Reducing equine hauling stress: A review

Summary The transport problems of horses have been aired for many years. It was not until the 1960s, however, that two independent studies, by Wentworth Telllington of California and David J. Holmes of New Zealand, established that horses are more comfortable in transport in which they face away from the direction of travel. These studies, benefitting from the researchers' knowledge of physics and engineering as well as of equine anatomy and psychology, brought together information and ideas that had long been discussed by students of the horse but never before synthesized. In 1975–79, the author endeavored to test and validate the Tellington and Holmes research, with special emphasis upon Holmes's rear-face safety trailer. The latter was found to integrate patterns of training, loading, and transport fully adapted to the horse's need for comfort and security. The author's research established that even extremely nervous horses, with histories of “transport stress,” may be safely loaded and hauled in the rear-face trailer—although such an animal is unlikely to feel completely confident even in this improved type of conveyance. Further research by the author demonstrated the effectiveness of rear-face transport with more tractable horses in a variety of transport situations.