The Center for Equine Health at UC Davis recently conducted studies on transported horses. The following tips are among their recommendations:
• Avoid shipping sick horses unless it’s an emergency.
• During long trips (six to eight hours) avoid restricting the horse’s head and neck with cross-tying—a small box stall is best.
• On short trips, dietary adjustments are not necessary; provide feed and water on your horse’s regular schedule. If you feed hay on trips, make sure it’s quality with minimal dust or mold, and on long trips, provide water every six to eight hours.
• Temperatures in trailers can get humid and hot, so unload upon arrival or during stops.
• Watch your horse for depression, lack of appetite, nasal discharge, or coughing after transport, which may be symptoms of shipping fever; symptoms may not emerge until two-three days after transport.
For more information or to view the complete report, visit www.vetmed.ucdavi.
Also Read: Security Tips for Horse Hauling Trips
Abigail Boatwright is a freelance writer and photographer based in Texas, and is the editor of Horse Illustrated’s sister publication, Western Life Today.
good information.
This is pretty good info. Thank you UC Davis!
Good tips!
thanks for the tips they'll keep horses safer during show season:)
Things have gone quiet now in Toronto at the Canadian National Exhibition grounds on the…
Depending on whether you and your horses live in Maine, Kentucky, Montana, or California, winter…
There’s only one place in North America where you can experience top international horse show…
When you think of the term “companion horse,” one that is versatile with the ability…
Horse owners who live in the United States, are 18 years of age and older, and currently own or manage…
Is your horse cold in the winter? The following excerpt from Keeping Horses Outdoors by Iveta Jebáčková-Lažanská helps answer that question…
Welcome to Horse Illustrated’s weekly installment of the Right Horse Adoptable Horse of the Week, offered in partnership with the…
These four common horse training mistakes are easier to catch and correct when you’re aware of them. As a clinician,…
If you appreciate sport horses of many different breeding backgrounds, types and colors, the American Warmblood will unite you with…
LENNOX, S.D. — Every great innovation begins with a moment of clarity, and for ZahnTech's founder, Avery Zahn, it came…