Summary: Unloading and loading horses into a trailer can be dangerous if the horse gets scared or tangled. Trailer a horse safely by keeping it calm and avoiding danger with tips from an equestrian coach in this free video on horse care.
Mara Keith-Hunter is a lifelong equestrian and head coach for the Hampshire College equestrian team. She rode in the Intercollegiate National Horse Show for both the University of...read more
"Trailering horses can be dangerous if it's not done well. Loading and unloading are the times when you're most likely to get into trouble. To begin with, make sure that both doors are open. You don't want them swinging shut on you as you try and load your horse. It's also important that you have someone to help you so that as you put the horse on the trailer, someone's here to quickly shut it behind you. What you don't want to do is load the horse and tie it and then come back around. If you tied it and then it tried to back out, it could really get in trouble. It could get half out and get tangled, it could be a real mess. Having a hay net in the front of the trailer is a good way to keep the horse happy and calm. It gives them something to do when you're on a trip. Also, having a tie that stretches can be a good safety unit just so that if the horse does get worried, it has a little flexibility. If your horse has shoes, it's a good idea to put bell boots on, as often in the clamour of getting on or off, they could easily clip themselves. It's also optional to wrap your horse either with standing wraps or with shipping wraps and that's a good way to protect your horse's legs. However, if you're going on an extremely long trip, these wraps or shipping wraps could end up actually being more of a problem than a help as they could end up slipping around and causing more trouble."
eHow Article: How to Trailer a Horse Safely