Ok, I have had the same issue come up with two different horses. They normally haul very well. But I was alone (normally daughter is with me), I unhooked the trailer tie, went to the rear to open up the slant (two horse slant - no mangers). They put their head down and looked under, then decided that their 15.2 1200lb butts could fit under the divider and went to scrambling. I waited for them to calm down and stand up, then undid the divider and backed them out. One came barreling out, the other backed out fine. These were on two separate trips and were not hauled together. Scared the crapola out of me. Have been around horse all my life, and been hauling alot the last 6 years and this is the first time I have had this happen.

Second part - question on mangers, those who have them, do you think that they eliminate this behavior? I am looking for a gooseneck 3 or 4 horse slant and am wondering if mangers are a good thing or ??

Thanks,

When one of my horses "barrels out" of a trailer,I make them load back up and unload about 10 times.

I thought I'd go ahead and unload my good (99% of the time) mare from our LQ trailer while my husband opened up the gate.I untied her first (dumb) then opened up the back door and let the butt bar down.SHe decided she had enough room BARELY to turn around by the tack section and came flying out front feet first.

She got loaded right back up again and unloaded and loaded as I said,about 10 times.

But I sure won't untie them again,matter of fact,if there is somebody else,I'll just wait.I've also heard of them starting back while a person is walking around to untie them,and panicking,and pulling back and nearly sitting down,or getting their back legs out and hung under the trailer.I guess that is one argument for not tying them in a trailer.Probably a good idea,if you are by yourself.

What brand trailer are you useing? The dividers must be fairly high for a 15.2(almost 61") horse to decide he can get under it. I think if you address this problem it will fix your situation. 

I had a young horse do the same thing. Dropped his head, looked and thought he could. He couldn't, and all I could do was wait until he was done thrashing.

I do the same thing as crowleysridgegirl. Load and unload until we have it right.

I do not tie my seasoned horses at all. My younger horses will get tied depending on the horse. I have seen a 15h horse turn around in a normal slant stall. I don't know how he did it, but we left facing the drivers side and got there facing the passengers side. He was in one of the middle stalls in a 4 horse with 4 other horses in there. Never felt him move from the truck either.

edited to add:  By the way...on the horses that I do tie...I will untie the rope but leave it through the tie ring. In my experience, that have been less inclined to drop their head that way.

This is the thing about horses- they are truly unpredictable. Having been around horses long enough, anything can happen even with older, seasoned travelers. I have two arabians that travel untied and wait until I asked to unload and 99% of time they are fine. But I always have in the back of my mind that there is always that 1% when something might happen. I don't think mangers or tying them up changes anything. Just be as prepared as you can and hope your horses learned their lesson and won't try going under the dividers again....

I don't know what it is when they put their heads down like that and see freedom they suddenly think they are only 3 ft tall...ha, ha.  Your horse may have barreled out after scaring himself trying to get under the divider. Like, 'now I have an opening and I'm taking it darn it'! Practice some more as what you did was the proper way if they have to back out which is to untie them first. I don't have a rear tack in my 4-horse slant trailer and I have two rear doors with a ramp over. This allows me to go in and lead the horses out face first. This kind of eliminates a great need for them to fly backwards as they are used to turning around. I like to tie them loosly because it's amazing what sorts of pretzels they can turn themselves into when not tied. I like for them to be able to lower their heads so I don't prefer mangers, but I don't think mangers would solve your problem anyhow. Think pretzel...they will just make themselves shorter in length and try to do the same thing if so inclined. Mangers have their pluses and minuses...They're great for storage but leave your horse a bit less room and they can't lower their heads very much.

When I bought my 2 horse straight load, it was like trailering 101 all over again. They got the hang of it fairly quickly. I have 1 horse that likes to back out fast. He's getting better. I just wait until he settles down then I drop the butt bar and ask him to back out. This trailer doesn't have mangers and 1 likes to pick up stuff off of the floor as he gets in sometimes. This usually ends up with him bumping his head on the breast bar. This scares him and he backs out. No problem, we just load again and usually he keeps his head up the second time. I don't lead him in, he loads himself. He loads better that way in that trailer.

FWIW, if anything. Good luck! 

Hi There!  It seems that if your horse can tie well he/she should be tied.   I have 3 horses from 13 hand haflinger to 16.2 draft cross- all are tied unless I leave the divider open and haul just one.   Way too easy for trouble to happen.  You won't eliminate all possibilities of injury but it is a good deterrent.  If you can find "safety" trailer ties that have velcro and will come undone in the event one absolutely panics that would be a good investment (about $15 each).  Also, put the safety snap on the trailer and the regular snap at the halter so in the event one is thrashing around you can access the safety release easier.

 I have a 2 horse slant load with a solid divider and have never had a problem with the first horse trying to peek underneath.  But, they are able to exit face forward as I do not have rear tack area.  I've heard of horses that try to back out under a butt bar from straight loads as well- never has a happy ending.   

Anyway, I cast my vote to tie and get those safety ties!  Good luck!

We had mangers for many years and only had one really bad experience with them. We picked up a two year old that decided she could fit into the manager. All we could do was wait until she figured out how to remove her front feet and climb down. We have a slant load now, but the dividers are nice and deep. I have seen several on this site that have added the full divider to the floor. Sounds like something you might want to check into. I've seen the site listed here but cant remember it. Good luck!