Horses In Trailers

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carnivalg

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Hello

i havent posted here much if anytime before and sorry if this is in the wrong post, i just wanted to get some feedback on people that travel their horses regularly so i thought competition riders may be a good place to start. Apologies for the long post but Im hoping people on here can try to shed some light on a couple of issues ive experienced recently with travelling horses in trailers.
I have had my mare for 7 years and she has travelled in trailers, lorries the lot, you name it shes travelled in it good as gold, cool calm and collected, short distance, long distance and the whole time good as gold no issues, never sweaty and always cool calm and collected on arrival, travelling and departure. For the last year she has been traveliing in my friends HB505 Ifor (approx 4 years old) and also my other friends Equitrek trailer with no issues in either. Both are towed with range Rovers which are approx 5 years old and both are very careful and considerate when towing. So about 6 weeks ago my friend and i loaded the horses up in the Ifor, hers on the right and mine on the left as usual. About 1 hour in and about 1/2 hour from our destination we hear noises from the trailer, we pull over i check them and all ok, 10 minutes later the same so again we stop and i check them and both ok. We arrive at our destination and open the jockey door and much to our horror and my distress my mare is down in the trailer. We take my friends horse off and off load my mare who the whole time remains cool calm and collected. We then give them a rest and some water and hay and re load her to take them straight back home, she walked straight back on no problem. We put hay down in the trailer as it was raining and we thought maybe she had lost her footing and slipped. ten minutes down the road and my friend can no longer see her head in her rear view mirror and she was down again. What then transpired was every horse owners worst nightmare. I had to call the police to stop the traffic as we had to get my friends horse off as my mare was down and not showing signs of getting up. To cut a traumatic and extremley upsetting story short, my other friends arrived with their Equitrek which she had travelled in before as it was apparent she could not travel back in the Ifor. We re loaded her into the Equitrek, again cool calm and collected the whole time even tho i was in bits! She was shaking once she was inside (there was no way she was travelling back alone) and as soon as we pulled away she was literally throwing herself at the side of the trailer, its like she had no confidence in her self travelling which is understandable given what had happened. For the hour and and a half journey home she was barely able to stand and each time she threw herself against the wall i had to shout at her to use her legs. We got home and off loaded her and again she was calm and the vet met us on arrival. i was extremley luck that day as she got away with several bad lacerations and cuts and grazes but apart from that she is doing ok now. i havent tried to load her again just yet as im waitng the all clear from the back lady. Anyhow (thank you for getting this far!) so today my friend with the Ifor takes her horse out on his own and again hes been travelling in this trailer for a year no bother. Ten minutes away from her destination, the noise starts so she checks him and he is sweaty and a bit upset but still standing. She arrives and he a little on his toes but didnt go down. on leaving the venue the noise starts again and she checked him 3 times before she even got out of the car park! and something just wasnt right, hes scrabbling around and in distress but has not fallen down. (given what she had witnessed with my mare she was not going to attepmt to travel him back in the trailer) So a mutual friend picks him up in a lorry to which he travelled home in ok. The trailer was serviced approx 3 months ago, and we have checked it out and it will be checked again by a professional now as both horses were 100% to travel before together or alone and now this situation has arisen which is worrying us both as we just dont know why this has happened.
has anyone on here ever had this happen to them before or could perhaps help us to try to understand why this happened? and bow both our horses have had issues. people we speak to our flumoxed as they have never heard of this happening before.
Much appreciated if youve taken the time to read this.
 
Sounds lots like my girl. Fine for years then suddenly not, with no real reason not to be.

I've established mine travels best with bare legs, or bandages instead of boots.

Also she prefers the right to the left.

Interestingly, mine is MUCH MUCH worse in an Ifor. Shes only 13h and managed to completely destroy the rear half of the partion in an Ifor. In my Bateson or a Richardson she has been fine.

As an aside, I always use a very old peice of twine in the trailer, with a leather headcollar.
 
You certainly got a bit of a mystery on your hands? have you tryed standing in the trailer ( yes I know this is against the law, but only if they catch you) while your friend drives up the road for a few miles to see if there is anything that might be upsetting the horses. also check to see if the fumes from the exhaust are not getting into the trailer some how, test with a carbon tester, sorry not much help, hope you get to the bottom of your mystery.
 
My boy did exactly the same thing in our Ifor, no idea what started it but he's never travelled in an ifor with a partition again. He traveled OK in it without a partition. He traveled perfectly in my pals Equitrek with the partition in and now travels fine in a lorry.

Sorry not much help!
 
I know you said the trailer has been checked, but a horse is a considerable weight and it could well be that with that weight in the trailer something will show up.

I would check tyre pressures, tow hitch to chassis security, wheel bearings, axle security and with a horse in, but with the trailer stationary I would have a good look at the leaf springs.

There is always the chance that it is your friends horse getting upset that cause your horse to lose her footing. The alternative is that you have two horses that previously travelled fine, both now having the same trouble in the same trailer. The engineer in me says that if the latter is the case, then there IS a mechanical problem with the trailer.
 
My mare did this. Have had her 9 years, travelled in everything like a dream, then one day BAM.
Again in an ifor 2 horse trailer, would load fine, as soon as set off would throw her self to the side and gallop up the edge. If you stopped, she stopped - cool as a cucumber. Could unload and reload fine.
I tried her with/without a friend and either side of trailer - same.
I then stopped travelling her in trailers for a year as could not risk her injuring herself or becoming a problem to load or scaring herslf. So only travelled her in side facing or backwards facing lorries - no problems.
About 2 months ago a friend passed her trailer test and got a trailer. I decided to try Bramble again out of interest. Waltzed straight in as usual, set off and was fine. I have been travelling her in a trailer since then absolutely fine. Very odd. However she will now only travel on the right hand side. I have no idea what it was or why she did it, but she is 100% again now.
SO advice.
Well my mare started doing it when she was 13. she is now 14. Many people suggested it could be hormones - and is apparently quite common in teenage mares. Bramble is only 14.2 - some people suggested she had too much room in a trailer and needed to feel boxed in like in a wagon.
I really dont know what it was. Very bizaree. However research on travelling horses has shown that they cope better and prefer to travel facing backwards and failing that , herringbone.
 
We had a pony who used to do something similar. She woild lean on the partition and scrable her feet up the isde of the trailer. She never actually went down though.
We saw an article in Horse & Rider that basically said that horses that do this have forgotton how to balance themselves. The advice was to remoce centre partition, cross tie the horse (travelling alone obviously) & that way they can't lean & have to balance themselves.
I also knew a horse who would lie down as soon as she was loaded & stay down for miles. When destination was reached she would uite calmly stand up & wait to be unloaded.
 
a) Is your mare by Carnaval Drum (only asking because it's the way your name's spelt)? We used to have a CD mare and she was fab but rather temperamental...

b) We had a mare who used to do just collapse sideways with no warning. She'd sweat up horrendously and then crash sideways. We ended up filling the trailer up with straw (less noise and when she couldn't see her feet move she was better) and moved the partition out. Then we'd go on treks round the block at 2mph with 2 people with her plying her with sweeties and calm words and reassurance. Eventually (literally did this every day for a month) we could travel her with other horses but we could never get above 25mph without her freaking.
 
Hi I have read all your post and I knew I had to reply. I remember looking on here about 3-4 yrs ago I think, and I was after buying a trailer. I cant remember what post it was but I was horrified to hear the same stories from different people. There were a few people who had problems similar to yours and they were all connected to the IW trailer. They thought it has something to do with the ali floor??? This is the reason I got the RR as I was looking at the IW til I read this as my horse was a funny traveller and I didnt want any more issues to deal with.
The stories were all similar about horses which had travelled without problems then a couple of them only just after 2-3 journeys, some were more, they were having fits of the horses trying to throw themselves onto the sides of the walls, as if to get their feet off the floor.
Not sure exactly but it seemed that the IW was the only floor to be aluminium. Whether it was the vibration, or noise, no-one knew but a couple of them had tried their horses in different trailers soon after with no ill effects.
It is very strange dont you think that your horses did it in this trailer but were fine in the other trailer and the lorry?
Its strange that she wanted her feet off the floor too.
It could be some sort of shock effect??? Who knows...
I`m sure this must be the problem as it all fits to this old post. Try and have a search in the old lounge, you may find it..
 
Exactly the same thing happened with my Dad's mare in a new IW505, only difference being that she didn't go down. It turned out that the trailer brakes were sticking on. This did not happen when the trailer was empty, the weight making the difference. The mare had to be sedated when traveling in a trailer for some time afterwards, but was fine in a lorry. She would load into a trailer, but as soon as it moved, she would throw herself against the partition and scrabble.

I recently traveled my gelding in a friends IW506. He is a seasoned traveler and never moves in a trailer once you have set off and he has made himself comfortable. But in the 506, he fidgeted constantly, rubbed his tail raw despite having a tail bandage on and pulled a hind shoe off on the way home.

I was put off IW after the first incident, and after the experience with the 506, I would never have one again. I have an ancient Sinclair, every horse that has been in it has loaded well and traveled beautifully, so I will keep that going for as long as possible.
 
we had a 13.2hh pony who was the same travelled fine for 18months in the ifor then decided no more, he went down several times but would always load staright back in. we then travelled him without partition and it never happened again
 
My friend's got an old competition pony, hes evented all his life and is now 20 years old. He did exactly the same, just went down in her trailer as soon as they set off and her trailer isn't an ifor but it was a 2 horse one.

They're tried him in a box and as soon as they started the engine he did exactly the same.

Mystery..!
 
my mare did exactly the same thing as yours - travelled perfectly for years in both a single trailer and an Ifor 510. the ifor got recalled and they replaced the flooring - when it came back she had problems and ended up on the floor. the first time it happened luckily we were only 30 mins hack back to our yard so she didnt go back in the trailer that day.

we tried a few occassions driving her around the yard in the trailer. she was fine to load but as soon as the car moved she fell down. we didnt get far at all - only a few metres before she was unloaded.

We sold the trailer and bought a horse box and she travelled on the back near the ramp with 2 partitions width so if she wanted something to lean on she had a solid wall. we never tied her up so she could find the best place to balance and never had a problem with her
eventually we sold the lorry and bought an Equitrek - shes never had a problem with this. I believe research has been done into horses preferring to travel backwards - its certaily true in my mares case.
 
This is really common so don't beat yourself up. In teh states it's called wall walking, as they do lean and try to brace by 'walking' wedging their feet against the rigid wall.
It is really common in Ifor Williams.
I know 5 horses who have done this including Sienna, who was always a dream to travel. I bought a lorry and gave her a nice big partition. Other solutions are to take the partition out altogether & to swap them over to the other side.
 
I would travel her without the partition in and without boots on (and before anyone shoots me down, I am not the only person to travel without boots... I have rarely seen anyone on the hunting field travel a horse in boots).

My horse hates the partitions in my trailer so I travel him without them, with full length breaching bars and cross tied at the front. He usually wedges himself in one corner and travels diagonally which he seems perfectly happy with. He was 13 when I got him (I think, possibly 14) and had never ever been travelled with boots on. I tried the first few times and he was all over the place. He gets v upset when he has them on, won't walk, gets stressed and either won't load or scrabbles about when he is on the trailer. I now only travel him with over reach boots on (plus poll guard and tail bandage) and he's much happier.
 
How scary. My mare went through a phase of doing this, luckily not going down but wall 'walking'. I ordered a full breach bar and was about to take the partition out when someone suggested trying her in the left side for a few trips. for some reason this seemed to break the cycle. She still does it occasionally and always on a left turn, probably cos she doesn't have the side of the trailer to lean on as with a right turn. If I make one turn a bit sharp she remembers it for the rest of the trip! Most of the time though she is a complete angel. Its very stressful though and like others have said I have hear the ifors with ali floors can cause problems for some reason
 
One thing I would say is invest in a camera system for the trailer - even if you are using a friends, you can have a removable system which is your own and simply suckers onto the wall inside the trailer

My horse stopped travelling quite so well in the ifor 510, however the reason was he had forgotten to balance on the bends, and I could see him collapsing to the side.

Therefore I just watched the camera and slowed right down on all corners and bends and watched what he was doing with his front legs. Problem was solved.

People who drive trailers often go far too fast around the corners, even if you think it feels ok being sat in the car.

I think many people are too quick to blame the trailer and won't point the finger at the driver!
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The problem is, once a horse has had a bad experience anxiety increases the chance it will have another one. Horses are very associative and if a trailer has "hurt" them once, they're quite within their rights to be frightened of it again.

I'm not a fan of full partitions. A horse has to spread its legs to balance and it only takes one occasion when it can't do that sufficiently to cause anxiety.

I'd also agree with a mechanical check and a thorough investigation of the trailer. I saw one horse develop an issue when the matting in the front came away from the floor - it wasn't obvious when you walked on it or the trailer was still but it moved under the horse's nose over bumps etc. Imagine how scary it would be to see a solid floor suddenly moving!

To add to CSJ very valid point, I do see quite a few people drive slowly through the corner initially then speed up as soon as the towing vehicle is straight. This has the effect of "whipping" the trailer around the last half of the turn and it can easily knock a horse off balance, which then makes the horse anticipate the next corner fearfully and sets up a bad dynamic. I know it's embarrassing to be creeping around corners out on the road but it's essential the driver accelerates smoothly only when the trailer is completely through the turn.
 
I have to say that it sounds like there is an issue with the trailer... BUT I had a horse once, who had travelled in our Rice very happily for about a year. One day, we got to the meet and she was down under the partition. I was terrified as her head was at a frightful angle (she was still tied up!) but she seemed quite happy. She did the same thing on the way back. We took the partition out and put in a full breast bar, travelled her on her own from then on without the partition and she was fine. I don't know why she did it.

Agree with Tarrsteps on driving slowly round corners. I feel very guilty as I must hold people up with my creeping - but if I inch above about 2 mph, I know about it as my horse stamps about!
 
Hi

Thank you all so much for sharing your experiences and information. It is so nice to ehar that we are not alone!!!! We will definatley try removing the partition and x-tying and see how we go from there with the full length breach bar. We had already discussed traveliing on the left or right etc but again thank you. I understand somepeople choose to travel with no bbots as one of my friends does this as her gelding prefers this way but seeing what she did to her travel boots and the injuries she sustined with these on, im afraid thats not an option for me but wach to their own.

Nosurrender - in respons to your question, yes she is a carnaval drum mare. i think you use the word temperamental very lightly there!!!! she is one moody lady!! but a real sweetie when it suits her!!!! like us women i guess
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Trailer is being checked on friday, was particulary interesting reading comments about the flooring on the ifors...
 
I could have written your post.. thats exactly what happened to Mick in the Ifor I owned for 5 weeks.

I had people driving along shouting out their window - your horse is on the floor.. it was terryfying.

We bought an Equitrek and he was throwing himself against the partitions for a few trips, but then he settled as he got confident.

I was mortified I could have damaged my horse. He is never going in an Ifor again - Pile of cr*p.
 
Is your car an automatic?

One of my old ponies travelled fine in a trailer pulled by manual car, but my dads jeep was automatic and really threw himself round corners, but he never went down.

Other than that, can you get a baby camera type thing and tape it to the inside of trailer, and watch on other end, so that you can see whats going on?
 
If you won't travel without boots, do try bandages. My mare is much better in bandages than boots.

Usally travel out with bandages and home bare legged. Shes grey...!
 
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