Does anyone travel their horses tacked up?

DITZ

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Dec 31, 2002
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Just curious as I went to a show a week ago and every horse I say come out of its trailer was ready tacked up. I've never seen this before is it an new fashion? Cant imagine its ever so comfortable for the horse either.

Personally I dont even groom mine beforehand (just in case he doesnt go in:D ) and find that grooming him when we arrive is a great way of relaxing him and getting him accustomed to his surroundings. Just me?
 
No i personally would never travell a horse whilst it was tacked up, may be i would put the bridal on if i thought the horse was going to be naughty at the event, then i could just take the head collar of, and it would be easier to handle, but i would never travel a horse with a saddle on, wouldnt the side of the trailer rub the saddle?
 
I have travelled horses tacked up before but only for short distances, my old pony was a nightmare to tack up once at a show so she used to get tacked up at home with her travel rug over the top of the saddle to stop it getting scratched! It never did her any harm but I wouldn't like to do it for long distances in case anything happened.
 
I don't travel Ben tacked up , but I did travel my last horse tacked up( well saddled anyway) as he was cold backed & very hyper in strange places , so very difficult tosaddle up when there.
 
I have had several experiences where I have competed on Abacus horses that have travelled to the shows tacked up. The tack has always remained in tact, and they wear rugs over the saddles. Reins are removed until we get to the show, unless the horse is a stallion or more 'high strung'.
Whenever I have gone hunting, whether it be mock or real, we have always taken the horses tacked up, and have found about 99% of the rest of the horses have done to. Hunters do it every day.
 
I havent but I would like to add that I get nervous about leaving bridles and saddles on a horse when the horse isnt being supervised. If the bit got snagged on anything or if the girth caught on a trailer snap or something, I would fear that my horse would panic, get hurt, and then it would take forever to get any tack near him again. Insane? Maybe, but its not worth the risk for me.
 
Aaah, Tootsie, that would be the difference for us. Our boxes all have grooms compartments, so we are travelling with the horses basically. That way we can keep an eye on the horses.
 
Could they be tacking up in the box with the ramp up? Someone at are yard always does this and when I was at a show with her there wasn't really any space to tie your horse up out side the box so everyone ndid this. Just a thought:D
 
No thats what I thought they were doing at first but then I noticed people just pulling up and taking their horses out tacked up within a couple of minutes.

I've never seen anyone do it before at all so to see almost everyone doing it was strange!
 
horsesarelife - you mean acctually in the box with partitions? Thats acctually quite dangerous, if the horse kicked out the person would have no place to go, and the person is very liekly to get crushed.
 
I have been with others who have and will do so with my boy when my lorry is up and running for a short trip, like to my trainers thats 5 minutes lorry drive along the road!!-its important to have a headcollar over the bridle and a rug over the saddle to prevent rubbing and personally we have always left reins on just looped and wrapped under the chin strap....i wouldnt make a habit of this but for a short drive and to arrive at say a hunt, where the horses are hyper it makes sense, nothings worse that a off the planet horse that your trying to tack up..better to be able to unload, mount up and ride in or ride off!!!!...anything over 20 minutes would be out of the question though, although as Sharka says hunt horses travel like it all the time...
 
we always travel the horses to hunts tacked up-try tacking up 17.2hh, fully fit, 4 year old race horses when theres other horses and hounds around, it's near impossible!! They do however have rugs and headcollars on over the top and we have groom walks down the sides of each partition in the lorry.
 
I have for short distances - the reins are twisted up and looped through the throatlash, and we just put rugs over the saddle. Same with brushing boots - we just put travelling boots over the top.

If it's a long journey then I tend to travel in a bridle and put the saddle on once we are there.
 
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