Do you think horses/ponies think they aren't coming home?

Ambers mum

Ambers mum

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Ok fist of of all I apologise for so many posts in a short time. My daughter has been keeping me up whilst up chucking tonight and I don't want to fall asleep.

In September 2012 my hubby bought me a 23 year old ex RDA pony with issues lol. Basically she has never done hacking alone, I fell of on a road during a massive spook, then again I fell,off in A crop field, same reason and again in the paddock when the wind blew a branch...oooops.

Next issue, after she chucked me off I decided to find her previous owners via the passport and Facebook. Turns out the 7 homes were in a space of 12 months!! She has narcolepsy and everyone I have spoke to loved her and apart from the narcolepsy there were no issues....

So I have a 24 year old nervous wreck...ok so I don't mind as I can still show her and hack in company....oh yeah did I mention she no longer loads? Yep, after 12 months of being passed from pillar to post she won't load on a trailer or box, I know she did easily as my friend that sold her to me loaded her easily in August 2011 when she came to me on trial.

So the question, do you think horses think they may not come back to where they are happy? I have had her 12 months now and until a month ago we hacked to local VHS classes, my firmed bought a trailer and its exactly the same as the one Amber was brought here in and she refuses to load! I have even loaded her field mate and tried Amber in with her and she shivers in fear! Won't even pass it on the drive if the ramps down. Someone said maybe she thinks if she loads she won't come home?....your thoughts and experiences please...


Ps she won't be sold EVER again so it's not a problem just a thought....
 
Yes, I think they are worried about leaving their home and their friends, my boy loaded perfectly, but then I had to move him several times in a year, and he had to leave his pals, so one day he decided not to load........ and when he makes up his mind, he is a problem. He now will go on to a trailer if offered a bucket of feed, but that has taken quite a few attempts, he is cute enough to know if he is staying at home or being asked to leave though, so we are still pretty unsure of his loading. Every time he travels he moves, and without my own trailer I am unable to change this, otherwise I would take him for little runs starting from home and finishing at home.
I must say my boy has no fear though, this indicates a bad traveller which is different, though it may be a combination of both. Re spooking at trailer, just let her sniff, pass no comment, and give treats when she walks towards it voluntarily.
It is a good idea to get her over this fear as you may have to travel her at some time.
To do this I would take the partition out, take her to a safe area with the trailer eg arena], and put up a haynet, you may have to keep her without food for a few hours first to make her a bit more hungry than normal.
 
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No. I don't think that they rationalise like that. Its more a case of them not having good journeys and remembering that, or always going somewhere that they have bad experiences... A horse I knew was given to a local riding centre. She had been a grade B jumper, always out doing things, and suddenly, in her 20s she decided enough was enough, she wasn't going in the box or trailer. She ended up having a quieter retirement to the school, which was probably a better thing!
 
when i first got my horse he was very nervous travelling - am convinced that he thought he was going to another home and this caused the panic. once he got in to a routine and realised he was coming back home he has been a great traveller. your horse has changed homes so many times no wonder they don't want to travel! i would try and build up with short journeys. firstly feed her in the trailer and take her out of the trailer once fed. do this for a few days. then build this up to short journeys. she needs to build up her confidence. she will eventually understand that she comes home again. also try travelling her with a friend if possible.
 
I would imagine that she's had an unpleasant experience with her narcolepsy while travelling. She could easily have gone down in a trailer in the past and scared or hurt herself.

I've never had a horse with narcolepsy, but from what I've read I probably wouldn't be riding it, and I certainly wouldn't be showing it. If she went down in the show ring she could easily hurt or spook another horse.
 
Defo. Samba had never been a problem to load however recently been travelling to clinics and she has had to work hard and over come a lot of her stubbornness under saddle. Now she won't load. Currently boxing to new hacks and she's got a bit better. Also doing ground work is helpful. She loads and then flys out ATM, which she has never done before .
 
RealityCheck said:
I would imagine that she's had an unpleasant experience with her narcolepsy while travelling. She could easily have gone down in a trailer in the past and scared or hurt herself.

I've never had a horse with narcolepsy, but from what I've read I probably wouldn't be riding it, and I certainly wouldn't be showing it. If she went down in the show ring she could easily hurt or spook another horse.
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Narcolepsy isn't as bad as you think. She has never gone down with a rider and it is rare that happens. I do know of horses that it has happened to but they have a rarer form. Amber only falls in the field during times of stress (ie fireworks, changed routines etc). She hasn't fallen in the past 7 or 8 months and my vet has reassured me not to stop riding as she likes going out and about. If she did it whilst ridden I wouldn't even contemplate it.

She travelled perfectly prior to us getting her and had no narcoleptic issues during travel only once she got turned out in a new field. Like I say hers is through stress and my vet has said she is obviously not stressed anymore due to the episodes now being virtually non-exsistant.
 
Yes i do think that. I have not had two horses that were moved around alot before i bought them. The mare never did get over this and not only took 18 months to settle with me but in the end i couldnt travel her as she would freak out as soon as the breast and breech bar was done up. It didnt matter if she was in a lorry or trailer or in company.

My youngster had also been in alot of homes before i got him and also took a while to get to know me and was funny about being loaded for a while. I have since taken him on short journeys in the trailer and made a point of bringing him home again. I can now load him on my own and he is happy.
 
I've been thinking about this but from the opposite direction. 4yrs ago I bought a tiny pony yearling on impulse. She'd spent her first year neglected in a small mudbath excuse for a paddock, with not so much as a sheep insight after her dam died when she was a few months old. She really was a mess, physically & mentally. It being a very sudden purchase, & her unhandled but very weak, she was too tiny for a standard trailer, I actually brought her home in the back of a van. Once home she did spend almost a week in, being pinned down for various treatments. But we always had a different horse in the barn with her at a distance, & for the first time in her life she had enough to eat. When turned out my mare adopted her & she was clearly overjoyed at her new life with company & food. Spent most of her first week out sleeping flat out at my mares feet, I imagine because it was the first time since weaning she didn't have to be on guard. Although there's been issues along the way, she's always been confident to go in small dark places. Even when not halter broken & loose on the yard, she'd follow happily into sheds, trailers, an old chicken house etc. Will also try getting in van/ 4wd boots. Been in our garden shed, & walks into houses etc too. I've always wondered if its something to do with that first van ride, that she now thinks small dark place means good. Doesn't travel much, but when she does is like an old pro.
 
With regards to the Narcolepsy - my mare suffered with it but she was ridden daily until she was pts because of colic. The Narcolepsy had a set trigger as it often does. As long as you avoid the trigger everything was fine for her. She never, ever fell or was sleepy while being ridden.

With regards to the travelling - I know of quite a few older horses that all of a sudden cannot travel well. Sometimes removing the partition helped sometimes not. I'm not sure they have the capability to reason or worry that they may not come home... but who knows?
 
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