A survey of general road transportation: How and why horses are transported in the U.S

•Trips less than one hour are the most common length for transporting horses by road.•Trail and leisure riding were the most common reasons for equine transportation.•The reasons for transporting horses by road vary by discipline and length of trip.•Vital signs are not usually recorded before and/or...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of equine veterinary science Vol. 140; p. 105137
Main Authors Jacquay, Erica T, Harris, Patricia A, Stowe, C. Jill, McIntosh, Bridgett J, Adams, Amanda A
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States Elsevier Inc 01.09.2024
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Summary:•Trips less than one hour are the most common length for transporting horses by road.•Trail and leisure riding were the most common reasons for equine transportation.•The reasons for transporting horses by road vary by discipline and length of trip.•Vital signs are not usually recorded before and/or after trips of 3 h or less.•One-third of horses transported on short journeys were over the age of 15 years. Horses are regularly transported in the United States (U.S.); however, how, and why horses travel by road has not been explored. Consequently, an online nationwide survey was conducted to understand 1) the most common reasons for travel; 2) the types of journeys undertaken when being transported by road in the U.S. and 3) the general management practices when transporting for 3 h or less. Responses were collected from 1294 participants with at least one response from every state in the continental U.S. The most common survey taker was a female (93.9 %), adult amateur (81.2 %), horse owner (64.6 %) who rode recreationally (33.1 %) and transported their own horse (79.4 %). The most common reasons for travel were for trail or leisure riding (34.2 %) followed by showing and competition (25.3 %); however, this varied by discipline. The most common trip duration was less than one hour (46.8 %), with only 12.4 % of the most common trip durations being 4 h or more. The most common specific horse transported by road for 3 h or less was an adult (age 5-15; 59.0 %), Quarter Horse (21.2 %), used for pleasure or trail riding (44.3 %). The biggest concern when transporting was injury to the horse (26.7 %), whilst the biggest factor when planning to travel was the weather (24.1 %). These results provide insight into why horses are being transported by road in the U.S. and that it is more common to transport horses for shorter durations.
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ISSN:0737-0806
DOI:10.1016/j.jevs.2024.105137