Encouraging horse to stand nicely on trailer

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ellis9905

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So my daughters pony is quite impatient about standing on the trailer between classes/ or at rallies etc.... He always has a good quality haynet which keeps him occupied for a short while.

Does anyone use any kinda treat lick or lickit type thing?? Was thinking of a removable one that I could just attach to clip when he starts to get impatient

Thoughts please ??
 
There is a likit that hangs from a rope. Could click that up during classes, just don'r drive with it on or it might whack him in the face!

I know many people dont like them as they have sugar in them,but there are a few variations. You have gave me a plan now to take one with me at the weekend!

The only trouble is they end up with a messy face ;)
 
Just left mine to deal with his stampy tantrums and he soon learnt he got no attention or treats for making a kerfuffle, always has a haynet so the game is to put as much hay on the floor as poss (can live with that)
 
Leave with a haynet and don't let him out til he's quiet. Training far better for the horse than sugary junk foods!

Mine all see the trailer like a stable now and they are completely calm while in it.

If you always load and drive off immediately or stop and unload immediately then you train them to be unsettled.
 
The only thing for impatience is to let them know it gets them nowhere. My stallion will be naughty and stamp and rear, so I close up the box and leave him for a bit then go back in. Only been out twice so can't tell if the method works haha. He will need to get used to it cause he will be standing as I show my gelding!
 
Mine used to sway the box a bit at a show.

I would fasten everything down so he was secure and let him realise that he would get no attention whatsoever. It lasted 4-5 trips before he realised. I would intentionally get to a venue an hour early, make sure all was well, then leave him with it.

He is now really chilled out in his box, and when he gets out too. I think it is about not adding to his drama, but having a coffee instead!
 
Red-1 said:
Mine used to sway the box a bit at a show.

I would fasten everything down so he was secure and let him realise that he would get no attention whatsoever. It lasted 4-5 trips before he realised. I would intentionally get to a venue an hour early, make sure all was well, then leave him with it.

He is now really chilled out in his box, and when he gets out too. I think it is about not adding to his drama, but having a coffee instead!
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Just like teaching a baby to go to sleep... establish the expectation that the trailer is quiet time. Acting up won't bring mum running, so might as well settle down, and ooh, look.... hay!
 
Thanks for all the comments... I appreciate the learning to stand quietly...it's very daunting hearing them stomp and bang! But I shall preserve with the standing nicely!
 
It does take a few outings for them to realise their job is to just stand still and eat the hay. However both ours that have had to learn to do this (one used to get impatient just at traffic lights so you can imagine what he was like on arrival at a show ), and it took probably a dozen outing s to get this just right. However one thing that I found makes a big difference is to open the top door at the front of the trailer so he/she can see out, work out where they are and see what's going on. Not sure if that is because both are nosey, or if it just distracts them from the stomping!
 
if they are just neighing and moving a bit,the occasional paw then i leave them to it, but if they are absolutely kicking seven shades out the lorry they get hobbled..........................wont risk ££££££££ in repair or vet bills.

One is hobbled behind to travel and when left standing as has kicked through in to the cab before(3.5ton lorry) and the other is hobbled in front if travelling alone (is 100% ok in company) or when left standing if alone,as climbs the tack lockers. These are the first 2 ive had to hobble and despite initially not wanting to, once they learn they cant be obnoxious impatient little gits, they just stand and eat. The one that is hobbled in front DOES do it as an anxiety response but the more he does it the more he winds himself up and tries to repeat it, we hobbled him for the first time yesterday and after one paw, he then stood cool as a cucumber and ate his haynet instead of winding himself up in to a muck sweat..................if the hobbles break his habit well enough he might not even always need them.
 
Radio playing on a chat show or tuned into a classical radio station.
I always leave mine tied to the back of the trailer and find when he gets bored he enjoys peeling away the paintwork off the mudguard with his hoof although I carefully monitor him and he is always well within view of me. A nice haynet usually does the trick.
 
Prince33Sp4rkle said:
if they are just neighing and moving a bit,the occasional paw then i leave them to it, but if they are absolutely kicking seven shades out the lorry they get hobbled..........................wont risk ££££££££ in repair or vet bills.

One is hobbled behind to travel and when left standing as has kicked through in to the cab before(3.5ton lorry) and the other is hobbled in front if travelling alone (is 100% ok in company) or when left standing if alone,as climbs the tack lockers. These are the first 2 ive had to hobble and despite initially not wanting to, once they learn they cant be obnoxious impatient little gits, they just stand and eat. The one that is hobbled in front DOES do it as an anxiety response but the more he does it the more he winds himself up and tries to repeat it, we hobbled him for the first time yesterday and after one paw, he then stood cool as a cucumber and ate his haynet instead of winding himself up in to a muck sweat..................if the hobbles break his habit well enough he might not even always need them.
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Wow and you criticise me for the way I look after my horse????
Years ago someone I know hobbled her horse but forgot to take them off when she led it down the ramp. Hit its head on the roof and nearly KO'd itself.
 
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applecart14 said:
Wow and you criticise me for the way I look after my horse????
Years ago someone I know hobbled her horse but forgot to take them off when she led it down the ramp. Hit its head on the roof and nearly KO'd itself.
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Well there's no accounting for stupidity. Honestly, we all have tales to tell, but just because that woman led her horse hobbled doesn't for a minute think PS would!!/

Years ago I watched a horse get shot at a showground because it was pawing the mudflap and went through it, and broke a leg irreparably. And yes, the owner was grooming it at the time; watching a horse has never prevented it injuring itself, and I personally think actively allowing your horse, to fiddle with any part of your trailer in that way is reckless.
 
thanks Llanali :)

1. i have a brain in my head and thus have never forgotten to take the hobbles off and 2. why do you think preventing injuries is a bad thing?! One kicks out of impatience and the other because he's a 4yo stallion thug who thinks everything is a game, including climbing on the tack lockers.

i like my horses legs in 1 bit and having a sound horse to ride....................................

and how did it hit its head on the roof? fishy tale if you ask me...................
 
No problem; it's one thing that always annoys me! Just because X did something once and Y happened, does not mean Y will always happen... You could say that about anything!
 
I used to have this problem with my mare.

She used to act up as soon as the movement stopped. So, when we arrived anywhere or stopped in traffic!

She used to instantly calm down when she was tied to the lorry instead, which meant it was a right pain to go enter competitions/walk courses/ grab a cuppa!

After going competing every weekend for the entire summer, she now considers the box to be her stable on wheels. I leave her on there whilst I'm doing things at the yard when we get back.

One thing I did change, I removed all partitions in the lorry so she travels tied up but has a lot of space. This has relaxed her a lot. She really enjoys looking out of the 3 windows and starts to whinney when we pull up into the road my yard is on!
 
Llanali said:
No problem; it's one thing that always annoys me! Just because X did something once and Y happened, does not mean Y will always happen... You could say that about anything!
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Sighs... I didn't say she would do this, and I didn't say it would happen to her. For crikes sake, I was just relaying something that had happened to a fellow liveries horse about 20 years ago. She had to get the vet out as he was quite badly concused. She forget to take them off, led him of the front ramp, he lost his balance and up came his head.

I can't understand why ANYONE would suggest I would make up something like that, or why I'd even want to, geez what is wrong with folks on here???? My own horse was concussed when someone scared him whilst tied up outside his stable. He was tied to bailing twine but the twine never broke and as he pulled back his lead rope snapped, he went over onto his head, was badly concussed and I had to get the vet out to him. (Not making that up either just so you know).

And Princess S I did not say that preventing injuries was not a bad thing so don't put words in my mouth, I simply said that this is a unkind and unnecessary thing to do when with a bit of patience, time and understanding you can stop your horse kicking the ***** out of the lorry in the first place. I should think if the horse panics at being hobbled it would kick the lorry a lot more.

I also like having a sound horse to ride which is why I have spent my life and thousands of pounds obtaining that goal :D
 
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i would love to know exactly HOW you would train a horse to not kick whilst on the move and you are driving the lorry? and ditto how in motion you would stop over half a ton of horse jumping up on the tack locker? go on please enlighten me as to how YOU would stop these ever happening again bearing in mind the horse could easily have broken its leg or cut an artery kicking through in to the cab through the GRP,marine ply,rubber AND the back of the cab or broken its shoulder once it became wedge on the tack locker and partition?

if you would risk that happening again for the sake of wearing some *unkind* hobbles you are a fool. They dont fight the hobbles they learn to stand quietly. Its safer for them and safer for people handling them-the first time Goof got up on the tack locker he destroyed virtually the entire inside of the lorry half way through road works on the motorway and NMT had to travel in with him and twitch him with her fingers for 2 hours all the way home to keep him calm and safe, you really think thats safer and kinder than hobbling them?!
 
Prince33Sp4rkle said:
i would love to know exactly HOW you would train a horse to not kick whilst on the move and you are driving the lorry? and ditto how in motion you would stop over half a ton of horse jumping up on the tack locker? go on please enlighten me as to how YOU would stop these ever happening again bearing in mind the horse could easily have broken its leg or cut an artery kicking through in to the cab through the GRP,marine ply,rubber AND the back of the cab or broken its shoulder once it became wedge on the tack locker and partition?

if you would risk that happening again for the sake of wearing some *unkind* hobbles you are a fool. They dont fight the hobbles they learn to stand quietly. Its safer for them and safer for people handling them-the first time Goof got up on the tack locker he destroyed virtually the entire inside of the lorry half way through road works on the motorway and NMT had to travel in with him and twitch him with her fingers for 2 hours all the way home to keep him calm and safe, you really think thats safer and kinder than hobbling them?!
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You know what?? You just like arguing for the sake of it. Its okay for you to slag me off and slate me and tell me all the error of my ways continually making out that I am some kind of monster the way I treat my horse, but when I express an opinion about you, you don't like it and throw your teddies out the pram.
 
Llanali said:
Years ago I watched a horse get shot at a showground because it was pawing the mudflap and went through it, and broke a leg irreparably. And yes, the owner was grooming it at the time; watching a horse has never prevented it injuring itself, and I personally think actively allowing your horse, to fiddle with any part of your trailer in that way is reckless.
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Err, where in my post did I say that I 'activelly allowed my horse to fiddle with my trailer or mudflap????' Are you mad??? I never do, but when he was tied up he could still reach it, so I will often cross tie him now. He caused a dent to it, which my dad knocked out, repainted and it was as good as new.

With regards to the horse in your story putting its foot through the mudguard and breaking its leg, your very words LLanali to me earlier were:

it's one thing that always annoys me! Just because X did something once and Y happened, does not mean Y will always happen... You could say that about anything!

Whats good for the goose and all that............ :)
 
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applecart14 said:
You know what?? You just like arguing for the sake of it. Its okay for you to slag me off and slate me and tell me all the error of my ways continually making out that I am some kind of monster the way I treat my horse, but when I express an opinion about you, you don't like it and throw your teddies out the pram.
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no teddy throwing my dear i asked you a direct question which you cant answer which just proves the point that actually YOU are trying to create an argument where there was none :)
 
applecart14 said:
Radio playing on a chat show or tuned into a classical radio station.
I always leave mine tied to the back of the trailer and find when he gets bored he enjoys peeling away the paintwork off the mudguard with his hoof although I carefully monitor him and he is always well within view of me. A nice haynet usually does the trick.
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sounds like pawing(ie fiddling) the mudflap to me??????
 
Llanali said:
No problem; it's one thing that always annoys me! Just because X did something once and Y happened, does not mean Y will always happen... You could say that about anything!
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Prince33Sp4rkle said:
sounds like pawing(ie fiddling) the mudflap to me??????
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I dont actively let him though, which is what I was accused off, to add to all my other dreadful misdemeaners towards my horse over the years, the cruelty that horse has endured under the direction of an excellent farrier, ACPAT registered physio and one of the top vets to to mention the hours I have spent rehabbing the horse. Good god, its amazing I should be allowed to keep a horse at all the way you make out. I am expecting a visit from the RSPCA any day now. You do make me laugh you sound so ridiculous.
 
The money you spend on horses is NO measure of the care they receive, spending thousands and treating them like a machine is worse than treating them fairly to start with and not having to spend thousands on treatment..................................
 
Prince33Sp4rkle said:
The money you spend on horses is NO measure of the care they receive, spending thousands and treating them like a machine is worse than treating them fairly to start with and not having to spend thousands on treatment..................................
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Treating him like a machine????? When he was sound schooling for 25 minutes a day two or three days per week, hacking twice a week, jumping two classes of 12 jumping efforts at 2ft 6 once a week. Gosh yes, I can see what you mean, he was practically on his knees with work overload, poor soul. You are grossly missinformed or wholly ignorant of what me and my horse have done over the years. Not sure who feeds you your info, but your informer is not very good at their job.

Well I guess I could just have him shot like you did with your horse but I am prepared to put in a bit more of an effort with mine. And I have always treated my horse fairly to start off with, and I don't know why you should say that I haven't. As far as I am concerned I have always looked after him to the best of my ability and anyone that says I haven't doesn't know me or my horse very well at all. That's all I'm going to say on the PS I am not prepared to get into another boring long winded debate with you, so please retract your claws or take your resentment out on a mouse. :)
 
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You stand and watch him, but that's not actively letting him? If you are in close proximity as you say, and are not prohibiting him, I'd say that was letting him....

And can you not grasp the irony? I related the tale to show that that horse did it and was injured but yours does it and wasn't!!

You really are a piece of work.
 
thank you again Llanali :)

Applecart you are deluded and spiteful and thick. I DID spend thousands, on diagnostics, over a period of 4 years we repeated most tests at least twice and not a single thing was ever found...and by tests i mean x rays of every joint and back and neck, scans of all ligaments, trials on painkillers, scopes and trials of ulcer treatment anyway, every thing bar a full body MRI basically. The vets were completely happy there was never any injury or illness to account for the dangerous behavior of my beloved Pea. As such he could not be treated and thus after he nearly threw himself over a motorway bridge(with me on board) and attacked me in the field on 2 consecutive days, we concluded PTS was best and i'm sure anyone with half a brain would agree.

i dont have to justify myself to you but just so any new people reading this thread understand what happened :) i am not ashamed of my choice to PTS and never will be, the horse wasnt right in the head and thus wasnt happy in his day to day existence, there was nothing else that could be done and the kindest thing was to let him be at peace.

so yes i did have him shot, before he flipped out completely and broke either his back or mine. If you think thats grounds for criticism you need shooting yourself.
 
There's no need to thank me, PS. I'm sorry for your loss, and I knew little about it, but almost regardless of what had or had not happened, that comment was one of the most hideous things I have read in quite some time.
 
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