Information on Horse Transport

At some point you will need to get your horse from point A to point B, whether you are going to a veterinary clinic or having to evacuate for a disaster. There are a variety of ways to transport, or ship, your horse based on your situation.

  1. Vehicles

    • Generally horses are transported in horse trailers attached to pick-up trucks or SUVs, or horse vans. Horse trailers can either be bumper-pull (attached to a hitch on the vehicle's rear axle) or gooseneck (attached to a hitch set into the bed of the truck). Commercial horse shippers may also use tractor-trailers that are designed for horse shipping, and it is possible to transport your horse across the ocean by airplane containers sectioned into stalls.

    Health Concerns

    • When you are preparing your horse for transport, whether you are trailering the horse yourself or having him professionally shipped, you need to check out what health papers and vaccinations your horse needs to cross state lines or go onto a new property. Every state has different requirements, so you need to prepare for every state you are traveling through.

    Protecting Your Horse

    • If you are providing the transport, be sure to lay down a couple of inches of bedding material in the trailer (wood shavings work best). The bedding can prevent your horse from slipping on the floor mats, and some horses refuse to urinate on hard surfaces.

      A horse's legs should be bandaged with shipping boots, or stable bandages and wraps. Some people also like to cover their horse's face with a fly mask to prevent debris from flying into the horse's eyes. Tie your horse so that he can put his head down enough to blow his nose, but not enough that he can get a leg over the rope.

    Care During the Trip

    • Keep windows open in the trailer to allow ventilation. Trailers and horse vans can become hot and stuffy very quickly. Stop every two hours and offer your horse water, especially if it's hot, and check his bandages and any blankets he is wearing. If he is getting hot under blankets, remove a layer or two (it's better for your horse to be a little cold than a little warm). Look for spots of urine in the bedding; some horses may not urinate in the trailer and may need to be unloaded every couple of stops to be given a chance to urinate.

    Overnight Shipping

    • Twelve hours is the maximum you should haul a horse in one day; after 12 hours you need to stop for 12 hours. Some horses can only stand eight hours of travel in a day. There are places where you can stop overnight that provide a stall or paddock for your horse to rest in, and you can find a listing in directories designed for this purpose.