hoofmove horse transport | loading and travelling

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Loading and travelling

Loading

Our ethos is to load using gentle techniques in a quiet and calm manner, without haste and without violence. Safety is our number one priority. Thirty minutes loading time is included in our quote, very rarely does it take longer to load. However, if it does, we will continue with calm persistence until the horse is loaded.

Skilled Loading

Our driver Michelle is schooled in Parelli Natural Horsemanship, IH & Monty Roberts techniques. The courses studied include Leading and Loading the Less Easy Horse, Handling the Untouched Horse and Handling the Young Foal. Michelle will however always defer to the owner and employ loading strategies which the owner recommends. She appreciates the owner knows her own horse best. Together these loading strategies result in a safe, timely and a calmly loaded horse. Our aim is to achieve a willing loader and have a 99.9% loading success rate.

Equipment

Travel boots can be useful; however it is essential that a horse is very familiar with wearing them prior to the day of transport. Repeated and regularly placing the boots on your horse weeks and days prior to travel will help reduce unnecessary stress that a hose unused to wearing the travelling gear will feel if his only experience with boots is minutes prior to the horsebox arriving to pick him up. Head collars, lead ropes, rugs, tail guards and travelling boots and poll guards are all carried on boards an can be used on request. Sports boots give good leg and fetlock protection and can be used for younger or more nervous horses unhappy with the bulky full travel boots.

Mare and foal

It can be useful to load the foal first as the mare will follow willingly. The very low ramp (350mm or 13¾") is advantageous when loading a youngster for the first time.

Prepare to load

Have your horse booted and ready for transport at the time that the horsebox is booked to arrive. Any tack, rugs and other horse gear should be loaded prior to the horse being loaded. A hay net with hay from home is preferred as it is what the horse is used to. Likewise, for longer journeys, filling up with water from home can increase the chance of a horse drinking during transit as it is his usual fare.

The low ramp facilitates easier loading and is ideal for reluctant loaders or injured horses on their way to the vet and for mare and foal transport. The adjustable partition can fit almost any size horse, pony or mare and foal.

Travelling

The horses face and travel backwards which according to Veterinary Record research (1996) decreases stress and lowers heart rates, compared to horses travelling facing forwards or sideways (herringbone). Consequently, horses’ performance on arrival is less likely to be affected by their journey. Our driver employs smooth acceleration and deceleration driving techniques and is very careful cornering and going round roundabouts to give a very even ride for the horses.

The horsebox is padded and rubberised throughout. Ventilation is controlled from the cab where the temperature is monitored. Horses are visually monitored constantly through the observation window from the cab. You are welcome to travel in the horsebox should you wish to keep a close eye on your horse during transport. Regular breaks are made on longer journeys to offer more hay or haylage and drinking water. We carry drinking water, hay, food, rugs and human and equine first aid kits.

Satellite navigation is used to minimise journey time and enable the driver to concentrate on her careful driving technique.

Equine Rescue Services

Hoofmove are members of the AA and Equine Rescue Services which provide emergency assistance in the unlikely event of a horsebox breakdown. Equine rescue services offer incident management from their control centre co-ordinating all emergency and rescue services. They offer roadside assistance for mechanical breakdown and tyre failure. Replacement horse transport is provided to take your horse to any destination in the UK if roadside repair is not possible. The horsebox is recovered to any destination in the UK too. Overnight accommodation for horses, driver and grooms is provided if onward transport is not practical. Veterinary support can be provided if necessary.

Using quality vehicles and very careful driving techniques, we ensure that your horse arrives at his destination calm and in good health.

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