Bad Traveller

[djedgley]

A friends mare loads quietly in the trailer and horsebox but as soon as she is moving she really worries. She is on three legs and in a complete sweat on arrival at a competition. She is slightly better if she has a human or horse companion but still panics. Consequently she is fairly tired and does not compete at her best. She also loads fine to come home. Any ideas please as to how we can make travelling better for her?

 

[cptrayes]

First try removing the partition altogether to give her more room. If that does not work, and it very often does, then try travelling her backwards. Some people will say you have to put a breast bar in to do this, but horses travel backwards in 3.5 ton lorries with no breast bar.

 

[djedgley]

Thanks for your suggestions. We have already tried without a partition. She is a big long legged girlie and it doesn't seem to matter which way we put her in but the actual movement of travelling that freaks her out. We have perserved with it and tried all the usual ideas, mild acp tablets etc but nothing seems to help. Perhaps she is destined never to compete!!

 

[Birker2020]

Thanks for your suggestions. We have already tried without a partition. She is a big long legged girlie and it doesn't seem to matter which way we put her in but the actual movement of travelling that freaks her out. We have perserved with it and tried all the usual ideas, mild acp tablets etc but nothing seems to help. Perhaps she is destined never to compete!!

Are you sure she isn't slipping in the trailer?

Does the trailer have adequate rubber matting?

When I first got my trailer (mid 90's) they didn't have rubber flooring just hardwood floors and the condensation from the roof in cold weather would drip onto the floor and sometimes freeze making the floor a moveable ice rink and my first horse slipped and fell down in the trailer (fortunately he wasn't injured). We put in rubber matting and brought the breast bar of our trailer forward slightly to accomodate our horse at the time (the one who fell who was very long backed) and also fixed the partition permanently so it is 3/4 / 1/4 with the 3/4 being for the horse. This remedied the situation and I never had any problems after this with this horse or subsequent horses.

Incidentally have you recently acquired a new towing vehicle? Is it more powerful than the previous vehicle? Is the trailer front higher or lower from the ground than previously. Is it a different driver towing the trailer? Are you sure the driver is towing correctly, slow and wide around bends/islands and reading the road ahead by braking slowly well in advance and anticipating the need to brake well in advance? Is the driver turning into roads slowly to avoid the trailer turning sharply and unbalancing the horse? Is the floor safe? These are the question you need to ask. I would say that there is something wrong with the way the trailer is when moving that the horse finds objectionable, particularly when you have no problem loading/unloading. Maybe the brakes are coming on or the wheels are locking occasionaly and the horse can feel this.

Incidentally you say she is better with a horse or human travelling with her. Please do not feel tempted to travel with the mare in the trailer. Not only is this extremely dangerous it is also illegal. If the mare were to panic you could be killed very easily. A partition separating you from a half ton horse is not sufficient to save you. I know this as this was what happened to me when our horse was having problems. I got into the back of the trailer with him. Dad was only towing at 2-3mph as I wanted to see what was happening to his feet in the trailer and he went down. I was lucky to escape unharmed. Please don't repeat my mistake.

 

[soloequestrian]

Can she see where she is going (ie down the road in front)? It's possible that some horses suffer from motion sickness, the same way people do, and seeing where you are going is the best way to help that.