It's Important To Realise That Horseboxes Are Not A Natural Environment

     As human beings we adapt rather well. We're used to living life according to a whole variety of circumstances, restrictions and impositions. We go back and forth between our vehicles, our places of work, our home, the golf course, you name it. As such, we can "put up" with a lot, as we are able to reason. Now turn to your horse. The horse is used to freedom, the great outdoors and is not very good at reasoning. In short, if you try and put the horse into a restricted space it is likely to be very claustrophobic.

We can see that it is not likely to be easy to convince our horse that it is going to like horseboxes or horse trailers. As such, we need to take our time to acclimatise the animal, to introduce it to this mode of transportation. A little bit of sensitivity here will go a long way when it comes to those longer journeys in the future.

Just think of the amount of time and effort that you put into caring for your horse and apply some of this effort to the selection of a horse box or horse trailer. It's not time to be frugal when you are looking to purchase a new vehicle as you must make sure that the trailer or box is well-made and sturdy. Only buy something that has been made by a reputable manufacturer, well known for building purposeful vehicles and avoiding any shortcuts.

Even though the price of petrol is crazy these days and it costs us a lot of money to travel anywhere, this doesn't mean that we should select a smaller horse box or horse trailer simply because we can save some money on petrol if we do so. You may well subject your horse to a lot of discomfort and make it very claustrophobic, which is not likely to be a good combination in the long run.

Once you are sure that you have purchased a horsebox or horse trailer that is large enough and of solid construction, you need to work out how you're going to introduce the horse to it. Make sure that the surface inside is not slippery by putting down sawdust as a cushion. If you have another horse that is more used to travelling this way, introduce it to the space first to give a little bit of encouragement to the other.

Never hurry this entire process. In other words, plan your journey time well so that you have ample time to make sure that the horse enters safely, ideally under its own steam and in its own time.

You're best advised to plan only shorter journeys to start off with and to stop fairly frequently in the early days. This will give the horse time to acclimatise as it hears your reassuring words of comfort intermittently.

If you have any doubt about the selection of your horse box or horse trailer, turn to Britain's largest horsebox builder. Equitrek horse trailers are some of the most highly recommended on the market.