Moving horses

[Ira]

I am relocating and want to take my horses. I have hauled horses on a daily basis but never long distance. The trip is 835 miles and 15 hours of driving. I would like to do it in one day with 2 drivers. Has anyone here done this? Any pointers on horse care would be appreciated.

[Gabe Ayers]

Ira,

Having hauled a few horses these long distances I can certainly say it can be done. The primary concern I had was making sure they drank plenty of water before the trip started and during the trip. Also I have read and practiced that after 7 hours of riding a horse should at least have a while of standing still or being taken off the trailer for some walk around time. We would just find a spot where they could be taken off and walked around a bit and then back at it.

Keeping their diets the same is important, meaning don’t change hay types and don’t feed them much grain during the traveling. If you are going to be on the road for that long it may be good to haul water they are used to drinking so they will continue drinking it in route.

This would also be a good application of Probiotics in preparation for the stress of traveling. They make several commerical products that can be administered prior to the stress to keep their guts working while riding. Watching to make sure they are passing manure and urine is good. Usually when we stop to get fuel or food we park on the downhill side of the parking lot so the steam that runs out of the trailer doesn’t go across the parking lot
particularly if it is on the path to the store entrance….can be funny to see a
city person step in it, but not really good manners to laugh at their reaction to the smell of that stream….

I also recommend hauling them backwards on the trailers, facing the direction they came from or the back of the trailer. If it is very cold and you are pulling a stock trailer with open sides, we will cover their muzzles with a burlap bag to warm the air they are breathing to lessen the chance of them getting shipping fever. Of course you have to take that off for them to eat and drink a little in route. Since they work for several hours without eating this effort of riding is similar and can be imitated during the ride.

Now I can’t help but ask, where are you going man? I hope it is to the southeast so we can work together again some day. Where ever it is, know that you have friends logging in the Appalachians that wish you well Ira King.

[jen judkins]

That trip should be a cinch for healthy horses. I’ve done plenty of long distance hauls, some of them several days long and it always amazes me when the horses get back on the trailer the next morning after an overnight rest stop.

In general I won’t give my horses any grain for 12 hours prior to travel. I generally give them probiotics or prebiotics (or both) for a few days before hand as well as during the travel and for a few days after, as it is definately stressful for them.

I typically stop every 3 -4 hours for 30 minutes or so. I don’t unload, but I offer water and refresh hay. Most of my horses won’t drink strange tasting water while on the trailer, so I bring water from home. Anyway, the stop allows them to relax and rest. This schedule generally coincides with meals or gas stops, so it doesn’t add much to the trip.

I generally stop at night somewhere to unload and get some sleep, but I have lots of friends who drive straight through to florida with 2 drivers over 3 days without unloading without any problems at all. I’ve driven over 1000 miles in a stretch, during a multiple day trip and repeated that over 2-3 days, so I think you will find your planned trip very easy.

I think it is always wise however to be prepared for an un-expected stop along the way. So do your homework, and pick out large animal vets and horse friendly B&Bs along the way, in case you run into a colicy horse or an injury and need to unload or get help.

Where are you moving to and from?

I’m assuming that your horses do not have any ‘trailer issues’ to start with.

[jen judkins]

@Biological Woodsman 7076 wrote:

Usually when we stop to get fuel or food we park on the downhill side of the parking lot so the steam that runs out of the trailer doesn’t go across the parking lot
particularly if it is on the path to the store entrance….

Now that is some good advice!:eek:

[Hal]

@jenjudkins 7077 wrote:

I generally give them probiotics or prebiotics (or both) for a few days before hand as well as during the travel and for a few days after, as it is definately stressful for them.

I hope this isn’t off topic (and I certainly can’t respond to the original post as I know nothing about horse transporting), but what are probiotics and what are they supposed to do for the horse? Are they bacteria or something similar?

[jen judkins]

Hal, Check out this link… http://www.myhorse.com/health/feeds/prebiotics_and_probiotics_explained.aspx#top

[Tom S]

Ira,

I don’t have any big horses, mine are riding horses and mules. I have trailered 4 & 5 horses on several long trips over the years. Usually from IN to AZ. or OK to AZ. I have primarily trailered 20-22 hours without letting them out of the trailer. I have went as far as 32 hours and they were only out for a few minutes, I am not sure it was even necessary for me to take them out at all, but it was my first long trip hauling horses. When I got them to our house, they were in good shape.

I don’t do anything as far as getting them ready, nothing special. I feed them the night before, make sure they have water on the trip, some hay, but most don’t drink or eat unless I stop. I stop for fuel and eating. I take care of them first and then go eat. They usually wait until I stop and then they urinate.

If I am going to use them right away when I get to the destination, I usually stop overnight a couple of times so they are not exhausted when we get there. Most of the “straight through” trips are on the way home after a 3 or 4 day outing.

You shouldn’t have any problem.

[dominiquer60]

A good deal of the horses that I work with are shipped around all the time, up and down the east coast and across the country. A good number of them arrive via commercial shipper that drive two men to a rig and drive straight through stopping every few hours to check and water the animals. It is nice that they have fancy air ride suspension to ease the ride, but even those that don’t generally don’t have any problems. Some folks that ship themselves stay at a farm overnight in SC where the horses get a stall. But usually 2 drivers 12 horses, 24 hours from NY to south FL, no big deal. I am sure that many of the methods suggested here are also used to reduce stress with these big shipping companies. Drive carefully and watch out for the other guy, there seems to be less respect for livestock haulers these days. Good Luck.

Erika

[Ira]

Thanks for the replies folks. I was mostly concerned about running the full 15 hours with nothing more than short rest stops. I’m going to look into the probiotics and I’ll try to remember to park on the downhill side.;)
I’m headed for south central Missouri. My knees and legs ain’t going to let me work in the deep snow anymore. So I decided to go someplace where the snow is more of a curiousity than a daily occurence.
I”ve got a job cleaning up damage from the ice storm they had this winter when I get there but after that I’ll just cross my fingers.

[ADKLogger]

Good Luck Ira, and remember the beauty of the internet will keep us all up to speed on how everthing went 🙂

[ADKLogger]

Ira you may want to read Biological Woodsman’s thread in off topic discussions on looking for teamsters in the southwest.

[CIW]

I learned from the endurance sporters that feeding soaked beet pulp is a great tool for keeping a horse hydrated or quickly bringing them back from dehydration. The beet pulp will soak up 2 1/2 times it volume in water and has a very high level of roughage. It keeps them a little loose in the bowel so everything keeps moving. Most horses don’t drink very well when they travel.
I start feeding it a week or so before I leave and continue throughout the trip.
I also give each animal 35cc of procaine penicillin the day before the trip. It seems to stop them from catching shipping fever or a cold.
About 2 weeks previous we would start mixing an envelope of cherry Kool-Aid in our market steers water when we would show at the fair so that they kept drinking.
Good Luck

[near horse]

My horses came from Michigan on a 2 1/2 day 2000 mile trip in a stock trailer and the previous owner also worried about the water issue. He carried 2 50 gallon plastic barrels of water from home but the horses never seemed to mind one way or the other. When they got here they drank our water w/ no hesitation. The did seem to want to rest for a day or so after arrival. In other words, they laid down and snoozed in the paddock. I assume 2 1/2 days in a trailer makes ones legs tired. It surely makes my butt tired.

Unless things have changed, I’m not so much a believer in the probiotic stuff. Most of the older stuff (maybe Equilife or something) never makes it past the stomach intact and therefore doesn’t really do anything to boost or alter the microflora in the gut. Essentially, they ended up being a “protein supplement” with the protein coming from the added microbes. But I have to admit I haven’t kept up and maybe things are different now.

[Robert MoonShadow]

Um, Geoff… next time try riding up front & leave the riding in the trailer to the animals… maybe then your butt won’t be so tired. 😉

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