Ask  the Expert:

Question:

I recently bought a horse box and have had no problems travelling, however
at the weekend I took my horse to Shropshire and found that he lost his footing when 
going downhill. In fact at one stage I thought he was going to go onto the floor and had 
to unload him as he was starting to panic.

The horse box has herringbone partitions, and I'm wondering whether if my horse who 
is used to transporting face forward in a trailer, finds this way of travelling difficult.

What are the rules for travelling, and should I have made the partitions smaller to be 
more supportive for my horse. I'm very worried that my horse won't travel in future and 
is reluctant to load.

Answer:
Initial thoughts on the above question from Sally Newcomb: 
It is difficult to know whether your horse needs more room so that he can spread his 
legs more, or a narrower partition so that he gets support from the partition.  In my 
experience it is normally the former.  It sounds as if your horse tried to lean against 
the partition as you drove downhill and then perhaps,his feet slipped away from 
underneath him.  He maybe then got into a panic about how to balance in the 
horsebox, went rigid, leant more on the partitions and then of course found it much 
harder to balance.  Is the floor slippery? Try and give your horse the best grip possible 
underfoot.  You may well need to put some shavings on the floor to improve grip.