Trailering Question - Tied Up or Loose?

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Hosscrazy

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I was just wondering - when you trailer your horses, do you keep your horses tied or do you let them loose in the trailer?

Most of the time I see people tie their horses when transporting, and in my mind, that just seems like an accident waiting to happen. What if the horse panics and slips or falls? Couldn't they end up hanging themselves?
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So if you keep your horses tied when transporting, what is the advantage to that? And what is the disadvantage to keeping your horse loose in the trailer?

Liz R.
 
We keep them tied.

We have our two horse trailer converted to have two stalls. My gelding doesn't like backing up out of the trailer so he just squeezes through when he turns around. We keep him tied to prevent this during transporation, as he can seriously injure himself
 
I have a mini trailer without any divider and it is very safe inside very smooth etc. The door has bars all the way to the top so no chance of jumping out etc.. And I ALWAYS have hauled loose... They like looking out through the sides and see what is happening. and such as that. So I haul loose Except when hauling in the back seat of my car
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Of which I have the rope under my leg so I can control the animal if they are starting to act up some..
 
Depends on the horse.

Babies and those that are well behaved are always loose.

My QH gelding spins around while loose and since he weighs 1200+ pounds it doesn't make for a fun or safe trip unless he is tied.
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Lori
 
I tie mine most of the time, but there are exceptions. Mares and babies hauled together are loose. If I'm just hauling one mini I may leave them loose for their comfort, but I generally have several at a time in the trailer and it might be chaos if they were all milling about.
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I do have a problem right now with a big mare who got scared recently in a trailer and now can only be hauled loose with no divider behind her. Really scares me, as Misty Glyn said, she gets to moving around on the road and 16 hands is a lot of horse weight to be shifting while you drive. Hoping she will get through this, as she was never a problem to haul till now.

Jan
 
If its a divided trailer then they are loose. If its a stock and there are more than just the one in that part, then they are tied. Down here we have working cowboys and they just pile up 4 or so horses into a 16' stock, all saddled/bridled, and let them ride loose, have yet to hear of a problem. Usually you will see the horses facing the back and somewhat sideways, think its easier for them.

Being loose isnt the problem to me. Its the idiots ( sorry, but its true) that have the feed doors open with their horses heads hanging out.
 
We prefer to haul loose, especially if we're going long distances. We have a stock trailer that we put panels into to make individual stalls that are big enough for the horses to move around a bit in. It's great for long trips, because we can just leave them on the trailer and don't have to worry about unloading. If we stop at night, the stalls are big enough for them to lie down in, so they can rest.

If we're hauling in the smaller trailer (a 2-horse trailer) which we use only if we are going a short distance with only one or two horses, we take out the centre divider and if we've got one mini, it goes loose, if we put two in, they're tied.
 
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Depends on the horse and depens on the situation. I would never haul

my stallion loose unless he was the only one on. Babies, youngsters, sometimes

horses that are sick I would not tie. If I tie a horse I make very sure they are

trained to tie. Linda B
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I'm going to be transporting two minis about an hour away. One hates to trailer, and the other one I've just started to work with - he is less than thrilled about this whole trailer idea and he doesn't even know yet that trailers move...

I just feel that if I tie them, they could panic and that would be a disaster. But I guess the same could happen if they were loose.

These are my kids, so of course I worry about everything...
 
Tied every time, I like to know where my horses are!!
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Oh and I have a foal here right now who is the result of a stallion untying himself in transit!!!
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I know two different people who have lost horses that were left untied in trailers. One was a QH, in a one horse trailer and dont ask how she got turned around in there cause there was not much room, but she turned around backwards and jumped out just as the lady was getting on the freeway!!!!

Another was a foal with it's dam... they didnt tie the foal so she could be loose and the one trailer door didnt latch well or something happened, and out she went. After many vet bills and months of healing, she survived, but it was close.

We have ALWAYS tied the horses in and never had any issue with one hanging itself, getting hung up, etc..... Just make sure you dont leave 10 feet of rope hanging- safety first.

Many ties have the 'quick release' snaps, or other things with safety in mind.
 
Tied, always tied. There are too many things that can happen when hauling horses loose(fights - 1 horse could get another one down), tangled up in dividers, jumping out of the trailer, etc). If a horse can lead with a halter and lead rope, giving to the pressure then I usually don't have a problem with them in the trailer. I hauled 3 horses several months back that were halter broke and could lead, but were pretty much out to pasture. 2 of these horses were yearlings. Hauled them 6 hours and when I got home all 3 led like they had done it every day of their lives. Of course, you must tie them safely so they don't get a leg over a rope, etc. There's far much danger to hauling them loose in my opinion.
 
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I had to haul home three colts from Sweetwater that were not halter broke. There

was NO WAY these horses could be safely tied so they had to ride loose. I prefer

to tie my horses, but if you have wild and woolies there is no safe way to tie these

animals. You just have to be kind of creative on making a safe confined place for

them. Tying is the best bet but there are some times you just can't so make sure

there is nothing they can get caught on or go thru! Linda B
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As you have seen from the above posts, whether or not to tie depends alot on the horse and the situation of your trailer.

Our trailers are set up so that if the horse is not a ditz, it's better to leave them untied. However, we have had a few that do require tying. We prefer not to if at all possible.

I've heard of and actually seen accidents in the many miles Larry (and sometimes I) have travelled over the years that have been horrific for horses because they were tied.

These were unforseeable accidents where the trailer tipped or rolled -- either on ice, to avoid a deer, or to avoid another vehicle.

Accidents where an untied horse was injured or killed were usually the result of a trailer that was in need of repair in some way -- ie, the door latch was not working properly. At the same time, I've also heard of an incident where the door latch was not working, the horse was tyed and the back end of the horse was hanging out the back being dragged!

So, as I stated above, it really depends on the horse and your trailer.

MA
 
Sorry you're not closer to me, Maryann, 'cuz I would use you guys in a heartbeat!!!

The company I'm considering has full-size horse trailers with cameras. I was planning to visit them in advance to look at their trailer. You guys have given me a lot of information to consider and discuss.

I can always count on you for advice - thanks!!!

Liz R.
 
We had a trailer that was modified so we could let the horses stay untied, but we had to watch who we put in the stalls with the windows. We have a small stallion that would try to leap thru and out if possible. It was great to leave them untied, expecially for the horses we have bought and they are not used to being tied. They can wrap up into some of the most harmful ways. Here is the picture of the modification we had.

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Then this year we purchased a trailer that has the small swinging gates. They are alot better for air movement, but you have to watch out for that little stallion that likes to leap over gates and out windows so they are all tied in when we go to a show now. We have traveled with a gelding and mom and foal who all like each other and left them untied. As stated above, you need to take each horse into consideration. When we first got into mini's I had no idea how important learning to tie is when you own a horse. We have since learned and teach all of ours to tie eventually. Life is so much easier for them and us.
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When we first got into mini's I had no idea how important learning to tie is when you own a horse. We have since learned and teach all of ours to tie eventually. Life is so much easier for them and us.

I absolutely agree. One of the first things my babies learn is how to stand a while tied. Even before they lead well, I will tie 3 or 4 in my clean up area and work on them quietly. They all stand and I take turns with them petting them, combing them and petting them some more. They soon learn that being tied is not the torture they first thought. Especially once they realize what a treat is and that they will be getting at least one while tied.
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Angie
 
Hosscrazy said:
Sorry you're not closer to me, Maryann, 'cuz I would use you guys in a heartbeat!!!
The company I'm considering has full-size horse trailers with cameras. I was planning to visit them in advance to look at their trailer. You guys have given me a lot of information to consider and discuss.

I can always count on you for advice - thanks!!!

Liz R.

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Liz,

At the moment Larry's truck is in the shop anyway! LOL! Also, out trailer (both the gooseneck and our own little two-horse) are full-sized horse trailers, so don't shy off that. What you need to know about the commercial hauler is the dividers and/or stall space. If they are fairly enclosed, you could leave the horse untied.....otherwise it is safer for the horse and its neighbor to tie.

Find out about watering and electrolyting in this hot time of year. The hauler should be providing regular water and elecrolyting if necessary. (Thought I'd throw that in - in case your little one is going on a trip that will last more than a few hours.)

MA
 
depends on the horse I have done both but for the most part prefer NOT to tie. I have to seen accidents where horses were tied and just got uglier then need be.

Of course a stallion needs to have a different type of divider and again each horse is different but most commerical haulers with proper dividers dont tie horses for long rides
 
wildoak said:
I tie mine most of the time, but there are exceptions.  Mares and babies hauled together are loose.  If I'm just hauling one mini I may leave them loose for their comfort, but I generally have several at a time in the trailer and it might be chaos if they were all milling about. 
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I do as Wildoak does. My trailer is a big horse trailer, but there is no way any horse can climb out.
 

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