Major panic in trailer - huge setback - Help Please

Ravenwood

Ravenwood

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Update on loading the unloadable.

This morning I have had a major set back. Every morning I have been feeding her in the trailer with both ramps down so it is just an open walk through and she walks in first time, I then progressed to putting up the front ramp for a few minutes, or the back ramp or the breech strap etc. But this morning I put up both front and back ramp and she had a major panic, of course I was still outside so I waited a minute and firmly told her stand but it was no good, the trailer started rocking and she was just getting more upset, when I went in the jockey door to calm her she tried to push her way out through it so I let the back ramp down and she burst out. Amazingly though after she calmed down I took her back in again with everything open and she finished her breakfast!

In conclusion then the original not going in is not stubborness, she really is frightened. Tomorrow I will try again with her stablemate who is a very quiet and easy to load pony and see what happens.

Does anyone else have a panicking, clostrophobic horse and did you manage to cure it?
 
We have taken the partition out and we are still not great to load but she is travelling much much better. You should have seen us last night, with her bucket of feed attached to a long length of bailer twine - she would pop in for a mouthful, back out again, lure her back again, back out again!!!!!! She did go through the trailer at least 5 times - once she is eating happily I will start to put the bars in place again
 
i have an 12yo mare who has jumped internationally travelling around the country. last year she had a panic attack on the lorry on the way home from a show. we had to have the police close the road etc. i was given loads of advice on what to do but we could get her on shut the ramp up the minute she heard the lorry engine she was of again. she used to be bombproof on a hack but would not go past a lorry!!!we gave up because of the stress and the damage she was doing to herself and the lorry (£800 for new partitions) we left her for 6 months then had to move yards i got a transport company in with a lorry that was probably about £100k worth she walked up turned around and did not make a sound. i have since used him 3 more times and have come to the conclusion she is a snob and my lorry was not good enough. only joking i think she felt closed in we had our tack locker protruding into the lorry. good luck i gave up and she is now in foal.
 
I would recommmend having everything ready, driver at wheel if possible, then as soon as shes in, ramps up start slowly moving, as soon as the trailers moving she will struggle to really panic *rear etc* as she will need to think about balance, make sure its a nice smooth journey and travel till you are happy she is settled and relaxed. Like I was taught by sue garnder, very decent natural horsemanship trainer, horses won't react more then they have to, because in the wild it would use valuable energy tthst they can't afford to waste. She should relise that it's not hurting her and chill. Having a relaxed friend should help alot. You can get mirrors but surely the horse sees a panicing horse and thinks he should be panicing too?? Oh and make sure all handlers are really confident, maybe don't know he's nervous, this can make all the difference, if she thinks your worried and making a big thing of it he will worry too.
 
My big 17.2hh Gelding used to travel really well in my three horse lorry, then one day he decided that he didn't like it anymore and started to get down, so we had to convert it to a two horse, more room made him feel less claustrophobic, so perhaps your girlie would prefer more room. Also try and make sure you are ready to go as soon as she is loaded....... Good Luck and try not to get stressed as this will not help her at all..... Keep us updated....
 
I know how stressful this can be, we had a young horse that would panic and on several occasions got her front feet over the breast bar in our trailer and had to be assited to free herself . It made every journey a trial. We persevered and she eventually came right. It took a lot of time and perseverance.
We did all the things you are doing but did not let her out if she flapped but kept moving so that she had to concentrate on her balance.
Its not a happy place to be in but dont give up, fingers crossed for you.
 
FMN - im sorry but I really do not agree with you about as soon as the ramps are up to drive off. Surely if shes going to panic shes going to do it whether shes moving or not. I know my mare did with awful consequences. She would load and be fine until the trailer started moving then she would freak. She had never had any problems before so we sold the trailer and bought a wagon. She did the samer thing but broke 2 wagon partitions. Eventually she realised there wasnt a problem but it took months to sort, I even travelled with her in the back to help calm her.
I think that if Ravenwood was to follow your advice she would have more problems on her hands and probably a large vet bill at the end of it.

Also some horses do react more than others - its just their nature. What one will find too much another wont. Each horse needs to be assessed individually and trained in a specific way.
 
Echo above, I do NOT agree with going straight off - horses will NOT settle if their blood is up, they will go down again and again (I have the scars in my trailer to prove it, and P has the scars on her legs
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DEFFO take partitions out if they are not. When you closed the front ramp did you leave the top door open? If not then do so. Does the back of your trailer go all the way to the roof or does it have a gap at the top? There is obviously a real issue here, poor duck
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I would continue with the feeding and slowly try desensitisng her - you do not want her to have an injury. What make of trailer is it?
 
im glad you agree with me Weezy - thought I might get shot down. I think it is awful that FMN would recommend doing this when Ravenwoods mare is obviously upset when shut in.

Chantin is clostraphobic and even though we have a huge trailer she still has a few problems that reappear every so often, but I make sure I am there to reassure her there isnt a problem.

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horses will NOT settle if their blood is up, they will go down again and again

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agree with you completely - all this does is keps their stress levels up, which isnt going to help the situation, in fact make it worse and reinforce her feelings of being shut in.
 
Hi - please note that due to stupid computer I have had to re register!

I have to load my horse on my own so the option of having everything ready and driving off is not possible anyway.

The trailer is an old Ifor Williams Hunter. The front ramp does have an extra door to the top so that was open, same with back ramp.

Unfortunately you cannot take the partition out and leave the chest bar up so if you take out the partition there is nothing inside at all, I have tried this but worry it is a bit dangerous if she has nothing at all to lean on. I do however tie across the back of the partition so that it is wider for her to enter.

I am so upset about this - I really thought that by next weekend I would have progressed to driving her around the block. The other drawback is I have to go down a long bumpy track to leave the yard with a short steep incline to the road.

Please tell me more about mirrors - where do you get them and where do you position them.

Thanks for your replies and encouragement.
 
Conversely I have known horses that plunge and kick when the trailer is stationary, but settle as soon as the trailer/lorry is moving....that certainly applies to many of those that I have travelled..in fact to the extent, when I load mine now the car and trailer are rolling along slowly before the grooms door is even shut, then my passenger shuts them in and jumps in the car. Mine arrive at the other end happy and uninjured having concentrated on keeping their balance.

It works for us, I wouldn't dismiss it out of hand but completely agree that it could cause more problems and injuries and each horse has to be assessed individually
 
Yes but do yours panic the minute the doors are closed - whilst I agree that some that stamp and piss around are better when travelling, if the horse is already throwing its toys out of the pram when the the doors are closed it is going to be unbalanced and moving off could cause the horse to lose the plot altogether - but again this is only my opinion of course
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You can buy full length bars which go all the way across at the front and back, for when you take the partition out. Check with an IW dealer or website.
 
Maybe youve told me before, but has she always had these problems when loading or is it a recent problem?
incidently it was and Ifor 510 that upset my mare - we found out after her accident that someone had written into one of the horsey mags that they were wanting info on other peoples horses having accidents in Ifor trailers as they were taking Ifor Williams to court! Dont know how they got on.
 
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Please tell me more about mirrors - where do you get them and where do you position them.

Thanks for your replies and encouragement.

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Well I think, I might be wrong, but DieselDog has mirrors in her trailer/lorry.

You can get them off eBay - just search equine mirrors, or alternatively you could try a garden mirror which are cheaper. I know they work for horses that get stressed in the stable, but not sure about their success in trailers. However a lady at our yard is having issues regarding travelling and is going to try a mirror so I could let you know how she gets on.

Hope you get things back on track.

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I know how you feel. My boy isn't scared of the lorry, he just doesn't want to be in it!

I have had troubles similar to yours. Where I agree with Wheezy, I have also found that my boy is better once moving. I have tried shutting the ramps and not moving and also shutting the ramps and starting the engine. All he did was kick. However once I was moving he was concentrating on his balance and I didn't here more from him.

I think it is trial and error. Try and get as much light and ventilation as possible. Take it slow and do what you think is best for your horse.

My next problem however is getting him used to standing on the lorry at shows and being tacked up!

Good luck x
 
She has had a funny old life, bought as a 5yo from someone who had bought her at sales and broken her in after having a foal, lightly hunted until rider gave up and then she was turned out for years, went on loan short term a couple of times to people who didn't get on with her and finally I had her 2 years ago (she is 14 now but with very little mileage on the clock). I have had to completely re school her, treating her like a four year old.

When she was a youngster she would run up the ramp absolutely fine until one day the horse beside her savaged her so badly her neck was pouring with blood and if thats not enough it happened again just before I got her.

Since I have had her I have travelled her twice. First on her own and although we eventually managed to get her in, the whole journey she neighed and thrashed, it was a nightmare. Second time with another horse, took hours (literally) to get her in with rearing, falling over, tears etc (but we had to get her home!) but she travelled like a lamb and stood quite happily at the other end with the ramp down until I asked her to walk out.
 
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Its CotswoldSJ that has them in her trailer - DD might do too, but I don't think so.

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Stand corrected
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sounds like shes had to put up with quite a bit and I can understand why she gets upset.
Ill speak to you later when ive had a chat with Lisa for you.
 
My horse doesn't like being shut in when in trailers/horseboxes. He is quite claustrophobic!

He recently travelled in a borrowed trailer. Loaded ok (for him! Took abot 20 mins before he was happy going in and out of the trailer)

The trailer did have extra doors on the back - to close it completely in. My horse panicked when these were closed, but settled when they were opened.

not sure about the mirrors. They may help or they may just show her a panicking horse!

Do you have a friend with a sensible quiet horse that will stand in the trailer with her? I would get her used to having a mate in the trailer, then progress to shutting the ramps and then moving short distances.
 
I'd definately remove the partition and get a breast bar fitted that goes straight across and I wouldn't borrow anyones horse to go by the side ,if anything happened I think you would be liable as you know there is a problem.Mirrors really worked on my boxrest horse and I fitted one in my horsebox ,as he scrapes the floor but travels ok otherwise but it made no difference in horsebox, he still adores' his friend' in his stable though
 
My pony was terrible untill he came back from the vet after having a small op still drugged! Now fine ?
 
My post was just an idea, it has worked for me in the pasted, when I've had bad loaders/travelers/panicers. It worked very well with a mare I had who would load then panic when bars/ramps/doors closed etc. Once the trailer starts to move it is fairly hard for them to rear etc as they are trying to balance,if you've ever tired to balance in a trailer think how its be to do it one leged! After 3/4hour with this mare traveling she was happily munching away, she soon relised it wasn't killing her and settled loaded fine ever after that. Its just my past expereince. In my opinion I think mirrors in boxes could do more harm then good. It has been known for horses to attack and fight with there new found firend. But my big worry would be surely she only sees a panicing horse looking back at her? I was always taught not to teach a problem loader with food. Maybe try a natrual horsemanship trainer?
 
My boys does exactly the same but travels great in a lorry. My trailer was also an IW and he would walk in no prob but put the ramps up and he shook and tried to get through the jockey door. I had no partition just the single breast bar but unfortunately he was still bad. My last horse would onlt travel without the partition though. I sold the trailer and want to buy another one now but Im worried its just that my boys claustophobic in trailers and dont want to waste money.
 
Could it be that she just doesn't like trailers? Have you tried her in a box? May be she knows she just doesn't like travelling in a trailler and as soon as the ramp goes up it's "OMG" and panics?

I've known horses that would travel brilliantly in a trailer but not be able to balance in a box and panic like hell and I've also known horses that would panic and fall over in trailers but in a box were perfect travellers! I think in both cases it was something to do with the way they balanced themselves. I always liken it to a human standing on a bus or a train. If I have to stand I always turn to stand sideways on to the direction of travel (like horses do on a box) as I find I balance myself better and can brace myself better against the movement when they stop/start. Others you'll see them standing the in the direction of travel (like in trailer) - it's horses for course (or boxes/trailers - sorry for the nasy pun!
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Its true, I have been told that she travels better in a box however there really is no possibility of me buying a horse box in the foreseeable future so I either crack this problem with the trailer or give up.

PS what are you doing on this at 0330 hours?!!
 
My horse can still rear and buck and jump like tigger in our trailer when the trailer is moving- little s*d!
I would do as you have been doing and keep doing it, i havent been following your posts but this type of desensitising is a slow process, esp if you have a set back as you have.
I would advise against using stable mate, if your horse does panic it could be potentially very dangerous to involve another horse.
Good luck (btw I have had great success with stable mirrors and think it could be worth a shot as they also reflect light into a dark, trailer like space making them more inviting places)
 
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