A horse arriving by transporter steps off the ramp tired, alert, and in a strange place. The yard staff meeting that horse should already know how it is fed, turned out, handled, and helped in an emergency, without phoning you while you are still on the road. One short written brief, sent ahead and read before arrival day, covers that need.
Essentials First: Feed, Turnout, Medicines, and Quirks
Open with feed, since the first yard decision is usually a haynet and a bucket. Write the exact feeds, the amounts in the measures the yard will use, the timings across the day, and any soak, dampening, or supplement routine in plain terms. Note what the horse must not have, including rich grazing or another horse's feed within reach, and how it drinks after travel if it tends to refuse strange water.
Turnout comes next: usual hours out, whether it goes out alone or with companions, what it wears in the field, and how it behaves at the gate. Then record medicines purely as handling information for the yard: the name as it appears on the container, who normally gives it, at what time, and how the horse takes it, whether hidden in feed, syringed, or applied. The yard is not being asked to judge the medicine, only to handle the routine exactly as you do.
Finish the essentials with handling quirks, honestly stated. Note anything the horse dislikes or fears: clippers, sprays, a rug going on, a particular side being handled, catching in the field, or loading and unloading. Note what settles it: a familiar voice routine, a feed bucket first, a companion in sight. Staff forgive quirks they have been told about; surprises are what cause accidents.
Contacts and Emergency Instructions
After the essentials, list the contacts in the order the yard would need them. Your own number as owner comes first, with a second number for you if you have one. Then your vet, with the practice name and out-of-hours arrangement. Then your farrier, since a lost shoe in the first week is common after travel. Then your insurer, with the policy reference written beside the name so nobody hunts for it during a stressful call.
Emergency instructions close the brief. State who may authorise urgent vet care if you cannot be reached, and for how long that authority lasts. Say where the horse's documents are kept, where its own headcollar and lead rope will be, and which stable or field you have agreed it goes into on arrival. If the horse has a known reaction, a previous injury, or a stable vice the yard should watch for on the first night, one plain line belongs here rather than buried in the quirks section.
Keeping the Brief Short and Usable
Keep the whole brief short enough to be read in a few minutes: essentials first, detail clearly headed underneath, one topic per section. Send it ahead, several days before travel where you can, and ask the yard to confirm receipt and query anything unclear before travel day. A yard that asks questions early is showing you it has read the brief; silence is worth one polite chase.
Take a copy for yourself and leave a printed copy with the transporter if the horse travels with a groom or driver, covering the journey essentials only. Update the brief after the first week, once the yard knows the horse and you know which details staff actually reach for, and replace the old version everywhere it was sent so two versions never circulate.
KinsLe holds that written brief ready for the yard, and its Care Pass shares the feed, turnout, and contact details for the arrival period, so staff work from your words rather than guesswork.