Travel with your horse

Do you travel with your horse?

• Make sure when traveling any distance or length of time to give your horse a 30-minute break every 2 or 3 hours. This does not require that the horse be taken out of the horse trailer. Just standing still and not traveling is considered rest.
• One important aspect of traveling with horses is keeping your animals hydrated. Horses can be reluctant to drink when traveling, which can affect how much time to travel each day. Each break, you should offer your horse a drink of water, even if you are repeatedly unsuccessful. Carrots are an example of a good source of liquid on the road.
• It is strongly recommended that horses should not be unloaded from the horse trailer until you are in a safe, enclosed environment, such as your horse hotel for the night. It is generally unsafe to unload horses at strange locations or roadside stops, since horses are easily spooked.
• Do not tie your horse’s head on a short rein that keeps his head high. Allow your horse enough movement so that he can lower his head to clear his airways by coughing and snorting.