Horsey question from someone who knows nothing

[BlackAmericanoNoSugar]

I was sitting in traffic behind a horse box the other day and I was wondering how did people first find out that horses can balance themselves in a moving vehicle? Humans need to hold on to something and even then tend to topple if the bus/tube brakes suddenly. Horses can even fly (in planes, not with their own wings obviously), and that can be quite challenging at take off and landing.

Also, do they need to get used to it from a young age so that they don't freak out? Are there some horses who will never willingly get in a horse box, and how would you work around that? Do they need sedation?

I have had friends with horses who don’t want to load ins trailer so they left the trailer in the paddock with a haynet or other food in it so the horses could learn about it for themselves. One horse still refuses to be led in, so my friend has to meet him in there then get him ready for the journey!

They've got four legs, so it's easier for them than for us. When you're driving a horsebox though, you need to be aware of the horse and try to avoid sudden stops, or fast swerves. Some don't like travelling in a box or trailer, and some don't like going onto one. These two things are not necessarily connected... Sometimes they're scared of going on and sometimes just stubborn... I've never known anyone sedate a horse to get them into a horsebox - you use other techniques, carrot or stick or both. Having multiple people helps, as they are more likely to go forward with someone behind them as well as someone leading. It can also help if there is a companion pony in the box. People who have horses that don't like loading end up doing lots of practice so that when it's important they can get them on board.

I helped a friend get her horse in a trailer a while ago for a weekend away. From memory it took us about 3 hours!

Some horses hate it and don't like travelling in a trailer and will only travel well in a lorry.

Mine love it and load themselves

Firstly, horses are inherently more stable animals than humans because they have four legs, with one at each corner rather than just two. A bit like the difference between a car & a bicycle. That’s why they can sleep standing up & we can’t.

Secondly, horse trailers are fitted with strong padded bars which run in front of & behind the horse, and alongside it. The horse can, and does use these bars to brace itself when the vehicle accelerates, brakes & turns. It has some room to move, and shift its weight around, but not enough to turn round. Its legs are bandaged to protect them. Teaching a horse to travel in a trailer is an important part of its education, and needs to be done carefully & with patience to establish trust. If done properly, the horse will load quite happily, start stuffing its face with hay then settle down for a nice snooze for the rest of the journey. That’s what ours did, anyway.

We have two horses and a 3.5t lorry. One loads really well, but doesn't travel as well, whereas the other travels like an absolute champ and you won't hear a beep out of her even when we sometimes travel to competitions at the other end of the country, but she's an absolute nightmare to load 🤯

It's interesting that they're all different.

It must have been a strange time when the change was made from all vehicles being pulled by horses to horses being loaded into vehicles. It was probably at least a couple of decades between the last of the horse drawn vehicles and first of the livestock carriers, but definitely within the lifetime of a lot of people.

My daughter’s eventer loves going out and about and will try and load herself if there’s ever a lorry ramp left down. She obviously made the connection early on that going onto a lorry/trailer = going off to do something fun. She prefers travelling in the lorry as it has air suspension but she’s perfectly willing to go in a trailer too. It’s amazing that any horse ever willingly walks onto a box and then stays calm and relaxed while being surrounded by traffic but the majority of them do, thankfully!

My horse used to love going on a lorry. Then one day he said, "No thank you!" and each time after that I had a lot of trouble. There had been no traumatic incidents or anything - perhaps he'd worked out that going on a lorry meant some work at the other end... though he'd be a pain coming home as well, which was weird.

After a while of this, I got a professional out to help with my loading technique, and he looked at what was going on and said, "He's not scared, is he? Just doesn't want to!"