Anyone got any suggestions? (sorry bit long!)

iconique

iconique

Well-Known Member
Joined
9 January 2008
Messages
1,188
Location
Essex
Visit site
Chocolate cake for anyone who gets to the end!!

We had to take our mare to Rossdales (vet hospital) today and she loaded fine, we have a 3/4 lorry with herringbone partitions (ie they stand sideways). At the front bit where they stand there is a boxed in shelf area where the tack locker on the side imposes on the space inside. This is where her head was tied up above.

Anyway she loaded like a dream, we put the ramp up, sorted ourselves out and were about to move away when it sounded wrong in the back. On checking we found her head against the roof and her front feet on the top of the tack locker!! Fortunatley I'd tied her up short. The windows have taken a battering, but nothing broke, the top of the external tack locker is damaged by her shoes and will be reinforced and repaired prior to the next journey.

She then when we tried to get her down, tried to turn and come over the partition even though she couldn't because the head guard bits were too high for her and I managed to twist her head back to stop her.

We have had a problem with her in a trailer where she once jumped over the breast bar and then sat on her tail, using her feet to walk herself over until she laid on her back with her head on the rear ramp. But we have not had any problems with her since and we changed to a lorry partially to stop this happening. She has travelled since and been back and forth to the vet several times with no problems in the last couple of months.

I forgot to mention, we had to starve her and did end up travelling OK with some sedation and hay (she is a grump when not fed) which hasn't helped with treatment and might have caused her to do this silly thing. She is also almost 17hh and well built.

Anyway I can't change my lorry (can't afford to) but does anyone please have any suggestions of what we can do to prevent it happening again? Is there anyone out there who has had the same? How did you solve it?

I really need some help with this as I hope that she will be ready to collect next week and although we can sedate her its not really a long term solution.

You now deserve lots of Cake!! Thank you for reading and any suggestions welcome.
 
that's why i won't have a lorry with a tack area that intrudes into the horse area. you're lucky... i've heard of a mare who did that and stuck its head clean through the roof, and another who did it and its front legs went through the top of the locker.
once she's done it once, she may do it again, or she may have learnt her lesson.
if she's travelling alone, can you position the partitions more acutely so that she's sandwiched across the long diagonal, away from the tack locker top?
personally, i'd get the locker taken out and the side replaced. sorry, but it's honestly what i'd do.
 
Agree with you, really scary and dangerous. Are the partitions solidly built? If they are, it is possible to run her lead rope under the partition next to her, and tie her up the the next door tie ring, if that makes sense. Then when they try and go up, its not possible, but they are free the rest of the time. But obviously if that could result in your partition lifting, its not possible, just depends how they're fitted.

Its the only way we've ever found though, and the reason our new box didn't have lockers. Once they've learnt to do it, they're a nightmare to stop.
 
Firstly thank you!

The partitions are very stong and fitted securely, so trying to find a way of tying her down is possible.

I know we were lucky with the top of the tack locker, the scores from her shoes show it all, the roof has no damage (fortunatley). I'm thinking as an interim to reinforce the top of the tack locker and trying to tie her down, as if we remove the tack locker then I have to replace the floor, which doesn't need doing currently and I don't have the money to do, however I think that this is an option if it continues.

We have thought of almost having a weaver type of head area that would stop her putting her feet up, but could make it a little dark and dingey, bit like a weaver thing that you put over a stable door???

I'm going to see if we can use the partitions on a diagonal and whether the telescopics are long enough to do so.

Funnily enough once she had food she wasn't interested in putting her feet up, she is a food monster and we think that this contributed to it, its just I agree with you, done once, its going to be a problem in the future, thankfully we hadn't even left the yard - same as happened in the trailer 4 years ago! I do wonder whether it would have been better with another horse in with her as both times we have had a problem its been while she has been alone, however I don't think that we could have got to her so easily if we had another horse in - we only managed to get her down with one of us each side of her!
 
i would not try to tie her down... she's likely to break the rope, the headcollar or, if neither will give, her neck, if she starts fighting it.
i'd put another horse in first with her next to it with the partitions on the longest diag possible. if another horse being in with her helps, great.
(i'd put the other in first so that you can get her out easily if she does start, and also because i had a mare who was a bad traveller and who couldn't bear to be 'trapped' by another horse, always had to go in last.)
best of luck.
 
Sorry I've explained it badly. You don't tie them down, just run the rope under the partition and tie up to the tie up ring next door. If you have thin twine on the tie up ring, I think it will give if they really do go, but that way, they still have tons of freedom while on the move if they need to rebalance.

I still do that if we put anything on the old box which I think is a possible candidate for climbing.

The weaving grid idea sounds clever, as long as she can't stick her legs in it. Bless them.
 
I don't think you explained it badly (GF) I think it was my description of tying her down! I meant to tie her so that she isn't tied upwards in front of her but as you suggest tie low where she can't stick her nose too much in the air to leap but giving enough to eat her hay happily. Plus I always use a bit of the farmers friend (bailer twine) just in case.

I'm still investigating the weaver type grid, we are looking at a ply type board with some padding on the edges, that perhaps runs up the front of the tack box and fastens to the partitions to prevent it flapping or moving. We don't want something flimsy or a another potential hazzard in the way (friend is a carpenter though so this helps.)

Thanks for the suggestions
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top