Today I have bought my first ever trailer - a Rice Beaufort, I was just wondering if anyone had any tips on travelling, loading etc or anything that I should know or they have found useful.
Off top of my head and in no order- take bucket of feed and lungelines until you know your pony will load reliably. Use bailer twine to tie them up with, dont tie direct to fixings. Tie pony shortish so it is comfortable but cant try and look too far backwards / nip a companion. On arrival, keep pony in the trailer and shut in until you have paid for entries - until you get to know them and trust them to wait quietly. Ditto about tieing outside the trailer. Its always safer to leave them tied and shut inside the trailer than tied to it. Consider travelling tacked up if not far to go and you suspect pony might be too excited to easily tack up on arrival. If travelling with a haynet ensure it is tied high and that it wont slip to a place that the pony will catch a hoof in. Some people never travel with a haynet for this reason. If travelling 2, make sure your car is up to the load. Make sure the partitian is solid and properly fixed. At all times make sure the flooring is fixed (if rubber mats) and not slipping. If wooden floor check its not rotten and hasnt been replaced with inferior wood. Check your indicators and brake lights before loading. Check tyre pressures each time you use if trailer is standing alot. Check you have tools to swap to spare wheel if you have a puncture. Check you have roadside recovery - particularly if youre going on motorway. Always carry penknife and small med kit for you and horse when away from yard. Keep mobile phone batt charged. Take a coat and a rug for pony in case you get stranded. Take water and bucket in car. Take drinks / snack bar for yourself. Always use tail bandage on pony. If using travel boots makesure they fit ok and that they are not going to slip down pony's feet during the journey. Never leave trailer unattended at motorway services or it can get stolen / items stolen from it. Be prepared to lock trailer at show / funride to prevent theft. The list goes on...I'm sure you will get the hang of it! Just take it slow and carefully at first and try a local venue or practise arena until you're happy to go farther afield. Good luck.
Hey there,
Just to add to the comprehensive list of the previous poster. If travelling with only 1 horse make sure horse is travelled on the right hand side of the trailer. This is to keep trailer balanced against the camber of the road. It was somnething alot of people are unaware of.
oooo also check with your breakdown insurance as to if you are covered for breakdown with a loaded trailer, i have heard that sometimes this can be contentious and in fact that reminds me I need to check my policy with RAC...good memory jog!! lol
