# Trailering: Tied vs. Loose



## Spellcheck

*Is it safer/better to tie a horse in a trailer or leave them loose?*

I'd like to let people share their opinions on this matter. But please keep it civil and positive, lol (I've seen a lot of discussions like this get very heated very fast, especially relating to horse safety :wink. 

When you are trailering a horse, what do you consider safest, tying the horse, or leaving them loose (without a halter)? 

Does it make a difference if the horse trailer is larger or smaller? Is it better to have them tied in a larger trailer to keep them from walking around? 

And would you consider it dangerous to leave one or more horses untied in a trailer? Do dividers make a difference?
Does it help to have at least one horse tied, or does that make it worse?

Thanks! 




What sparked this idea of mine is when my neighbors moved away last fall (BTW I did not approve of many of their training techniques) they put a roughly 16hh QH in a three-horse trailer with an approx. 12hh yearling. The QH was tied and the yearling (who they had to chase into the trailer) was not. :-|
I don't mean for this to be a rant, but I just wanted to know what others though of trailering like this and what the safest way really was?


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## WSArabians

Tied. I can't see any safe reason for leaving a horse loose.

Trailering with one horse tied and one loose is probably the stupidest thing a person can do. What happened if the yearling got over the rope? Or tangled in it? Or got stuck under the tied horse?

The best thing would have been for them to have properly trained their yearling to be halter broke, tie broke, and had him good to load.


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## COWCHICK77

I have done both, depends on the horses, trailer and situation.

In the situation the OP described I would of most likely left them both loose, or tied the older gelding and used the cut gate to separate the yearling to leave him loose if he was not halter broke/broke to tie.

EDIT: should say that I haul in a stock trailer with at least one cut gate. Not a horse trailer with dividers.


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## Kayella

Up until my colt was 7 months old I hauled him loose without a divider in my 2 horse trailer. When he had his accident and could barely walk straight, there was no way I was tying or putting the divider in and hauled him loose. On the way home from the vet after his accident, he was _pacing circles_ in the trailer while we were going 60 miles an hour down the highway. :shock: The excitement/anxiety irritated his brain injury and made him circle to the left, which is now his bad side. 

Ever since then I've hauled him tied with a divider in like a big boy. He handles it well and stands calmly to munch his hay. Although I do need to leave the windows open. He likes to watch the traffic go by. 

I would say that if you were hauling a single horse in a 2 horse, make sure that your horse can easily turn around. If he's too large, do NOT let them loose because many horses will try to turn around if they prefer facing that way. They could get wedged and get hurt very easily if they're too big. It really varies from horse to horse. Does your horse stand still the whole time? Or does he pace circles like my colt? he size of your trailer would be a factor, as well.


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## waresbear

That is not a training method you described with your neighbors' horses, it is a method to move horses from point A to point B as best as you can cope without training. I assuming they kept one tied in there so it would not jump out until the other one was herded in. I have hauled a loose mare & her foal in a open stock trailer more than a few times but I would never tie one & leave the other loose for the reasons WS mentioned. Train your horse's properly, haul them in comfortable, roomy trailers in a configuration that suits them, and train them PROPERLY and whether you tie or keep them loose is a personal preference. For the record, my horses are tied with gates closed in a slant load, loading & tying is a non-issue for me, they go & do what they are directed to do.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## bluehorse68

My new (to me) trailer is a stock trailer with the cut gate, but the front section has a removable divider. Would the safest way be to use the divider and put two horses side by side in the front half, or put one in front and the other in back with the cut gate closed to better distribute weight? I would tie both horses. Never have thought of hauling horses untied.


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## Iseul

Tied and untied..depends on the horse and where we're going.

They learn to trailer tied, but after they know how to stand tied during a trailer ride we usually take the lead off and leave them untied in the slant load for less than an hour hauls. I plan to do the same with mine.

In the stock trailer (no cut divider) we tie because we usually have more than one horse.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Spellcheck

waresbear said:


> That is not a training method you described with your neighbors' horses, it is a method to move horses from point A to point B as best as you can cope without training. I assuming they kept one tied in there so it would not jump out until the other one was herded in.
> _Posted via Mobile Device_




Sorry, when I said "training methods" I probably should have said "Training and Handling methods" though they did quite a few things to their horses that could have been done much more humanely, not very much that I could reasonably call authorities on, but they certainly angered me. 

But they also had 6+ months (and over 2 months that they knew they were moving) to train that yearling to trailer and simply didn't bother. Catching her consisted of chasing her into a corner, throwing a rope around her neck and jerking her to the ground, then clipping the lead rope onto the halter they kept on 24/7. 

After the horses were trailered, they left the halter on the big horse and you could her them all the way from my back porch (about 75 yards) kicking up a storm. 

I understand that some horses simply don't like being trailered, or can't be tied, but there had to be better way to do this, right?


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## Shoebox

Clementine is usually loose when we haul her. She loads great, but (until we start moving - once we do, she stands still) throws a fit in the trailer - pacing and turning circles. I don't want to tie her up in there to have her panic and hurt herself somehow. And then I always think what if something happened and she fell? Her face would be tied up and the rest of her would go down. 

We have a stock that we just bought that I don't think is wide enough for her to turn around in - and if it is, I don't want her to try. So I think I'd tie her loosely in there - enough so she can move or laydown if she wants, but not enough that she can pace and turn circles.


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## clippityclop

Untied -

I haul long distances and I have personal experience with horses who have developed respiratory issues due to not being able to get their head down below their knees from time to time. Of course one would argue to just tie them longer but if the rope is tied long enough so that they can get their heads down, then the rope gets under a front leg and then they are caught and depending on the horse you have - well then it depends on the accident that happens afterward - hence - I don't tie.

I haul in halters with the rope attached thrown over their back loose - been doing it for over 20 years - in stock trailers and slants with dividers. Worst thing that happens is the rope slides off and gets peed on - no big deal. My horses can back out AND turn around and walk out forward - been in an incident where the trailer was stuck and the back end was high in the air - too high to back out so I turned them around and they were able to leap out forward. Much safer.

Took a technical large animal rescue course this year - one of the things the firefighters/rescue workers/sheriffs/ etc complained about most was horses who have been tied in trailers took too long to get out - often the animals were upside down and twisted, caught by the rope holding them in - they said that so much time was wasted trying to reach in to a mangled trailer and cut the rope (usually with a knife on a long pole b/c getting in there with the animal was NOT safe) and most horses go into shock way before they could even get the rope cut. Horses who were loose tied were immediately assessed and often easier to handle and move b/c they weren't stuck on a twisted rope - and because they were untied, could often right themselves or at least sit up.

The emergency rescue folks have seen many instances where a trailer gets in a wreck and they see snapped/twisted necks, pulled/ripped/torn muscles - in most cases the animal who was tied ended up being the animal that was mangled the most because the body (as gruesome as it sounds) was not allowed to roll with the trailers momentum. Animals who aren't tied had a better chance coming out with only scrapes and bruises while tied horses often ended up going to the vet a week later after the incident with serious issues liked cracked C1 or C2, and on a regular basis, ended up dying a few days later. Emergency folks I have personally talked to at this course (who actually spoke at the course) and those here where I live vote for untied as well when it comes to horses.

The horse has a better chance of survival if it can move with the trailer - even if that means doing complete cartwheels over and over. Locking any one part of their body down and then rolling them over and over is a death sentence.

I had already been trailering without tying for over two decades before I took that course - it only confirmed it for me. If a technical large animal rescue class comes to town, I would recommend you take it - even if you aren't working as a type of rescue personnel - it is an eye opener for the average horse owner on so many subjects - tying in trailers was just one of many.


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## BigGirlsRideWarmbloods

This exact same question was posed not super long ago:
http://www.horseforum.com/horse-trailers/do-you-tie-trailer-123740/

And for the same reasons as ClippityClop:


BigGirlsRideWarmbloods said:


> I don't tie.
> 
> I volunteer for a local animal rescue as an disaster first responder for animals and one of the classes we're required to pass before we are eligible to be deployed, is emergency extraction: large animals. Basically how to fasten a sling to horses or livestock for helicopters or tractors, how to lead more than 5 horses at a time by yourself, and how to rescue livestock in a rolled trailer.
> 
> Watching the videos of a rolled horse trailer were the worst simply because it’s the easiest, and most common, of all the scenarios to imagine occurring.
> 
> When the trailer rolls the first thing the animal is going to do is panic and kick, and the weakest point out of everything confining your horse is going to be whatever is holding them in from behind. They don’t have enough leverage to pull back enough to break anything but a panicked kick or even a backward bolt, is enough to break the spring in the pin of a slant divider or the spring or clasp in the butt bar or butt chain of a straight load. Again they don’t have to break the whole bracket, just the part that is keeping the pressure in place, and the straight load bars or chains only have a max weight rating of about 300lbs and the slant dividers, 3-750, depending on the trailer make and model. (The Thuro-Built slants dividers are only held in place with a block of plastic.)
> 
> So in an emergency once the horse has broken whatever is confining them from behind they will try to run, but they typically don’t have enough leverage or strength to break a nylon tie. The clip is weaker but because its fastened to the head, the weakest and most controllable part of the horse, they cant break it. If they’re lucky they will be wearing a leather halter or a halter with a leather crown that will break, but most people use nylon halters and nylon ties, which will not break even under the stress of a panicking horse.
> 
> You want your horse to get out and get free. You can and will always catch him if he gets loose later, the priority is getting out of the trailer.
> 
> I have a 2 horse slant trailer and the divider goes up just short 6” from the roof and the head portion of the divider extends far past the withers so no matter what she cannot get her head around or stuck. I always trailer in a leather halter with a bumper and once she’s secured I will either remove her lead rope or just throw it over her back, usually I just put it on her back as I’m closing the divider. That way when its time to unload I just open the divider and grab the rope while she’s backing out.
> 
> As I trailer with foals often, I always leave them loose in the back. I don’t tie weanlings as usually they’re not mature enough to stand tied in the larger back stall. And they’re typically too small and they’re still so nimble, securing them in the front slant is asking for trouble, so if they’re traveling alone I’ll leave the divider open and locked so its more of a stock trailer. *IF* I do need to tie, for whatever reason, Im a big fan of the Tie Safe Trailer Tie:
> http://www.smartpakequine.com/tiesafe-ties-1620p.aspx?cm_mmc=paidfeeds-_-froogle-_-NA-_-2109665640
> 
> These are the trailer ties that are like any normal trailer tie, nylon with a quick release snap at one end and a clip at the other, but the two ends are connected by heavy duty Velcro. It keeps the horse in place but will rip with enough force.


It was true 9 months ago and I stand by it today.


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## Remali

Spellcheck said:


> Sorry, when I said "training methods" I probably should have said "Training and Handling methods" though they did quite a few things to their horses that could have been done much more humanely, not very much that I could reasonably call authorities on, but they certainly angered me.
> 
> But they also had 6+ months (and over 2 months that they knew they were moving) to train that yearling to trailer and simply didn't bother. Catching her consisted of chasing her into a corner, throwing a rope around her neck and jerking her to the ground, then clipping the lead rope onto the halter they kept on 24/7.
> 
> After the horses were trailered, they left the halter on the big horse and you could her them all the way from my back porch (about 75 yards) kicking up a storm.
> 
> I understand that some horses simply don't like being trailered, or can't be tied, but there had to be better way to do this, right?


Wow. That would have angered me too. I would have liked to have done the same to the person(s) that did that.

In my experience, the reason 99.9% of the horses that do not like being trailered or tied, were never properly taught to do so, or were mistreated/roughed-up like the unfortunate yearling in your description. It will be now be a long road to get that poor horse to want to load in any trailer (but it can be done with a lot of patience and the correct method/training).

I would never ever haul a horse untied, unless in an exceptional situation, and then I would only trailer that one horse alone and no other horses. Also, I would also use a trailer that has the trailer doors that go up all the way to the top of the trailer - fully enclosed back door. Even with horses that are tied in the trailer, you would be surprised at how many horses can get over the top of the trailer door, even when tied up, and even just their hindlegs.


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## Kayella

BGRW, how big is that trailer tie? I have two trailers that I haul in. One is a 2H without a divider, and one is a 2H with a divider. I don't know who the heck designed the second trailer, but there is about a 1 foot gap at the front of the divider between it and the head divider where you stick hay for the horses to munch on. Henny has already illustrated that he can very easily get almost his entire front half through that gap, so I HAVE to tie him in that trailer. Is it long enough for him to be able to munch on hay still?


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## BigGirlsRideWarmbloods

Kayella: I'm at work right now but according to Smartpak its adjustable 2' to 2' 8" which seems about right.

I WILL say that for my yearlings that are still learning to tie I like to use the crosstie version that is adjustable from 4’ to 5’4”. Its a little longer thant I would like, but I find it I just tie a granny knot or two on the non-velro end, it shortens it to a better length, so that it gives the babies who are learning enough rope to keep them still and in the proper place, but still gives them a little more length to work with, all with the added safety of quick release snaps and velcro:

Tie-Safe Ties - Cross Ties & Trailer Ties from SmartPak Equine



Cross Tie: 4’ to 5’4”
Trailer Tie: 2’ to 2’8”


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## BarrelRacingLvr

The only time we haul one tied and one loose is if we are hauling a broodie and a baby. That is the ONLY time. 

Other then that it doesn't matter what is in what trailer they ALL get tied.


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## caseymyhorserocks

For the same reasons as Clippity Clop and Warmblood said I don't tie in trailers. I have a two horse slant load stock combo with normal dividers. I think the only time I would tie is if I was teaching a horse to stand still in a big space in a trailer - and then it would probably be to a Velcro trailer tie clipped onto twine with a blocker tie ring at the end and a breakaway halter -just to be safe! I find that my horses usually are focused on trying to balance in the trailer rather than moving around when the trailer is moving(and not tying allows them to use their neck more for balance!


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## tinyliny

clippityclop said:


> Untied -
> 
> I haul long distances and I have personal experience with horses who have developed respiratory issues due to not being able to get their head down below their knees from time to time. Of course one would argue to just tie them longer but if the rope is tied long enough so that they can get their heads down, then the rope gets under a front leg and then they are caught and depending on the horse you have - well then it depends on the accident that happens afterward - hence - I don't tie.
> 
> I haul in halters with the rope attached thrown over their back loose - been doing it for over 20 years - in stock trailers and slants with dividers. Worst thing that happens is the rope slides off and gets peed on - no big deal. My horses can back out AND turn around and walk out forward - been in an incident where the trailer was stuck and the back end was high in the air - too high to back out so I turned them around and they were able to leap out forward. Much safer.
> 
> Took a technical large animal rescue course this year - one of the things the firefighters/rescue workers/sheriffs/ etc complained about most was horses who have been tied in trailers took too long to get out - often the animals were upside down and twisted, caught by the rope holding them in - they said that so much time was wasted trying to reach in to a mangled trailer and cut the rope (usually with a knife on a long pole b/c getting in there with the animal was NOT safe) and most horses go into shock way before they could even get the rope cut. Horses who were loose tied were immediately assessed and often easier to handle and move b/c they weren't stuck on a twisted rope - and because they were untied, could often right themselves or at least sit up.
> 
> The emergency rescue folks have seen many instances where a trailer gets in a wreck and they see snapped/twisted necks, pulled/ripped/torn muscles - in most cases the animal who was tied ended up being the animal that was mangled the most because the body (as gruesome as it sounds) was not allowed to roll with the trailers momentum. Animals who aren't tied had a better chance coming out with only scrapes and bruises while tied horses often ended up going to the vet a week later after the incident with serious issues liked cracked C1 or C2, and on a regular basis, ended up dying a few days later. Emergency folks I have personally talked to at this course (who actually spoke at the course) and those here where I live vote for untied as well when it comes to horses.
> 
> The horse has a better chance of survival if it can move with the trailer - even if that means doing complete cartwheels over and over. Locking any one part of their body down and then rolling them over and over is a death sentence.
> 
> I had already been trailering without tying for over two decades before I took that course - it only confirmed it for me. If a technical large animal rescue class comes to town, I would recommend you take it - even if you aren't working as a type of rescue personnel - it is an eye opener for the average horse owner on so many subjects - tying in trailers was just one of many.


 
this is very interesting to know.


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## clippityclop

It was a really great class and the instructor was not only experienced in these issues, she was a real comedian as well. Well worth taking the time to go to. The hands on 'crisis situations' that we got to work with were amazing. We pulled horses out of mud holes, flipped trailers, rescued horses from smoke filled barns (the latter being the only actual live horses we used and a really expensive fog machine) and some other fun stuff the went along with a detailed and at times gruesome powerpoint lecture (complete with video and live animals in sickening situations and then some) - and it was an eye opener!


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## amberly

I always tie my horses. It makes them not back out as soon as I open the gate and it teaches them not to rush - even in emergencies. 
I wouldn't never drive off without my horses tied.
one reason - is because my horse will crawl under the dividers. not a pretty sight - he ahs already tried it. But its fixed now. lol


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## smrobs

COWCHICK77 said:


> I have done both, depends on the horses, trailer and situation.
> 
> In the situation the OP described I would of most likely left them both loose, or tied the older gelding and used the cut gate to separate the yearling to leave him loose if he was not halter broke/broke to tie.
> 
> EDIT: should say that I haul in a stock trailer with at least one cut gate. Not a horse trailer with dividers.


I agree 100% with this. I've also hauled with loose horses and with tied, it depends on the horses, the trailer, and the terrain.

If hauling with an unhandled yearling, what I did would greatly depend on the older horse's temperament. If they were prone to "get after" strange horses, then I would have tied the older and left the yearling loose in a separate compartment (in a stock trailer is the _only_ way I would haul an unhandled horse). However, if the older horse was mellow and tolerant of strange horses, I would have left them both loose.

However, tying one horse and leaving another loose in there with him without separating them is just asking for trouble, IMHO. Too many ways to get tangled or hung up and ruin a good horse....or sour a baby from trailering forever.


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## Prinella

I generally leave untied. It's easier, leaves them their heads and necks to balance. 
I also attended a Large animal rescue course and heard the same thing. 
Often if I'm floating Prin alone I will tie her as she sometimes gets a little anxious leaving her friends and I worry about her turning around and getting stuck. 

I also leave the halters on with ropes over the back and don't float in rope halters anymore. 

I always make sure they're untied before opening doors etc.


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## brookeabee123

I recently had a trailer accident this past summer where me and some friends were hauling to a rodeo in my friends trailer. The highway we were driving on was extremely rough causing the floorboards of the trailer to break loose. My horse and my best friends horse were drug along the highway. Needless to say we had to put our beloved horses down right there on the side of the road. The horse in the back which belonged to the girl who owned the trailer was uninjured, but had broke loose due to a cheap halter. Our horses had sturdy halters with good quality lead ropes that held the horses in the trailer. Had they not the horses would have came completely out of the trailer and possibly killed us along with many of the other drivers on the road. So yes for the most part I believe the safest thing is for horses to be tied. It's not always possible due to certain situations, but I think it's definitely important!
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## BlooBabe

If it's a straight load and the divider and bumpers are up I don't usually tie even with a horse on the other side because my horse doesn't have the room to move around. All the trailers I use I have a divider that reaches the ground so there's no chance of him slipping underneath it if he falls and the horses can't kick each other. In any other trailer situations he's tied.


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## GallopingGuitarist

Either way. Depends on the horse and the trailer and what I'm doing. My dad's trailer is a 20 ft (I think) gooseneck stock trailer. We've hauled both ways and never had a problem. The only problem that we have ever had in that trailer is that the middle divider is a fairly low and we had a cow decide to go over it and get caught. When hauling horses loose in there I would prefer to leave the divider open.


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