Epsilon Archive for Student Projects

Abstract

Being loaded and transported inside a vehicle is far from a natural event for horses. However transporting horses usually goes well, but when it does not the injures to horses or humans as well as damage to property can be immense. To minimise the risks and to maximise comfort for the horse it is important to consider which type of transport is best suited for each individual. There are several models of vehicles available for horse transport on the Swedish market but it is dominated by a few types. The two-horse semitrailer with loading via a ramp at the back and horses facing forwards is the most common kind.
A survey was conducted where people with experience of loading horses shared their opinions on different types of vehicles for transportation. This study examined the opinions and perceptions concerning the most common types of horse transports as well as exploring whether there seems to be any correlation between problems with loading and type of transport.
Out of the 1392 respondents, 48 % stated that they at some point had experienced problems whilst loading their current horse in their current transport vehicle. The type of transport which had the highest percentage of respondents with problems (52%) was the traditional two-horse trailer with a ramp at the back for loading and unloading. The type of transportation which had the least percentage experiencing problems (0%) was the side loaded trailer. The type of transport with second least percentage with problems was semitrailers with loading via step-up and unloading backwards via step-down (28%) closely followed by trailers with loading via front ramp and unloading via ramp at the back of the trailer (29%). Accordingly there appears to be a connection between type of transport and problems when loading, though due to there being considerably more responses from people with twohorse trailers with loading and unloading via ramp at the back of the trailer, more studies are needed to closer investigate the less common types of transport.
Many respondents were positive towards step-up, whilst some expressed that they had not had the need to try any other type of transport due to not perceiving any issues with loading in their current transport. Other respondents expressed concern regarding step-up potentially presenting a higher risk of injury to the horse. From this survey it was not possible to find any connection between injuries and step-up on neither humans nor horses. The relationship rather seems to be the opposite with merely 2,5% of those loading with step-up having experienced injuries to a human during loading compared to 5,8% of those loading via ramp. For injuries to horses the percentage was even lower with 0,8% for transports with step-up and 2,6% for those loading via ramp.