Obviously,
this depends on the size of your horse or pony. It also depends, to a lesser extent, on the
shape of your horse (one horse may have a longer body and higher neck than a horse
of the same height, measured to the withers).
Let’s use the example of a 16hh horse (with a fairly standard shape!)
for the time being.
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Are the sizes of horsebox stalls really fit for purpose?
Scientific research would suggest otherwise. |
In the
horsebox trade, manufacturers and dealers alike will give you dimensions that
have been used for time immemorial. It’s
what has always been done. It generally
works for most horses and most people, most of the time.
However,
packing people into London Tube carriages seems to work for most of the people,
most of the time.
If we want
our horses to arrive in top condition for competition, our horseboxes need to
exceed these standards. We don’t like
arriving at our destinations tired, dehydrated with aching muscles and a snotty
nose, so why should our horses? Does
your horse really feel comfortable in that space? Does it feel calm and happy facing that
way? Is it going to arrive feeling fit
and healthy?
Sadly,
we can’t ask them. Horses will probably only
reject what is totally intolerable in the first instance, rather than just uncomfortable
in the long term.
There
has been some scientific research and informed writing on what horsebox stalls
should provide for horses to be safe and content. Much of this has been to analyse and promote
the welfare of horses being transported for slaughter – they discuss minimum
standard (again, as competitors we need to ensure we’re giving our horses the
best.)
Does
your horse really feel comfortable in that space? Does it feel calm and happy facing that
way? Is it going to arrive feeling fit
and healthy?
What is the ideal size for a horsebox stall?
This is
a tricky thing to define as we usually only measure one thing: the height of a horse’s withers. What about the height it needs from hooves to
ears? What about the length of a
horse?
In a
document publised to promote greater welfare of horses in transit to slaughter,
World Horse Welfare (WHW), describe the average length (from tail to nose) of a
sample of 15 horses (equidae over 14.2hh) as 2.4m. However, this measurement would have been
taken when the horse was standing, its head raised and – critically – not moving.
WHW very
reasonably suggest that additional space is needed to permit the horse to move
its head and neck freely, so that it can improve its balance.
Horses
have evolved to spend most of their time with their noses to the ground, eating
grass. Being able to lower its head is
natural and comfortable. According to scientific research (Cjrieger, 1982;
Clark et al 1993), a not only does a horse find it tiring to have their head raised, but it finds it more
difficult to keep its balance.
Moreover,
in this position, their airways are not able to drain effectively and keep clear of
mucus and dirt. If this doesn’t happen,
it increases the chances of the horse developing an infection (Racklyeft and
Love, 1990).
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| This pony shouldn't feel too claustrophobic in his transport. |
It is
therefore important that horses have stalls that are longer than 2.4m. WHW recommended that horses should have
stalls 0.8m longer than their length (bigger horses will be longer than 2.4m)
for a horse to have the necessary space to.
This brings the necessary length for a horse stall to over 3m (10’).
How
about width? Well horses can lean
against partitions or walls to improve stability, but evidence suggests horses
would prefer to use spread their legs (as nature intended). WHW suggest 0.3m of space on each side of
horse, which seems perfectly reasonable given the size of horses. I’ve not been
able to find the average width of horse – I suppose this is even more variable.
A very
interesting book published in the US (Scheve and Scheve, 1998) suggested horses
need at least 3’ (0.9m) stall width to provide them with sufficient room. If you consider most traditional American
horses are a little smaller than our modern Warmblood breeds, then perhaps the
stall width ought to be a little bigger, say 1m wide or more.
And what
about height? The WATO (Welfare ofAnimals Transport Order) guidance tends to be a bit limited; just 1.98m minimum
height when horses travel in livestock carriers (more usually designed for farm
animals like cattle or pigs).
A small
study by Canadian scientists (Whiting and Sauder, 2000) suggests that horses
hoof to poll height tended to be up to 135% of their withers height. In other words, a 16hh horse needs to have
a 2.2m high container. Extra headroom would no bad thing either, as
it can only help to improve safety and air circulation.
Your horse may be perfectly OK in your traditional stalls. But roomier stalls make for healthier and happier horses and the best athletes beat their rivals by making important marginal gains.
Here's a few pages from an interesting brochure from Volkswagen (published around 1989), promoting some of their vehicles for equestrian use. 
