[Rosemary]

I've put a post in Equipment with more detail, but my real question is "would it be safe to transport a horse in a livestock trailer?"

I'm assuming that the livestock tailer is 7ft high, same as a horsebox.

[sabrina]

As long as you have the height I can't see it being a problem. I know there is a law on what height horses andd ponies can be transported in. I see quite a few using livestock trailers around our shows. If they can be used for cattle then should be save enough for a horse. I myself prefer a horse trailer and have a mare and foal one from Batesons. Its light and easy to tow. 

[Roxy]

I personally would have no problem using a livestock trailer, but I do prefer given the choice to us a horse trailer with partitions, which helps the horse balance a bit better, and they have the breast bar......having said that if its shetlands or small ponies, quite often the breast bar is of no use to them, as its too high, and they can walk undernearth.  I know some people do not tie up their horse when travelling, but I do, although if its a young one, or one who has not been handled then leaving it loose is probably safer.

[nerka]

I a livestock trailer for a number of years when the kids were into the local riding club no probs at all although i did put a centre board and breast bar in myself in fact wished ihad never got rid of it as it was a godsend when fetching anything , added bonus you can pick them up a lot cheaper than a proper horse or pony trailer

[Rosemary]

We've bought an Ivor Williams livestock trailer, 7ft headroom and 10ft long, with centre partition and breast bars, so it will transport horses and other livestock. And sofas, beds, dressers etc etc...

[caz]

i dont know much about live stock trailers but do they not have metal floors?

[Rosemary]

Yes, they do but it's very "grippy" and my ponies are unshod, so I don't anticipate a problem once they get used to it. It has great ventilation too.

[VSS]

I have always found that they travel very well in these but need to be allowed to travel loose due to the lack of partitions.

They seem to prefer to travel backwards when given the choice.

[Hardfeather]

There are partitions available for them. You can have one to split the trailer into one front and one rear compartment; another splits it down the middle so you can have a horse on the left and one on the right.

The former is handy for transporting foals as the foal can be in front of its mother but seperate from her too. We have travelled two mares and their foals like this. There are several optional fixing points for this partition so the spaces can be variable.

There is also a full width breast bar available.

[Rosemary]

Yup, got the centre panel, breast bars and bum bars.

[humphreymctush]

I used to regularly transport three ponies in a livestock trailer with no partitions. They were short enough to stand across the width, tied along one side. I think it worked because all three ponies lived together and so were not inclined to fight. Their tails used to poke out through the sheep ventilation holes and blow about in the wind

[Rosemary]

We'll find out how well ours works next weekend!!

[arriane04]

 Trailer is the best transportation means for you to transfer your horse. Just make it sure that your trailer has the height same as with the height of the horse. As a ranch owner, I can say that traveling horses and other big animals through a trailer is good, as long as you've got a big sized trailer.

[Rosemary]

It worked fine, better than fine. It's been great for moving stuff up here too. I think it's been a good buy.

[daddymatty82]

i had a look and found this

http://www.horsedata.co.uk/transporting.htm

hope it helps i think it would be ok to use a livestock trailer as long as you put grip mat on the floor as yes chequer plate is grippy but walk on it when its wet  its very slippery and have seen many a animal fall over in them  but for me personally id use equine transportation the only trouble now is all these competency licences (just to show you know how to tie how to load how to transport animals in a safe manor) but i think the way round it is if you get the local equine vet out to check its safe least then you cover your own back if your ever in an accident or pulled for a light out the police cant do anything as you have the slip of paper to say its ok due to how slippery it is when the animal urinates