Im going to look at a horse this friday and hes 6 hours away ... if we like him were bringing him home ... were bringing my vet my trainer and my trailer. Should I wrap his legs with standing wraps or not?? Here's a pic of what he will look like ... http://www.200.com/images/Horse_blanket_6_THMblanket.jpg
sorry its blurry but anyways hes going 6 hours probably more like 7 with the trailer but he will have a blanket cause its cold in MI on the way to WI. Should we stop for breaks?? I know we were bringing lots of hay and water is there anything else we should do? I don't plan on unloading him since it would be very unsafe. Were also bringing 2 extra halter and lead ropes just in case. But is there anything else I need to bring??
I agree with the others, only wrap his legs if you know what you are doing and are good at it, perhaps your trainer could do it? However, you also want to be sure that the horse is used to wraps. Some horses get angry about having the wraps on their legs and will kick to try to get them off of their back feet and paw with their front feet. This can cause the horse to damage his legs far more than riding without the wraps would.
pets question and answers,www.5d2d.com You should stop every few hours and offer him some water, but do not be alarmed if he does not drink. Many horses will not drink on the trailer, especially on a relatively short trailer ride. I would give him a few flakes of hay for the trailer ride, but would not let him have as much as he wants, especially if this is your hay and not hay he is accustomed too. You don't want him to over eat on strange hay and colic.
Absolutely do not unload him until you get him to the new barn. You may have trouble getting him back on the trailer, and the side of the highway or a rest area is no place to be fighting with a horse. This is just an accident waiting to happen.
Good luck!
Bring the standing wraps and wrap his legs ONLY if you know how to correctly wrap their legs. We always try to stop every 1.5-3 hours to check on the horses. Make sure you check that he isn't getting too hot with the blanket. Good luck with your trip!! Oh, we also always bring a first aid kit (horse and human) just in case.
I would wrap him for that long ride. You can stop for breaks , give him hay and water but whatever you do DON'T let the horse get off the trailer because you might not be able to get him on, if you take him off he will think hes done, and you've seen those incidents of lose horses on the highway right? I know I have. Bring an extra halter incase he snaps his. Goodluck!
You should absolutely wrap his legs. Every single time my horse gets on a trailer, he has shipping wraps on. This horse is not even yours - do you want to risk a potentially fatal accident with someone ELSE'S horse?
pets question and answers,www.5d2d.com You had better learn how to wrap legs PDQ because the vet isn't going to be there every single time to save your behind.
Only wrap if you are good at it! If you wrap too tight you'll cause damage, and if you wrap loosely he will get tangled up on that long trailer ride. I would stop for a couple of short breaks to give him water and top up his hay net. Otherwise, he should be fine.
Id use the standing wraps just to be on the safe side, i think oyu have pretty much everything else covered. I would stop for breaks if i were you. Just so you can check on him
Provided he's had boots or wraps on before then I would always travel with leg protection. If he's never had that sort of thing on before then maybe ask his current owners to practise with him.
I would normally stop at least every two hours for 10 - 15 minutes at a time to give the horse a rest. Definitely don't unload until you get home as you may not get him back in. Every time you stop offer some water but don't be overly concerned if he doesn't want to drink. With hay don't tie him and the hay in such a way that it's above him as they can develop problems from breathing in the dust from hay when being transported - just make sure you tie it slightly below the level of his muzzle. Personally when I've travelled that distance I've made sure I have a mild sedative (I use a paste called Sedaline which is given like a wormer and just helps calm them down ) so that if the horse gets upset you can calm them down. Make sure his rug is a wicking one so if he sweats up it moves away from his skin - if it's cold I'd use either a wool or two fleece rugs rather than a stable rug.
pets question and answers,www.5d2d.com Otherwise it sounds like you're well planned. Good luck.
If you are going to wrap, use shipping wraps that go down under the bulb of the heel. ONLY wrap if the horse has been wrapped before (sometimes they react very strongly to having their legs wrapped and you don't want to test this out on a six hour trailer drive). As the above poster said, a bad wrap is 100x worse than no wrap at all. It sounds like you are very prepared otherwise . I would stop every two hours to check on him. I wouldn't even undo the ramp; just go in through the side. Make sure he is tied with a release knot in case of an emergency and a break away halter is a must . Drive slowly, especially around turns, and if this is a two horse trailer make sure the horse is on the left side. Good luck!! He is a pretty horse.:)
