Hauling Hints

Long Road Trips

By Julie Goodnight With Heidi Melocco Photos by Heidi Melocco

On long road trips, you need to consider your horse, your trailer, and your goals once you arrive. Here are expert tips from top trainer/clinician Julie Goodnight.

Fall is a busy show and equestrian-adventure season, which can mean hours of traveling time for your horse. I’ve learned a lot of things to do (and not to do) over a lifetime of hauling horses. On long trips, you need to consider your horse, your trailer, and your goals once you arrive. Overall, you’ll feel more prepared when you make a plan that feels right for you. Here are five things to consider.

1. Observe Your Horse

First, observe how your horse travels in the trailer. If he’s nervous and tends to fidget and shake, he’ll use more energy, get himself hot, and need frequent breaks.

Some horses are anxious when you’re not moving, but they do okay once you’re in motion. Consider hauling with a riding friend. A horse will always travel better with a buddy, and you’ll have driving help.

I can tell when one of my horses is comfortable in the trailer, because he stands still. There are few hoofprints in the shavings when we travel long distances. When trailering a seasoned traveler, you can drive on a bit farther than with a nervous horse.

How your horse feels in the trailer may impact how you dress him up. If he’s new to trailering or you feel he may lose his balance, protect his legs with standing wraps. I like these wraps, because they stay in place during travel.

I might not wrap a horse if it’s a hot day or we’re going a short distance, and I’m fairly certain he’ll stand still and relax.

2. Prep Your Trailer

Next, prepare your trailer. The more comfortable it is, the longer you’ll be able to drive without taking a break.

If you have a slant-load with padded sides that your horse can lean against, he’ll be able to take a break from the stress of balancing. If you have an open stock-type trailer, he won’t have a chance to lean and may tire more quickly.

Think about how you’ll access your horse while on the road. Is it comfortable for him to eat in the trailer? If you can access your horse’s head from a window, you can give him water and feed on the road without offloading, shortening your breaks.

Add only a thin layer of shavings to absorb any urine and help prevent slips and falls. If you use too much, they’ll blow around and affect your horse’s air quality. Tie your horse with enough length in the rope that he can relax his head, but not so long that he can turn his head back behind him. He can catch a hoof in a too-long lead rope, which can lead to a serious injury. If you’ll be gaining altitude, your horse will need at least 48 hours to rest and acclimate, especially if you’re going on a mountain trail ride.

Here are a few more trailer-prep tips. • Invest in a trailer cam. I suggest that you invest in a wireless trailer camera that you can monitor from your truck’s cab. Then you can check in on your horse along the way to see how he’s doing. • Go light on shavings. Add only a thin layer of shavings to absorb any urine and help prevent slips and falls. If you use too much, they’ll blow around and affect your horse’s air quality. Shavings can also become slippery, so keep them at a minimum. • Check ventilation. Make sure your trailer has adequate ventilation to support your horse’s lung health and overall comfort.

Make sure the roof vents are open and that air can circulate inside the trailer without the windows being open all the way.

You want airflow, but you don’t want your horse to be able to stick his head out the window. • To tie or not to tie? There are advocates on both sides of this debate. I always tie my horse in the trailer, so I know where his head is. If I feel the trailer moving and feel him moving around, I know that there’s something wrong. I also like to know that I can get to my horse’s head to feed and water him, if needed. I want him to stay how I put him.

Of course, if you tie your horse, use only a halter designed to break away in an emergency. A rope or nylon halter likely won’t break if your horse pulls back, which can lead to injury or worse.

Tie your horse with enough length in the rope that he can relax his head, but not so long that he can turn his head back behind him. He can catch a hoof in a too-long lead rope, which can lead to a serious injury.

3. Plan Your Drive Time

Before you go, decide whether you’ll push to drive straight through or stop to rest and board along the route. From my place in Central Colorado, I have to trailer three hours just to get out of the mountains. My horses and I are used to a moderately long trailer ride.

Plan ahead for a long trip. Schedule rest stops, water breaks, and feeding times. Keep in mind that you’ll need to stop more often if your horse is nervous. Decide how many days you’ll be on the road, and arrange overnight stabling in advance.

Consider what you’ll ask of your horse when you arrive at your destination. Will you be arriving the night before a performance class or grueling trail ride, requiring him to work hard as soon as he arrives? If so, build in some downtime. Don’t push through and drive all at once, then ask your horse to immediately carry you over jumps or up a mountain.

Note that if you’ll be gaining altitude, your horse will need at least 48 hours to rest and acclimate, especially if you’ll be going on a mountain trail ride.

On the road, keep your horse in the trailer. During breaks along the route, park in a safe place, open the window, check on him, then >>

sit down and rest for a half hour. You and your horse will both get a break from balancing while the trailer is in motion. When you stop for the day, offload your horse at your destination. Bring your own feed and water buckets to avoid contamination risk.

Optimally, I’d travel no more than eight hours per day. That allows me time to arrive early at the overnight accommodations I booked ahead of time. Only push through longer than this if your horse has time to rest when you arrive at your destination, he travels well, and your trailer is comfortable.

When I arrived, I’d make sure to take my horse on a nice leisurely walk to help his digestion and muscles. Horses aren’t made to stand still all day, so walking can help them relax.

With that plan, I’d stop every two hours, even if it’s only for 20 minutes. I’d open the windows and make sure the ventilation is okay. I’d feel his chest to see whether my horse is too hot or cold, then make any necessary changes.

4. Consider Feed and Water

If your trailer allows you to access your horse’s head, hang a haybag and water bucket when you stop to rest. If you can’t get to your horse’s head, you’ll be able to feed and water him only when you offload.

Hydration is vital to your horse’s health when you’re hauling a long distance. Bring a few five-gallon buckets with lids so your horse has some water from home that he’ll recognize and drink.

You’ll also need hay from home. Your horse’s digestive system is designed to have food moving through his system throughout the day. He’ll tend to be healthy and relaxed when he has access to feed.

However, make sure that there’s adequate room in the trailer for your horse and the haybag. If you stuff a full hay bag in a slant-load, there will be little room for your horse to move. He won’t be able to relax his neck.

Short-trip tip: When you haul shorter distances (less than three hours), make sure your horse has eaten well before you start. If he gets into the trailer with a full belly, he won’t be thinking about food for an hour or two. Give your horse hay and water as soon as you arrive. This also means he’ll have more room to move in the trailer without a space-limiting haybag.

Avoid offloading your horse onto concrete or asphalt, where he can easily slip. And only offload him if you know he’ll load up again easily.

5. Offload Safely

Offloading along your route may seem like a good break for your horse, but it’s tough to find a safe place to unload and load safely if you’re not traveling a familiar route.

Avoid offloading your horse onto concrete or asphalt, where he can easily slip. And only offload him if you know he’ll load up again easily. If there’s any question about your horse’s intent to get back onboard, wait until you reach the overnight-stabling facility to unload him. Don’t do a trailer-loading training session along a busy highway.

If you plan to offload your horse, make sure that you have as many people with you as you do horses, so you have enough help managing your traveling herd. If I’m by myself, I want to get there as fast as I can and make sure I don’t have any incidents along the way. USR

Julie Goodnight trains horses and coaches horse owners to be ready for any event, on the trail or in the performance arena. After producing the popular RFD-TV series, Horse Master with Julie Goodnight, for 11 years, Goodnight now shares the world of horses through 2Horse Productions, and through appearances at clinics and horse expos throughout the United States. She also hosts her monthly horse training podcast, Ride On with Julie Goodnight.