Blog
What’s the Safest Way to Transport Foals?
Written by Kristi Waterworth of Double D Trailers
Everybody’s had that magic moment when they lay their eyes on the perfect foal online or in an advertisement -- but buying a foal isn’t exactly the same as an adult horse. Transporting foals can be difficult, especially if you’ve never done it before. You may be able to outfit your existing trailer to work for a young horse, but many foal-buyers will find themselves also looking at horse trailers for sale.
Stalls and Considerations
The biggest factor in successful foal transport is making sure that your new horse has no place to hurt himself. Foals are delicate and can easily suffer broken bones or lacerations if transported improperly. Luckily, a foal coming from a reputable breeding farm is going to be healthy and happy -- that makes the process much easier on both you and your new baby.
Ensuring that he’s got a solid-sided stall big enough to lay down is crucial. Because most young foals haven’t learned to stand tied yet, a foal may kill himself in transport trying to lay down. It may make him a little harder to catch, but your young foal can stand up and lay down as he sees fit during your trip if you leave him loose in a box stall.
Do not, under any circumstances, transport a young foal in a trailer with slatted stall dividers. It’ll be just a matter of time before your prospect becomes tangled in the bars. If you’re transporting him with other horses, that danger increases exponentially.
Bedding and Blankets
The amount of bedding and blankets you provide your foal will depend largely on his age and amount of trailer experience. A very young foal will need to be bedded deeply to protect him from the vibrations of the trailer and to allow him to lay down during transport. As foals get older, they can stand longer, and should.
An older foal may be transported just like an adult, on a rubber mat with some shavings to catch urine and feces or using a trailer with a rubberized floor. Ensure he’s got good footing, but don’t worry about providing deep bedding since he won’t use it anyway. If this is his first time in the trailer, you’ll want to take frequent breaks to allow him to rest his legs.
Blankets are optional in most cases, but very young foals transported in cold weather may do better when wearing both a blanket and leg wraps. Make sure to check the young horse frequently to ensure he’s not managed to tangle himself in the bandages. When transporting foals, a trailer cam can be your best friend since you’ll be able to watch your horse carefully during the entire trip.
There are no one size fits all rules for transporting foals, since so much depends on how much experience your young horse has had trailering and standing tied, as well as how far you’ll be moving him. We recommend you always error on the side of caution, though, and treat foals very gently throughout the trip home.