How to stop horse sitting on back bar when travelling?

[Flight]

Hi, Me and friend both have same problem with our horses. They both load fine but when travelling will almost sit on the bar/ramp at back of trailer. This can lead to the back part of partition coming a bit loose and half falling off, I drive very carefully with them in but they still do it. I regularly travel 2 other horses and neither of them do it. Friends horse actually rubbed tail red raw in one patch other day in only a 15min drive, despite having a tail bandage and tail guard on. Mine is an appy x with already sparse tail so need him not to rub it off. Does anyone have any suggestions how to stop them doing this?

 

[Kallibear]

It's due to lack of balance. You say you drive carefully but sometimes it's easy to loose sight of HOW carefully you need to drive with a trailer, esp on roads with unlevelness (basically all roads at present!) Have you ever traveled in a trailer with the horse? It's not until you do that you realise how horrific bumps and dips in the road are

I had a mare who would bend the partition bar after even a couple of mins. Only way I solved it was to travel her without a partition so she could stand diagonally.

The other thing we've had to do with a really bad traveller was have someone standing in the trailer with her and showing her how to stand up. I pretty sure it's illegal but it was that or tip the trailer over She travelled in with the horse and told her how to stand as they went: intially the horse was literally throwing herself on the wall and scrabbling but with a bit of practise the horse quickly learnt to stand properly. She also stopped her from sitting on the bumbar, which helped too. Once she got the idea she calmed down and travelled ok.

 

[Pheme]

Only way I've figured is to travel angle load or in a lorry. Trying to actively balance on all four feet is way harder than just sitting on the butt bar(for the horse) and you can't do much about it once the ramp's up.
Is there something in the front of the trailer? Mine sit back if they're bickering or if they have haynets swinging in front of them. In the trailer I use you can only secure the haynet so it either swings around or is tied right at the horse's chest, both bad positions for eating without pushing them to the back of their space.

 

[scarymare]

What trailer do you use? If poss you can move the partition on the angle to allow them to spread their legs. Other than this it is difficult as if they want to sit down on the bar, very little you can actually do - you could stick a big haynet round it I suppose? Not sure if this would put them off though and could be dangerous

 

[canteron]

Take the partition out!!

Its due to balance - I spent many years finding this out. If you have a Trailer camera I suspect it would be obvious horse can balance better with more room.

 

[Flight]

Thanks for replies, I have tried driving really really slow with mine and he still does it. I have started taking the bar out of the back on his side which is better as he doesn't dislodge the partition. Friends horse is far worse than mine though. She has tried him in a lorry and that didn't help he still does it just as bad. Was thinking about standing in front bit and pulling him forward but as you say it is probably very illegal. Could maybe just do it on quiet housing estate or something. Any body think of any other crafty tricks to try?