Posted 2007-03-22 2:21 PM (#57511) Subject: hauling 1 horse in a 2 horse slant
Member
Posts: 18
Location: indiana
If I am hauling just 1 horse is it necessary to close the divider gate or can I just leave it hinged to the side. Is it safer for the horse to close it?
Posted 2007-03-23 7:23 AM (#57552 - in reply to #57511) Subject: RE: hauling 1 horse in a 2 horse slant
Extreme Veteran
Posts: 456 Location: south of Cowtown, TEXAS
Depends on the horse. I used to have a big red mare that could haul with it open. The horse I have now is a futard so I have to keep him pinned in there.
Posted 2007-03-23 11:16 AM (#57575 - in reply to #57511) Subject: RE: hauling 1 horse in a 2 horse slant
Member
Posts: 48 Location: Wadena MN
You can leave it open. The reason I close it is so they don't move back and forth in the trailer. It tends to make your trailer move around behind your truck..MaryM
Posted 2007-03-23 10:30 PM (#57644 - in reply to #57511) Subject: RE: hauling 1 horse in a 2 horse slant
Extreme Veteran
Posts: 385 Location: washington
I haul with the divider open most of the time, but occasionally haul with it closed, so my horse stays familiar with that too... sometimes I take another horse. It can be interesting if your horse doesn't know what is going on when you first close the divider, so alternate if you want to remind them what the divider is.
Posted 2007-03-23 10:47 PM (#57648 - in reply to #57511) Subject: RE: hauling 1 horse in a 2 horse slant
Veteran
Posts: 112 Location: Columbus, Ohio
I haul with it open all the time. Easy to load/unload. But, as pointed out, i also have a sturdy butt chain and my horses have very good manners when unloading. When both are hauled they get to experience the slant and do fine as well with that.
Posted 2007-03-24 1:24 AM (#57659 - in reply to #57511) Subject: RE: hauling 1 horse in a 2 horse slant
Member
Posts: 28 Location: Portage, IN
Sorry to hijack the thread, but good thing this came up. I am moving to MO from CA in the middle of April. We just bought an 06 Miley 2H SL. We are thinking of leaving the middle open so our horse can just use the trailer as a box stall. He is new to trailering, only been in one two times, so we do not want him to freak out. I think though, for the first few hundred miles after leaving on the trip I will keep him pinned in, then after our first stop, maybe open it up. That way he can get used to the trailer while pinned in for his safety, then if all goes well, he can use the whole trailer. Also the trailer does not have a butt chain or anything.
I have been driving the trailer around town, empty, as I have never driven a horse trailer before, so I can get used to it and practice the slow stops, turning, and accelerating. We have also just loading our horse a few times over and over so he can get used to going inside, last time we did it, he got wise and just stayed inside of it, with the back open and no lead rope, which was fine by us, it showed he was not scared to be in it, he stayed in there for about 45 min, until I took a grain bucket out and placed it on the ground.
One question I have is that he does not like to back out, he freaks out when his back leg just drops, not major but it does scare him. We found that just letting him turn around and walk out is the easiest way. The trailer does not have a ramp so even then he has to jump down, but after about 4 or 5 times he realized he can jump down easy and gently. It it a good idea to just keep him going out head first? If anyone cares, it is a 3 year old Arabian gelding.
Posted 2007-03-24 9:04 AM (#57669 - in reply to #57511) Subject: RE: hauling 1 horse in a 2 horse slant
Expert
Posts: 1723 Location: michigan
I haul one horse quite a bit in my 3H slant. I put stuff in the front stall and haul the horse either in the middle or last stall. Either way, I like to shut the dividers so they don't clang around. I would suggest NOT letting a horse roam loose in a trailer- first off, if you do stop or accelerate quickly to avoid something, you don't want the horse falling or slamming around back there. It makes the whole trip very unsteady with a 1000lb animal on the loose, you will feel the horse moving. Secondly, your horse will become use to the idea of backing out if you take your time and allow your horse to get used to stepping down. There might be a time that backing out is your only option and you'll want the horse to able able to do what its asked to. I have arabians- I insist they be able to back out and they do.This isn't a breed issue its a respect your authority issue.
Posted 2007-03-24 8:44 PM (#57716 - in reply to #57511) Subject: RE: hauling 1 horse in a 2 horse slant
Extreme Veteran
Posts: 385 Location: high desert, CA.
Farmbabe;
I fully agree with everything you said. My arabs are also not allowed to move about loose, nor to turn and jump out of the trailer. I did have to put shipping and bell boots on, as my goofy one will skin her legs up getting out too close to the rubber bumper.
Posted 2007-03-26 1:23 PM (#57799 - in reply to #57511) Subject: RE: hauling 1 horse in a 2 horse slant
Regular
Posts: 62 Location: Western Wisconsin
I would suggest that you teach your horse to back out of the trailer. It may take time and lots of patience but in the long run you'll be glad. There may be a situation down the road someday where he has no choice but to have to back out. I recently spent a week's worth of evenings teaching a young POA I recently bought to back out. She too freaked out about dropping her hind legs off the edge of the trailer. Now she does a great job & it is a much more controlled and safe situation when it comes to unloading time.
Posted 2007-03-26 4:48 PM (#57826 - in reply to #57511) Subject: RE: hauling 1 horse in a 2 horse slant
Member
Posts: 44 Location: Montana
I teach all my horses to back out. I also say the word "Step" just before they have to step of the end of the trailer. They all know what that means and they are very relaxed. If someone else unloads them and doesn’t say the word they get very upset so I tell everyone what to say and we don't have any problems. It takes about a week of lessons to teach them the word but they never forget.
Posted 2007-03-26 5:19 PM (#57827 - in reply to #57511) Subject: RE: hauling 1 horse in a 2 horse slant
Expert
Posts: 1723 Location: michigan
My friend recently asked me to come to her house and help her with a schooling session for her gelding. He wasn't the best loaded/unloader in the world so I agreed to help.She was convinced the gelding would not back out- he is a big horse,had a bad experience and now she would turn him around. I told her we could get him to back if we went slowly. So we did- the problem wasn't the horse but her- the "bad experience" had her spooked more than the horse. We got him backing out in no time.I know from my own experience with horses, we are the ones getting in the way of a horse learning to get past.
Posted 2007-03-26 5:20 PM (#57828 - in reply to #57827) Subject: RE: hauling 1 horse in a 2 horse slant
Expert
Posts: 1723 Location: michigan
Originally written by farmbabe on 2007-03-26 5:19 PM
My friend recently asked me to come to her house and help her with a schooling session for her gelding. He wasn't the best loaded/unloader in the world so I agreed to help.She was convinced the gelding would not back out- he is a big horse,had a bad experience and now she would turn him around. I told her we could get him to back if we went slowly. So we did- the problem wasn't the horse but her- the "bad experience" had her spooked more than the horse. We got him backing out in no time.I know from my own experience with horses, we are the ones getting in the way of a horse learning to get past it.
Posted 2007-08-30 3:50 PM (#66860 - in reply to #57669) Subject: RE: hauling 1 horse in a 2 horse slant
Member
Posts: 7
I like the idea of hauling the one horse in the middle stall, seems to balance the weight over the axle. Question about training to load...How long do I have them stand still in the trailer before I close the divider. Both horse are loading well, but they want to back right back out again.
hauling 1 horse in a 2 horse slant
