OH BABY, BABY
A 40-year veteran jockey who took me under his wing early in my professional career often told me, “every time you touch a horse, you’re teaching them something.” That saying has stayed with me all these years, and I remember it every time I touch a horse. Years ago I had a commercial shipper bring a stallion, easy to transport, from Spokane Washington to New England and when they got to the Northeast, the horse had not been loaded. It took a year to get that horse comfortable with loading and unloading. The carrier may have been doing his job, but he doesn’t have a clue how to handle a stallion. Whatever the charger was doing, he was teaching the horse not to charge.
When handling a young horse, it’s even more important to understand that you can affect its perception for the rest of its life. Shipping foals and weanlings can be a tricky business. If done correctly, your young horse will become a good carrier. Years ago I had the opportunity to ship a mare with a foal by her side a distance of about 100 miles to be bred. Needless to say, the mare had to be transported a total of six times, three round trips.
The colt, named Rubén, took it all in stride. When we got her mom up we tied her up and let him loose on the trailer we had removed the panels/dividers on. He figured out how to travel pretty quickly.
His experience was good, and of course it helped that he was following Mom in the trailer. Since then I have had the opportunity to move Rubin many times. First, to his new home about 150 miles from where he grew up. And again other times, to new barns, and being trained like a three-year-old. Every time he jumped on the trailer and it wasn’t a big deal. This is the result of making him charge quietly and carefully when he was young. As guides, we must make the trailering of young horses a good experience.
Since I have raised between 150 and 200 foals, I have had to deal with many different situations. So, let’s start with some of the basics of transporting young horses. To transport a mare and foal, it is important to remove any and all partitions from the trailer. This gives the feeling of a stable and allows the mare to find the foal at all times. When you load them, tie the mare’s head and let the foal loose. The baby will quickly adapt to traveling in the trailer and the mare will have room to avoid stepping on the foal. When shipping weanlings and yearlings, I recommend that you don’t head tie them unless absolutely necessary. I once transported a yearling with a client and while in transit I looked in the mirror and the yearling had stuck her front leg out the side window. He had been bouncing up and down on the trailer and managed to get one leg over his tie. Nothing serious, but important to pay attention to. I also suggest that you do not hang netting hay bags. I have seen young horses, jumping up and down in the trailer and getting their feet caught in the bag. In general, transporting any of these young horses is fine for up to five hours. It is particularly important to pay attention to hydration, especially with foals.
Transporting a foal without its mother creates a whole different set of problems and should only be considered in extreme cases. I am always available to discuss your particular situation. just call.
Of course, as babies get older, transporting them becomes less of a problem.
Enjoy your new babies. And travel safely with your horse.
