Mother said I should post this again. I guess lots of horses travel in the summer.
Trailering Tips
It occurred to me that humans may not really understand what goes on in
the moving stall (trailer) behind them. While they are merrily singing
and laughing and eating and drinking, things are happening in the back.
So for anyone potentially riding in the back, here are some tips and
knowledge I have learned through the years.
1. If you ride crammed in with others, you don't have to work nearly as
hard to keep your balance. If you are by yourself, you want to keep at
least one side or your butt up against the wall to brace yourself.
Bracing yourself with your head and neck is not recommended.
1a. Some trailers have you stand with a squishy bar against your chest
area, as well as in the back, and you can brace against those if you
need to. These trailers allow the humans to pass under the chest bar and
go out through the "escape door". There is often some sort of hay bag
that hangs off the front wall and stretches to the chest bar.
1b. Escape door is for human use only.
2. Don't fluff the hay with your feet. Humans may give you a wall hay
bag instead of the walk-through-area-hanging-manger-y bag if you persist
in trying to fluff the hay with your feet... sigh. So it's not
perfectly poofed the way you like it, but you
know you can't
reach up that high to fluff it. Mother shakes it out when she puts it in
the wall bag, actually the manger-y bag too, but it isn't the same...
hhhrmph.
3. If you do fluff the hay with your feet, and end up sideways in the
hay area of the walk-through with the hay bags at your feet and the head
divider displaced from it's normal location to behind your butt against
the escape door, just know you can't really eat the hay anymore. And
you'll get a crick in your neck from craning it into the passenger-side
horse area since you are longer than the space is. And you may require
stitches. In multiple locations.
4. Water that drips down on you through the back door is just rain. It isn't acid and there is no reason to overreact.
5. When you load, the human doing the loading will usually give you a
treat once you are safely aboard. Oh, and it is best if you know at
least one member of the loading team. Otherwise, you may in fact find
yourself the victim of theft. From what I hear, that doesn't end well.
6. Display caution when loading into a step up stock trailer, especially
if it has straw on the floor. If you commit and leap with too much
enthusiasm, you may slide forward on the straw and crash into the front
wall or cut gate. Fortunately, Mother has this really nice chiropractor
that comes to visit me.
7. If turning around is an option for unloading, it is preferable to do
that so you may see how far down you may have to jump. I forget while I
am on the trailer if it was a ramp or a step up or the
giant step
up (which really should have a lift gate, you know?). If you turn
around, this problem can be avoided. If you must back off, display
caution, and make sure the footing is safe before proceeding. Do not
rush out backwards.
8. If you have the option, ride backwards. You can watch Mother in her
car behind you that way. Oh, and it is easier to balance. And you're
already facing out when it is time to unload.
9. You may stop every few hours at the truck feeding smelly place. This
is a great time to take care of bodily functions that are more difficult
to perform while in transit. This is also a good time to fill up on
hay. You can judge how long a trip it will be by whether the humans
offer you water or not. Water means you may still be in there for hours
(or days...) and you should drink it if offered. Trips that require only
one truck feeding usually won't have water offered.
10. If you like people watching, truck feeding stops are the place for
you. Small female humans in particular seem to be attracted to the
trailer, and they can be fun to watch as they hop up and down and try to
peer in.
11. Always stay prepared. You never know when you may experience a
sideways shift (humans call these "lane changes"), although you may hear
a faint buzz/ticking from the side that you will be shifting to right
before the shift happens. These usually happen smoothly but may arise
suddenly without warning. This is possibly accompanied by a sudden
acceleration or deceleration that may be unpleasant. If the humans have
open windows, you may hear further unpleasantness.
11a. Just because you are going slow doesn't mean you are safe.
Sometimes that just means you are going to go over a small mountain that
makes the whole trailer jump. Humans call these speed bumps. I dislike
speed bumps.
12. Don't ride while under the influence (in your
Happy Place).
Just say no. Well, actually, I say yes, but that's because I've found
if they load you up while you are still Happy, they usually will stop
before very long and get out and go feed themselves. So you sit there
and eventually wake up a little bit more, and then you are fully awake
awake, and then you start to realize that you are really, really hungry
but there is no food because you were in your Happy Place, and by the
time the humans come back you just want to get going. Come on! Let's get
home for
my dinner!
Umm, I think that covers the main points. Any questions?
