Loading and unloading your horse

How your horse loads tells you a lot about whether it's ready to travel. A horse that walks calmly up the ramp, stands quietly and walks calmly off again is safer for everyone, on the road and on the yard.

Practise first

World Horse Welfare's advice is to practise loading well before any journey, so your horse gets used to ramps, confined spaces and the vehicle itself. Keep practising loading, unloading and standing calmly regularly, even when you aren't planning to go anywhere.

Signs that a horse isn't ready to travel include:

• refusing to load
• needing force, such as ropes or pressure
• rushing or panicking

Even a horse that seems to load easily may not be ready, so keep watching its behaviour during the journey too.

World Horse Welfare recommends training horses using ethical training principles, with everyone involved understanding how horses behave and learn. Many horses travel better with a calm, familiar companion, so where you can, bring another horse along, particularly in the early stages of training. If your horse has never travelled or is difficult to load, the BHS suggests calm practice loading and unloading, and a short first journey.

Some horses find loading very hard. The Horse Trust has published a webinar about retraining a mare that was highly aversive to loading, which took a step-by-step plan carried out over a long period. If your horse is tricky to load, anxious about travelling or rushes off the vehicle, World Horse Welfare says it needs more support and training before it travels. See how horses learn for the principles behind good training.

Get ready

Park in a safe, level place with room to move your horse around easily. A friend on the ground to help can make a big difference.

The BHS recommends that you wear:

• a riding hat with the chin strap fastened
• sturdy footwear
• gloves

And that your horse wears:

• a leather headcollar, because leather breaks under stress
• travel boots
• a tail bandage or guard
• a travel rug, depending on the weather

Before you bring the horse to the vehicle, the BHS suggests you:

• check the breast bars are secure and at the right height for your horse
• open the partition (from the rear, in a trailer) to give enough room to load
• unlock the jockey door, so you can get out after loading
• lower the ramp while standing to one side, never underneath it

If the trailer has a front ramp, opening it while you load can make the trailer more inviting, though every horse is different. Some horses prefer some absorbent bedding on the floor, which soaks up urine on the journey.

Loading

The BHS's steps:

1. Control: load with a bridle over the leather headcollar, and take the bridle off for the journey.
2. Position: in a trailer, put a single horse on the right-hand side. With two horses, put the heavier one on the right. This helps with balance on corners.
3. Walk on: line your horse up facing straight at the ramp, and walk it up the ramp.
4. Secure: fasten the breech bar or partition. A helper on the ground is useful here.
5. Tie up: use a quick-release knot, with the rope short enough that the horse can't get its head under the breast bar (in a trailer) or the partition (in a horsebox).
6. Close up: stand to the side, raise the ramp slowly, and secure all the fastenings.
7. Check round: before you set off, check all the doors and ramps are secure. Close the top front door of a trailer: the BHS doesn't recommend travelling with it hinged open, because objects can get in and injure your horse.

Always tie to a breakaway point

Modern baler twine can have a breaking strain of 500 kg or more. The BHS says to always tie your horse up to a breakaway point, so that if it pulls back, it won't injure itself. Use a breakaway device, or split baler twine into a thinner piece.

Unloading

1. On arrival, check your surroundings, then lower the ramp to the ground, standing to the side.
2. Untie your horse and put the bridle on before you undo the breast or breech bar or open the partition, so you're in control.
3. Don't let your horse rush down the ramp.

If you have to leave your horse on the vehicle for a short time, the BHS advises keeping the ramps closed, and leaving your contact details somewhere visible, such as the windscreen, in case of an emergency.

Looking after the vehicle

After each use, the BHS says to remove droppings, urine, soiled bedding and debris, and let the floor dry: this helps prevent rot and corrosion. Take care with water, which can get into side panels or weaken a wooden floor. If you wash it out, lift the rubber matting, sweep off standing water, and let everything dry in a well-ventilated place before putting the mats back and shutting the ramps.

Defra's guidance says a vehicle used for transporting horses must be cleaned before loading and, where necessary, disinfected.

If you notice any defects, have the vehicle professionally checked. For the full list of checks before you travel, see travelling your horse safely.