Why?
| | With conventional methods horses are forced into unnatural loading and standing positions. Extensive research has tested how horses react to current and alternative transport confi gurations, which now change our perspective on how best to load and transport a horse. |
What we need to understand
| | How horses willingly and easily enter into confi ned environments such as horse trailers. How horses in transit respond to transport motions such as cornering, accelerating and braking. A confined environment, such as a horse trailer, is where the sense of containment and security should support the horse – at his rear. A good trailer design should support the horse’s natural standing position and therefore allow effortless balance during travel. |
The logic of horse behaviour
| | The centre of gravity with any horse, mounted or not, is at the girth and trunk area. The relaxed standing horse carries the bulk of his weight on the front limbs. The standing position of a relaxed horse is with a forward lean and lowered head (at or below the withers). Any change in stance created by handling a horse’s leg, its load or change in transport motion will alter its natural state of stability. Conventional Travel - facing the direction of travel
It is widely documented that transport stress in horses is a serious issue. In conventional travel the horse struggles to maintain a natural forward-leaning stance, therefore he has difficulty balancing independently. In conventional travel, especially during acceleration and braking, the horse cannot maintain a natural forward lean. This forward lean is essential for the horse to keep his forequarters beneath him. As the float moves forward, the horse is subjected to the sensation of the ground moving under him from his back to his front. The horse instinctively tries to back away from this pressure. He may raise his head to protect his fragile facial bones from collision with the bulkhead. By raising his head, the horse’s weight is shifted to the hindquarters. With this shift in weight and an inability to balance, the horse is forced to spread his legs unnaturally. This is uncomfortable for the horse, especially at the hindquarters, and can lead to strain and in some cases injury to the pelvis and sacroilliac region. | | |
| | | | | | | As researched by the late David James Holmes – New Zealand horseman and automotive engineer the “automatic balance” of the horse is centred in the thorax which is completely incapacitated when weight is thrown to the horse’s rear. This mass between the withers and the diaphragm is slung between the horse’s two shoulder blades. Poised on either shoulder blade, this thorasic sling allows the thorax and ribs to move about between the shoulder blades. The thorax has lateral and slight lifting and downward movement. The sling, just like a rocking cradle, enables the horse to move forwards and sideways at the same time. This cradle action is essential if the horse is to keep his forequarters beneath him. | | | |
| | | Countless horse owners have successfully applied training methods to encourage their horses to load conventionally. Many achieve consistent success when loading, while many others continually find that their horse is unwilling to load. In some cases the risk of distress and injury for both horse and handler is ever-present. Success with loading methods does not, however, alleviate the problems many horses endure once loaded and required to travel. | | |
| Conventional travel methods can result in: | | Scrambling, falling, slipping, panicking, pulling backward, rearing, excessive sweating, dehydration, weight loss, hypertension, bruising to hips, limbs, pasterns, poll, withers, injury to head, throat, neck, chest on braking, bracing and postural rigidity, high head carriage forcing weight to hindquarters, weight not being maintained on tow vehicle’s rear wheels, trailer wheels or hitch ball causing snaking and loss of control for driver. And in some cases the stress and over-exertion that horses experience with conventional methods can result in severe physical and/or psychological injury to the horse and increased susceptibility to infectious disease. | | |
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