travelling not so well handled foals

[romananddiva]

I am transporting the two babies within the next week, they have both had headcollars on but are not truely halter broken. I have a 3.5 t Ford Transit horsebox, but I have not travelled foals in it before (neither have they travelled!) I was thinking loose would be best, in which case I ought to take the partition out, and block in the front breast bar so they can't hurt themselves on it.

The question is , how do I unload them the other end when they are loose in the back? Help!

[kristine]

I handle wild foals all the time... I mean REALLY wild, off western ranges, i.e. mustangs!

You are on the right track. No matter what you do, its going to be traumatic, but you can do it. Hauling them loose, together is the best idea. They have freinds to have physical contact with. No partitions, the less stuff in there, the better. Maybe a little hay will help them.

If it were me, I would put a halter on them in the box when I got to my destination with a LONG rope on it. Like 20 feet, cotton preferred. Then when you get where you're going, you have a little something to hang on to. I wouldn't do this untill I got to the destination. Try to unload them in an enclosed area, paddock, whatever... even better, pull right up to the stall or enclosure they are going to be in and unload them directly into it. If thats not possible try to direct/herd them - hanging on to the leadrope - where they need to go. An older, well-trained quiet horse in hand can help to at your destination. It's going to be a big wreck... it always is, but its fun. Get your hands on them and man-handle them if need be... sometimes thats alot more humane then pulling them around by the head. Good luck! ... it will work out!

[SarahW]

If these ponies have already got headcollars on then I would leave them on to travel as you don't want to be restraining them in a horse box to force a headcollar on at the end of the journey. If they lead well then you can lead them off at the other end but make sure there is a safe funnelling system into where you want them to go just in case they go 'into-pressure' and decide to leave. If they don't have headcollars on then you need the same sort of funnelling system when you get them back to where you want them to be so that they can be simply let out of the horse-box.

Having worked with unhandled and manhandled foals now, I find that foals that have been manhandled (rather than just gently driven which I think is what Sally is suggesting) are at least ten times more difficult to train in the end. If you behave like a predator they have no choice but to behave like prey and their lasting memory is of you behaving like a predator.

I don't know how your foals have been halter 'broken' but I would change the emphasis to establishing nice touch as soon as you possibly can. Too many halter breaking methods concentrate on getting the halter on at all costs without asking the foal to accept human touch first.

[kristine]

Yeah, thats what I was getting at, Sarah. ;D One thing that will pay HUGE dividends in the long run is to allow yourself heaps of time for this operation, too. Sometimes its amazing how horses - even foals - will "fill in" for what your asking if you just give them some time to think about it. Sit, wait, assume a non-threatening position, give rubs/pets in abundance if they let you. It will pay off.

[moomoo]

loose and with lots of straw.

[SarahW]

Lol! I think she is fine with the travelling - she's asking how to go about unloading and settling in at the other end. I'd be very wary of straw in a horsebox as it can be very slippery. Sometimes it's better to just go with the rubber flooring....

[romananddiva]

they have both had headcollars on happily, and been handled loose in the field quite well, but they don't lead well, and aren't happy having headcollars taken on and off willy nilly, so I was thinking to put headcollars on them to get them in the box and them leaving them on for the journey, to take off once settled in the field, and the box is rubber matted.

Unfortunately it's all happened a bit quickly as we were suddenly told we were paying livery at the stud that they have came from (it was unexpected) and that we already owed them a month, so my careful planning to make the travelling easier is unable to materialise. I was going to take my lorry up to the stud and do some work with them.

I can't get the lorry right up the the field gate but I can get it into the first field so that if they go anywhere, they are only in another secure field, there is a natural funnel on one side as there is an old crop of corn that hasn't been harvested, it's about 6ft tall and I can block off the rest of the pathway (past the field gate) with some fence panels.

Sarah should know what I mean as she came out to see my Diva (who has now found a new home).

[specialsparkle3]

Please do not travel them on a rubber floor with no bedding, it will be lethal once it gets wet If you can't use thick straw, and I mean thick, use a good layer of shavings.

On the unloading issue does your ramp have gates? and can you enter the back through a door apart from the ramp? If so, you need 2 people in the back, each holding a foal ( leave their headcollars on, and another person to let down the ramp. If the ramp doesn't have gates, ideally, you need yet another person so you have one on each side of the ramp for guidance.

[peppertop]

As SS3 says definately put bedding down on rubber mats. Lorry floors can get quite dangerous when they get wet...Shod horses may be alright but little foalie barefeet are most definately not

[romananddiva]

I put shavings down anyway when my boy goes for a pee it must fill around 30 pint glasses so I always put something down otherwise we would have a swimming pool when we opened the back ramp! Fingers crossed everything goes smoothly