Moving Ponies

[Boudica]

Has anyone any experience of moving horses (13 kept as a herd (I'll put the stallion in the trailer)) loose?

We have a completion date, and as its only a few miles away my esteemed other half thinks the easiest way will be to move them en masse - their are two main road crossings (we have a volunteer to wo/man the first one), apart from that its mostly moor, tracks.

Firstly am I likely to be arrested ???

Secondly will my BHS gold membership be adequate insurance :) ???

[cheyenne]

HI boudica! Thus is fab! I have 7 horses, the thing is there are two ways of doing this.

1. The safe way?
2. The "I`ll sue you way!"

Lets take the 2nd first. It is not illegal to run horses on the public highway, from one place to another. However! There are by-laws concerning the health of the public. So, to move herd of horses, requires that they are under control. Therefore all, or nearly all should be bidable, and easy too lead. You have to consider that they may cause damage, injury and there is the implication of whats called, " third party liability.

The safe way? Transort them in pairs, by trailer or wagon, time consuming, but safe, your wagon is insured? the horses are therefore vicariously covered, and no one else gets hurt.

The idea of moving a herd em masse, is exciting, but the wild west has gone. trust me, I wanted to move my seven as a herd, by riding a lead horse. It didnt work!

[Boudica]

That is more or less what I told Himself, we'll probably go for riding a couple and riding afew more with foals at foot and so on, I'll stick the boys in the trailer...

However it seems a real shame that we cant shift them via the road seems like we are bullied off the public highway

[White Horse Pilgrim]

I've moved a herd of horses like that, loose - not in the UK but somewhere with laxer laws and less traffic. One does not have a great deal of immediate control. If the horses decide to go fast, the trip can become quite exciting. Meetings with loose horses can be interesting too. A person at a road crossing cannot ensure safety unless they are able reliably to stop traffic at the right moment, which of course cannot be guaranteed. I cannot imagine that you would be able to make the trip safely - taking the horses by trailer will be the best way.

[Welsh Tart]

Depending on the behaviour of your horses you could opt for leading them in 2 or 3 lots. we used to collect horses from other ridng centres when we were short of heads and the have managed to ride one ;ead 4, but that assumes the horses are all calm and not likely to kick, bite, stop, drag you off backwards, bolt ..... you get teh idea! plus the lane was only just wide enought for one car at a ti e and the route was one straight line so despite the 1hr ride it was never too troublesome even with the odd one or 2 that decided to stop!

of course for the brodle path section we just stuck one in front and one behind and cantered the rest loose, but there was a gate at each end of the path!!

the other option would be give you local riding school a bell and ask for a few decent and sensible kids who want a free ride for a day! i bet they'd be lining up!!