Horse Transportation
Managing Your Horse or Pony's Stress Level

He said she continually reared and was desperately trying to get out. He told us that he would be very wary of putting the pony with a child and as we had got her for our 11 year old daughter it made me feel quite worried (very worried and anxious actually). Our new pony had not been in a box for 10 months and of course she would have been stessed about leaving her field and companion etc so I am wondering if the drivers remarks were unfounded. She was very calm and friendly when we visited her and my daughter rode her when we first went to see her. Kelly

Thank you for your horse transportation question.

Congratulations on the new addition to your family - we hope your pony has settled in and is enjoying her new surroundings.

There are lots of positives that we have identified so we think it's important to focus on these as you are probably (and quite understandably) feeling a little bewildered by the stressful experience of transporting your pony.

Firstly, the pony was easy to load so that suggests that she has travelled previously or certainly has no reason not to go on the box - that in itself is an excellent start. Often, a horse or pony is reluctant to physically set foot on the ramp because it brings back prior bad experiences.

It is always a good idea to find out from the seller whether or not the horse or pony is good to load as this can give a good indication as to whether problems are likely to arise.

We recommend reading our tips for Questions to Ask the Seller Secondly, while some ponies travel quite willingly on a trailer they find it a vastly different experience on a lorry (and vice versa). For example, the direction and placing of a horse in a lorry is different to a trailer and horses that travel calmly when stalled sideways might find horse transportation a very strange experience to be stalled forward facing.

A horse might also travel much better with a companion.

However, whilst horse transportation is a regular part of the domesticated equine's routine, it pays to take a minute and imagine how strange an experience this actually is. Imagine for a moment how we would feel shut up in a box with no idea where we were going and moving at speeds of up to 50 miles per hour this is sufficient to induce feelings of panic in a human let alone a horse.

It therefore becomes easy to understand that a horse will become stressed in this environment.

An inconsiderate driver (however many horses they may say they have tranported) can also aggravate the situation by driving too close to overhanging trees that scrape the side of the vehicle and make the horse jumpy, braking sharply or not giving consideration for the fact that a horse has to rebalance himself with every change of gear or turn in the road.

We have known cases where a horse will travel quite willingly with someone they trust behind the wheel and refuse point blank to get on a trailer in which they have had a bad experience.

Taking The Stress Out Of Horse Transportation

From what you've said above, it sounds as though your pony has otherwise shown herself to be a friendly uncomplicated little lady with no obvious hang-ups. Spend time getting to know her for the next few weeks and if it is not absolutely necessary to travel her for the time being we would recommend that you avoid this and allow her to Adjust to her new surroundings and let her get to know you.

This is vital to gain her trust and will give you a big advantage in terms of tackling the problem successfully.

In the meantime, try and establish from the previous owner if there have been any instances where she has had the same reaction when travelling and which method of horse transportation she has previously been used to.

Based upon the response you obtain and after a few weeks have passed, we would suggest a couple of practical exercises to address horse transportation issues.

Feeding your pony a small bucket feed (or some treats in the bucket) on the trailer or nearby while it is parked up will show her that you are always close by and not taking her away from her normal surroundings. Heap lots of praise on her all the time she is on the trailer so she looks forward to the exercise as a positive experience. Always ensure an adult leads her on and off the trailer in a headcollar to prevent unnecessary injury to handler or pony.

Loading her up and driving carefully around the block (with a haynet for her to eat), gradually increasing the distance over a week or so, would be the next step to build her confidence.

Reward her as soon as you stop with a couple of treats while she is still on the trailer and maintain a calm disposition yourself even if you feel she is a little agitated.

The key is to keep the exercises sufficiently short that she does not have time to become agitated or sweated up. Even a few hundred yards travelled calmly initially will be a huge leap for her in terms of overcoming her fears. Please DO NOT under any circumstances travel in the box with her as this is a recipe for disaster and potential serious injury.

With plenty of patience and consistent handling she will most likely become accustomed to travelling again, providing you first obtain her trust and rebuild her confidence step by step.

We have lots of helpful information on the pages of our website for first time horse owners in addition to the guidance on horse transportation provided here, and hope that you find it useful with your lovely new pony. Let us know how you get on!

Thanks from the team at Total-Horse-Expert.com

Return from Horse Transportation to main Q&A index for lots more helpful horse information