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Re: [RC] hauling horses long distance to unload or not to unload - heidi

But, if you
are going more than one  day, and it's hot, you would not believe how
much better a horse takes care of  himself just by un-loading for
fifteen minutes every six hours.
I would never have dreamed of being able to complete a 100 mile ride
without  having un-loaded during out trip to CA. Our horses did not
drink that great on  the trailer, but low and behold, if we took them
off and let them graze for a  few minutes they would drag us to the
buckets to drink before re-loading!


Becky, you just stated WHY your horses needed to be unloaded, where others
do not.  Ours drink VERY well in the trailer, and like Judie's, they rest
easily in the trailer.  We keep water buckets in the trailer with our
"regulars", particularly in hot weather, and if we let them get down at
all, the horses really suck up the water when we add more.  Even in the
old days when I hauled in an old Miley 2-horse, I would offer water in a
bucket every time we stopped--and the horses would always drink at least
SOME and frequently drink quite well.  If your horses do NOT do this, then
yes, that is one warning sign that you might need to unload.  As Jim said,
though, horses ARE creatures of routine and habit.  If their routine is to
drink outside of the trailer, why should they ever learn to drink IN the
trailer?  But once they LEARN to drink in the trailer, they will continue
to do so, in my experience.

I used to get frustrated at horses that would NOT drink in the trailer on
long trips.  I got a tip from a long-time trainer who hauled a lot.  This
certainly isn't something that one would want to try on the way to a ride,
but is only something one does when the trip itself is the "main event." 
But it also convinced me that it is something that every potential
endurance horse should undergo long before they are EVER asked to trailer
to a ride.  At any rate, she told me that if you continually offer water
early in the trip with horses who are not used to being hauled, they will
continually refuse it.  However, if you let them get REALLY thirsty (12
hours or so) and THEN offer the water, they WILL drink it in the trailer. 
And once that has happened, they will not let themselves get that thirsty
again.

So now, if I am hauling youngsters, I DON'T offer water until later in the
trip.  And she was right--all of the ones who learned to drink that way
that I've subsequently ridden and hauled to rides are good to excellent
drinkers in the trailer.  So I chalk that up to just one more integral
part of the "prospect's" education on the road to becoming an endurance
horse.

Heidi



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Replies
Re: [RC] hauling horses long distance to unload or not to unload, Cowgirgoof