Trailering... Tie or not to tie?

[Shannonwbl]

I have a stock combo with slant dividers and I have found that if you don't tie some horses can get their heads over or under the divider to check out their neighbor - a recipe for disaster. If you are sure there is no danger in that, then leaving them untied is okay. Tied or not a horse/mule needs to be able to lower their head to cough etc. so make sure that if you use ties they are the right length for that horse - tall horse, longer tie.

 

[Ang]

I've always tied with enough slack for them to have some movement but not so much that they can get a leg tangled in the slack.

 

[CarriBrown]

I always tie and this is why:
I dated a guy in highschool and we were both on the Highschool Rodeo Team. We roped up in San Luis Obispo which is about a three hour drive with a horse trailer. We had to be up there at 8 in the morning, but one morning, he didn't show up (this was before cell phones).
His rig finally pulled up a couple of hours late. Turns out, his trailer door popped open on the freeway and his last loaded horse fell out the back! He never tied. Thankfully, the horse had a rope saddle on because it skidded down the freeway on it's back and ground the horn of the saddle all the way down to the fork. The cantle was also ground down.
The horse jumped up and stood there like, What the heck? And he was able to get it back in the trailer. The horse had no injuries, but you can bet your butt he always tied after that.

 

[Wolf-Kim]

Quote:
That's one lucky horse and one very lucky guy to be able to load that animal BACK into the trailer. LOL I am always nervous about the back door of the trailer opening, it's happened in nightmares of mine..

-Kim

 

[Wolf-Kim]

Since you have a stock trailer, make sure the mules cannot reach over to each other, or get their feet caught in anything. If they can safely be confined to their own seperate sections, then you could leave them untied. Just double check they can't get they head or feet caught in anything, and check that back door double.

If I were taking my horses on a 10 hour trip, I would consider stalling them in the trailer if they couldn't get themselves caught up in something. I would most likely, because I always fear the door coming open somehow, just leave them tied loose enough with a breakaway halter to stretch their necks and move around some.

-Kim

 

[CarriBrown]

I'll tell you what... If I were a horse that fell out of a trailer, I'd NEVER get back in.

 

[bluerose]

We don't tie my DWB mare because she will pull back if tied in the trailer... we do leave her lead on her and secure it loosely though.

The other three we tie- but they can move their heads around.

We have a very roomy 2h straight.

The issue you have with not tying is if they can get under the divider... I would not let them lie down if they could slide under the divider or get a leg under (ie, if it isn't solid all the way to the ground). A tired horse is better than one with a broken leg.

 

[CarriBrown]

Quote:
Or a horse with a broken back. I've seen that, too.
I've only done one long trip, and I stopped every few hours to let them out to walk around. Thankfully, mine love to be in the trailer and will always get back in.

 

[reallemons1]

Depends on the horse and the trailer. In an open stock trailer with one horse or they don't pick on each other don't tie. If it's a trailer that the horse or horses may put their heads under a bar or turn their head in an unsafe way or otherwise get into trouble tie. A horse not used to a trailer is better off in a stock trailer not tied. I just go on the situation and what seems safe at that time.

 

[Akane]

Depends on the horse. I've had a few and have one now that no matter how you tied them they could find someway to get looped around or twisted sideways. They just hated standing in the position needed to tie them and would end up in some odd position that stressed their neck or risked them loosing their balance. My current one also gets upset, feels trapped, and starts biting anything in reach. Left loose they turn the way they want and stand there riding fine the whole way. Others if you don't tie them will pace and get thrown around but stand calmly if tied.

I think it's better to put some extra effort into checking your doors than tying the horse. In my 3horse slant if the door came open the horse could fall out it even if it was tied. Most 4 horse straight load trailers I've seen the horse could still drop a foot off if the door is open. Imagine if the horse was tied and partially fell out of the trailer... He'd have been dragged and just as likely to get killed or scraped up.

Also better to just open the door carefully and teach your horse not to fly out the trailer until you tell it to. We had a mare just about kill herself because she was excited to get out of the trailer and tied. She started backing out of the 4horse, dropped both back feet off, hit the end of the little chunk of rope, whipped her head up into the ceiling, broke the snap, and fell over backward before anyone could grab the quick release. Even with bailing twine she still would have banged her head before it broke which by itself can be enough to kill a horse.