thank you so much for your comment! Thankfully he is inside with two fans in his stall and three water buckets during the day and outside at night once it has cooled off a bit. Iāve got One AC ordered and am hoping it will be helpful for us. Thank you again!
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Thank you so much for your response and suggestions! Iāve been checking on him at least once daily and have other boarders and the barn manager keeping an eye on him too. Thankfully we have a good community to watch out for him when I canāt be there. Heās also inside during the day, has two fans in it, and has three water buckets. Heās been drinking water and urinating still. Whenever we notice any increased respiration we hose him off and sweat scrape. Iāve been bugging the vet Thursday and Friday and will be calling again first thing tomorrow morning. In the meantime just trying to make him as comfortable as possible.
Iāll try to figure out how to PM you. I really appreciate your advice and well wishes!
I thought Iād figured out how to PM you but it said āyou cannot PM this userā. Feel free to message me if you are able. Iām new to participating on this forum, so still trying to figure everything out 
It sounds like you are doing all the right things.
I know it can be scary when they stop sweating. Some horses get better. Keep up the good work.
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Iām n 1/3 dose now and that really works out. This thread just came up in my feed so I thought Iād update.
