falling in trailer

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mrsh2010

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Ive been taking my boy out in the same trailer for about nine months now with no problems until just lately. When in company he is travelled on the left as hes a tb and compared to my mum's section d slightly lighter. However the last two outting he has started falling over and i dont know why or what to do.
A friend followed us and said it looks like hr hasnt got the space to spread his back leg wide enough to stable himself, yet we have a wide trailer.
We have tried him without the back partition and although better he still.wasnt 100%
We are going to try him on his own and with him on the right but other than these i dont know what to do.
He loads fine and brings home the rosettes when hes out so im stumped.
I cannot tried him in someones else trailer as i cant risk him booting their trailer as hes done mine
Answers on a postcard please im desperate
 
My TB cannot travel on the left hand side of the trailer, she is all over the place falling, especially round corners. Maybe it's a TB thing lol? She travels perfectly on the right so now she will always travel that way.. I would swap with the Sec D...
 
I would put him on the right he prob cant balance himself the road naturally dips to the left and more pot holes that side so he prob cant stand up straight.
 
My boy did this, was ok for two years, then all of a sudden started falling on the corners, to the point that I didn't want to take him anywhere!
We took the partition out (I only ever towed just him), and he travelled fine again. Its bizarre how they all of a sudden start
 
My pony does this when he is on the left. To the point we don't even leave the yard before he's throwing himself on the floor of the trailer yet he travels perfectly on the right either by himself or with another horse.

I'd try swapping them over. I did speak to ifor about having them the wrong way round in terms of weight and they assured me it wasn't a problem.
 
kateknights said:
My boy did this, was ok for two years, then all of a sudden started falling on the corners, to the point that I didn't want to take him anywhere!
We took the partition out (I only ever towed just him), and he travelled fine again. Its bizarre how they all of a sudden start
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This. I know of quite a few horses who travel perfectly for years and then start chucking themselves to the floor - I've had two, one was so bad he would begin falling as soon as I closed the doors! Absolutely take the partition out OR if you have an Ifor or Bateson where the partition is in 2 parts (front and back) then just take out the back section, that way you still have the front half and the breast bar. They spread their hind legs out and are absolutely fine after that! I easily travelled these two horses with another horse beside them occassionally, they dont seem to step on each other/kick.

I dont know what started it with the first horse, but with my second one it started after we had our trailer back from being checked over at our local garage. After our 1/2 hour journey where he'd started making a bit of noise in the back we checked the tyre pressures and the garage had made them too high - not by a huge amount but enough I guess to make the trailer bouncier than usual. Even after we fixed it, the horse slowly got worse so we just took out the back partition section and it cured him, back to being perfect silent traveller again. So CHECK YOUR TYRE PRESSURES!
 
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If your horse travels alone it should always travel on the right hand side, so both horse and trailer can allow for the camber of the road.

Sorry if I am teaching any one to suck eggs :o
 
If you have a IFW you can buy a one piece breast bar.
what make is your trailer?

Have you checked your horse might he have a nerve trapped eg in his poll that is affecting his balance.
Does it happen on straights or curves or both?
 
if he has just started doing this then there is either
A something wrong with the trailer
its worth getting it looked at as someone on here started having problems and there was an unbalance on the trailer i can't remember what
B something wrong with the driving (sorry but it is possible when people have been towing a while and build confidence )
C something wrong with the horse
i know two who started having problems then within a few months they discovered hock problems , they both were treated and then went on to travel fine again

so i'd get the trailer , horse and the driver ;) serviced if i was to find myself with a problem traveling
 
kateknights said:
My boy did this, was ok for two years, then all of a sudden started falling on the corners, to the point that I didn't want to take him anywhere!
We took the partition out (I only ever towed just him), and he travelled fine again. Its bizarre how they all of a sudden start
Click to expand...

have one like this - no partition or partition open and he is fine, plus I drive really slow
 
Mine can't travel on the left. She banged and crashed about. Very alarming. On the right, she's quiet as a mouse and snoozes.
 
I would suggest experimenting....try him by himself on the right with and then without the divider for a start....if he travels ok then add the other pony - without the divider first, then if all is ok add the divider....inability to spread the legs is the major cause of scrambling....
 
I would first get the chiropractor out - its quite a well known fact that horses with back/neck problems don't travel well in trailers

I'd also put down a deep bed of straw, pack it well down - it seems to help
 
With the rubber mats standard in trailers/floats I wouldn't have thought a straw bed would make a difference.....unlike in the old days with steel floors!!
 
Alyth said:
With the rubber mats standard in trailers/floats I wouldn't have thought a straw bed would make a difference.....unlike in the old days with steel floors!!
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Get rubber trailer floors wet and you might as well put them on ice! Wet rubber is very slippery. One dung trodden on a few times - squeezes lots of liquid out and makes the floor slippery.

With the wooden floors we always used straw and rarely ever had a bad traveller.

When I took my bosses horse to shows he would stagger around the whole way - she had a flash trailer with rubber matting. I put straw down and he stopped immediately.
 
He's had the chiropractor twice now after every fall
We have a bayhill huntemsman, but weve gutted it, rebuilt it and its got a ifor williams partition in it.
Its been serviced recently. Floor is fine as we put that a year ago.
Will try him on the right today and will see what happens.
Thank you. So glad im not alone x
 
It will be a balance issue - horses do not lean on things they spread their feet if they have balance issues so take the partition out and I would bet that you won't have any more problems.

I have a Camera in my trailer - that really clearly let me identify the problem and see tht the horse needs to stand a bit herringbone to travel.
 
glad some people have had improvements with no partition- going to give that a try with my mare. she has travelled ok in 3.5, but I only have a trailer, and the last 2 times she has been out, with another horse, she has sweated up, struggled to keep standing and even pulled a back shoe off. just having to fork out to get a full length breast bar made as I have an old rice I cant find one for.

I've never heard about putting them on the right instead of left? I though the heavier is meant to be on the left so she has always been on the left hand side. didn't know side could make such a difference.

some people have said the driver should actually speed up instead of slow down as then the horse has no choice but to balance! (obviously still going slowly round corners!)
 
pippixox said:
glad some people have had improvements with no partition- going to give that a try with my mare. she has travelled ok in 3.5, but I only have a trailer, and the last 2 times she has been out, with another horse, she has sweated up, struggled to keep standing and even pulled a back shoe off. just having to fork out to get a full length breast bar made as I have an old rice I cant find one for.

I've never heard about putting them on the right instead of left? I though the heavier is meant to be on the left so she has always been on the left hand side. didn't know side could make such a difference.

some people have said the driver should actually speed up instead of slow down as then the horse has no choice but to balance! (obviously still going slowly round corners!)
Click to expand...

Heaviest horse should be on the drivers side - on the crown of the road.

Putting the heavier horse on the left causes the trailer to travel into the gutter - and on cambered roads can even tip the trailer.
 
Our Sec D used to always fall over in the trailer. We found that putting him on the right hand side stopped it completely as he found it easier not going over pot holes and things, so perhaps you could swap them over?

I also think he found it easier to keep himself up right when his lead rope was slightly shorter, but make sure its tied to string so if he does go over it snaps.
 
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