Hauling a Mare and Foal

[hrfponies]

I have never hauled a mare and foal before and we have a Sundowner 4 hrse Gooseneck trailer. I am planning on taking my mare and foal to an inspection but I am nervous about the whole hauling thing! How do you haul them in this type of a trailer. I saw someone take out one of the dividers and make is a bigger area, but do you tie the mare or let her move about? I know I will need something to put under the divider so the little guy cannot go underneather.....has anyone made anything like that? I know sundowner sells them, but I am sure they are expensive!! Ideas and tips please!! :winkgrin:

[Jaegermonster]

I have a GN 2h Straight load, and when I hauled my mare and foal I took the divider out and just made it into a big box stall. that worked the best and once they got situated in there they were fine. That way the baby could nurse if it wanted and they could move around a bit.

[hrfponies]

Did you tie the mare??

[Foxtrot's]

An experienced TB farm here has to take the mares and the babies to the TB stallion all the time, and when they are teeny babies.
What they do is have a trailer with no dividers and both Mom and baby travel loose. I did that when I moved mine - very slowly and carefully - and everyone was fine. (No wrapping, either).

[Jaegermonster]

Nope I did not tie the mare. They both just wore leather halters, mostly just in case something happened on the road. I shut up the whole trailer (mine has a ramp with storm doors on the top). Usually I ride with them open, but with the baby in there I shut the whole thing up.


I took all the "guts" out of the trailer, tied a hay bag way high up for the mare, and put down some shavings so the baby wouldn't slip on poop or whatever. They did just fine.
It helped that the mare has been all over creation with me for years so she was a pro in the trailer. Calm mom makes a calm baby.

[Fairview Horse Center]

We always tie the mare. We remove the center divider, and cut a piece of heavy plywood to go across the chest bars - full width of the trailer, chest bar to floor. We drill holes and tie the plywood to the center post, and chest bars. Make sure you have top doors to close over the ramp to keep the foal from trying to jump out if scared.

[charger]

We have been hauling horses for years and we either remove all the panels and make a large box stall with both mare and foal loose, or, if hauling more than one, Sundowner makes a wonderful stud wall which we place in the middle of the trailer and make two large box stalls. When we do this we tie the mare and the foal can move around and they have always hauled beautifully.

[Laurierace]

We always tie the mare. We remove the center divider, and cut a piece of heavy plywood to go across the chest bars - full width of the trailer, chest bar to floor. We drill holes and tie the plywood to the center post, and chest bars. Make sure you have top doors to close over the ramp to keep the foal from trying to jump out if scared.

This is exactly what I do as well. Did it just yesterday in fact as we give this whole breeding thing one more shot before we call it a year.

[county]

I've hauled many mares and foals sometimes 100's of miles foals as young as a week old. I haul all my horses in stock trailers with the mare loose. That way the mare can touch the foal if she wants and worries less.

[ticofuzzy]

I haul mares and young foals all the time. When I had a 2 horse straight load, I had it set up exactly like Fairview. You have to do something so the foal can't get under the chest bars because I don't trust those side doors to hold a horse - they weren't designed for that. Before we came up with the plywood idea, we used to fill the front of the trailer with hay bales - up to the level of the chest bars. That worked well, but was a lot of work.
Now I have a Sundowner 3 horse slant, so we just take out all the partitions and make one big box stall. I always tie the mare because I am afraid they will squish their baby against the wall if they are twirling around at the same time I go over a bump or something. My mares know the drill and are fine with this setup, but if you had a nervous mother or one that was unreliable about tying then it might be easier to leave the mare loose.
My trailer has a floor to ceiling divider that I can use if I want to trailer another horse at the same time (which I am doing later - I have to pick up a mare & foal and another mare from the vets tonight). The single mare will get the first stall and the mare & foal will get the back two stalls.

[VirginiaBred]

We:

Always use a box stall.
Always leave the mare loose.
Stop every hour or so to let the foal nurse.

[Iron Horse Farm]

We have an Exiss that has 3 (8x8) box stalls. The mares always get tied, foals are always loose. I really don't like to feel all of that commotion behind me if the mare is loose. I tie them loose enough so that they can turn their head a bit and se the foal.

[clint]

I have a three horse Sooner stock trailer. All the dividers are out, the mare is tied loose, shavings down, and the foal can move around as she wishes. The foal wears a leather halter. That way has always worked well for us.

[Acertainsmile]

I also haul mares and foals...I use a box stall (my trailer has the screens to insert) and I leave the mare loose. I'm paranoid that the foal will rear up and get hung up in the tie...

I dont use a hay net either, just loose hay on the floor.

[RioTex]

I have a double slot in the front of the slant load where we tie the mare and leave the foal lose.

[KBEquine]

We used to transport horses for a living. Box stalls, cover anything sharp that might cause a cut. Mare & foal always loose - too many things can go wrong with a tied mare who panics because she's tied. No wraps, but very deep bedding. Travel slowly & smoothly & if it's a long trip, stop to let the mare drink water & the foal nurse & get their legs underneath them.

We are just getting ready to get rid of our horse transport trailer [Kingston aluminum 4-horse head-to-head]. What a safe trailer - we had 2 full-sized metal grates made for it so we could transport 3 mare/foals in box stalls. The other plus was if we were taking a stud or two, we could put them in standing stalls, put the gate in front & then box stall other horses & know the stud would think it was in a stall, which cut down on them trying anything funny. Great trailer - if we were still transporting for others, it'd never be for sale.

Using it as an example of a good, safe set-up. A 2-horse with the guts removed, as someone said - any sharp edges covered & totally enclosed, with something to bar the escape doors - would work well, too.

[Home Again Farm]

I have a trailer that makes up into three large boxes. I do not tie the mare. I bed the stall so that the foal can rest.

If I was hauling in a two horse straight load, I would do exactly what Fairview wrote.

[ahf]

I have a two horse GN. I can't remember the last time I had the divider in, it's just one big empty box. I have one broodmare that I can tie when she's with her foal, and one that you CANNOT tie when she has a foal in with her.

THe comment about the escape doors not being made for this is exactly right. And I found this out when the above mare was tied with a foal and pitched an unholy fit when the foal got behind her.

Got the door fixed, and had camlocks installed by the trailer repair guy on the trailer escape doors. Just like the ones at the back of the trailer that fasten the ramp. Ran about $350. Now the escape doors are safe, and I haul mares and foals loose all the time without a second thought.

[okggo]

I have a gn stock with two 8x8 box stalls. For mare/foal I leave the partition open and give mare/foal the whole trailer loose. I think it is safer if they can find their own balance and not have anything to get tangled in. Incidentally for some reason I've noticed the mares like to stare out the back window while the foals seem to like to lean on moms bum closer to the front of the trailer.

I also leave hay loose, again trying to remove any potential foal "traps"

[Fairview Horse Center]

The only problem I have had hauling a mom and foal was the time my back top "door" flew off and was destroyed on 95, on the way to Devon. :eek: :eek:

There I was with a 4 month old foal, and no way to keep him in the trailer. We just ended up tying him next to mom, like he was a regular horse, just with no partition. (He had never been tied before) He rode for 100 miles like a big boy, placed 4th in his class, and rode home almost 200 more miles the same way - no nursing. We did offer him water. I was very proud of my boy!

[pintopiaffe]

Darlyn, how scary! :eek:

I tie Mum, long enough to look around/touch, short enough not to get a foot (or bebe foot) over. Foal loose. Big box stock trailer.

[tisor]

thanks everyone, this is really helpful. but why no wraps?

[Fairview Horse Center]

There is nothing more dangerous about hauling than a loose and trailing leg wrap. With the baby loose, they will play with a leg wrap possibly get it loose.

[tisor]

so ..

no wraps
deep bedding
open box inside
closed to the outside
mare tied (maybe - depends on mare)
stop every hour to check and allow nursing

[Foxtrot's]

I had to take a 6-month old weanling down to WSU once - they do a twice-weekly shuttle over the mountains to a p/u point, and they said not to wrap. Too dangerous if it comes loose and slips down. Foal legs are pretty skinny to wrap, anyway. So I never have. Figured vet school would have had lots of experience and knowledge. I don't tie the mare - in case baby gets hung up. Just figure they can do almost anything to get in trouble. Mare knows how she wants to be and she and the foal sort it out and stay that way.

[siegi b.]

I have a 20 ft gooseneck stock trailer with a divider, so my mares and foals travel in 8 x 10 boxes and they're both loose for the trip. Haven't had a problem yet and it's very easy to load the horses.