My horse is unbalenced in a trailer?

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Dandini

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I have a 14'2 Welsh D Gelding. he is 14 and has always, always traveld perfectly in any transport, he has been all round the country competing and has never had a problem, it was when taking him out Xc about a Month ago he reacted in an ifor 505 trailer.

since then he has been in a new 506 ifor trailer, and reacted again, this time damaging the trailer and badly sweating up.

he is normally such a good traveler, so good that we had an old rice trailer with a solid partion, and he managed to get his foot caught between the plywood and metal bar at the bottom, and he didnt flare up at all, and still let people hammer him out then get in another trailer and travel home no problem.

we are not sure what to do? any ideas?
 
Service the trailer. Check tyres, brakes and suspension to check how his ride is.
If all ok, check his hocks. Often travelling balance issues are hock related.
 
Agree regarding the hocks. My old girl has arthritis in both hocks, worse in the right, and having always previously travelled fine, she had a very bad time in the trailer to the point we turned around and took her home less than 5 mins in. She was stiffer than normal as had been on box rest. Has travelled couple of times since, and been Ok, but has always been turned out or gently exercised before to loosen up.
 
he had not travelled for about 5 months before it happened, and we have just got a brand new ifor 506 today and he did the same. we know he has nothing wrong as he has been checked
 
If you have ruled out the pain theory, could you try travelling him on the other side of the partition, or remove it altogether, not sure if that is possible in an Ifor Williams. Could he have lost his confidence by some incident for example a lorry being right on the tail or similar?

The only other thing would be if it is a different trailer perhaps it is really rattling and making him nervous. Your best bet would be to hitch it up to your car start the engine and stand in the trailer. It is surprising how much rattling there can be. My horse would never stay still if the trailer was stationary. I realised how much noise came from the ramp rattling and got my husband to fix some rubber washers, have never had a problem since.
 
Suggest that you have his back assessed by a chiropractor. Back problems could cause him to lose his balance.

What also may help is to put in a deep bed of straw, preferably clean used straw as it packs more firmly.
 
I had this problem with my hunter. We eventually found out that it was his back. In the meantime we travelled him with a full width breast bar in an IW trailer if he needed to travel.
 
Years ago my friend had a horse that couldn't balance in a trailer (Rice). They took out the partition and put in a full width breast bar and the problem was solved.
 
silv said:
The only other thing would be if it is a different trailer perhaps it is really rattling and making him nervous. Your best bet would be to hitch it up to your car start the engine and stand in the trailer. It is surprising how much rattling there can be. My horse would never stay still if the trailer was stationary. I realised how much noise came from the ramp rattling and got my husband to fix some rubber washers, have never had a problem since.
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Agree with this, but also take it for a drive (with and without a horse in)- don't know if it is legal to stand in there with the horse, but maybe . My friend's horse travelled fine in my trailer and wouldn't load at all in hers; turned out when she travelled in it herself she heard a loud 'drumming' noise caused by something vibrating just by the horse's head. Only happened when the trailer went above 30mph, but she said it drove her nuts in a few minutes. Horse took ages to get over it.
Can you use/borrow a trailer that your horse had travelled well in in the past? This might help to pinpoint if it is a trailer or horse issue, although it might take more than one trip to get its confidence back.
 
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he has been in rice trailers, ifor 506 511 505 510 equitrek lorries ranging from 3.5-13.5 tonne boxes, travelled forwards backwards sideways, in rain and storms, on his own on the left of the trailer and right.

he has been checked all over, the trailer he has been in most was a 2012 511 and had never ever has issues, in any ifor trailer, we had taken him out in our Brand New 2015 for 506 yesterday letting him walk on and off, standing both sides running the engine for 10 mintues whilst in the trailer, i sttod with him for 10 minuets, rversed back, he was fine. went forward and he started leaning on the box like this http://sarahwestonrecommendedassoci...26th-july-2013-travelling-woes-and-whoas.html but on the other side.
 
Mine did this, having previously travelled fine, and it turned out to be his hocks (bone spavin). They were treated and his loading and travelling improved vastly. He still struggled to balance with a full partition in, but is fine with full width bars and with no partition, and also with just the front half of the partition, but full width behind. I take it very slowly round corners, but he seems to have got better and better. I still wouldn't even try to travel him again with full partitions, however - it is terrifying when they just seem to try to throw themselves to the floor - he used to do exactly what is pictured in the link that you posted.
 
you haven't really described what he is doing to be unbalanced. Is he 'falling over' or scrabbling at the sides of the trailers when going round bends, particularly in one direction more than the other?

If so, this is a far-more-common-than-you-think problem and there are many previous threads on it, look up 'trailer scrabbling' and 'bad traveller'. It's to do with the sensation of the side of the trailer on the horse's hip when they turn, and seems to be a psychological thing - horses like t are usua;lly just like yours; they travel great all their lives, then one day change their mind and appear to lose their balance on corners. They usually just need more space, so if you tie the back of the partition over to one side, you may find he travels fine. There are many reports of people with horses like it (I've had two or three) who are fine either with no partition, the partition tied over, or at the very least a partition which only goes mid-way down so they can spread their hind legs out and balance.
 
Just viewed the video and can say that one of the reasons the horse is misbehaving is that the floor is wet.

Some rubber surfaces become slippery when wet.

The modern trend to rely on just rubber matting is not good. Put down a deep layer of straw and you will most likely find the horse travels better.

Not only does it absorb urine, dung gets covered over, so horses arrive clean, but it also deadens road noise too.

Those of you with poor travellers, please do give it a try.

Needs to be deep and preferably clean, used straw as this packs down better.

I still travel all mine with matting and straw and have no trouble.
 
he has never had any bedding in any travel, the matting is dry as that isnt my horse just showing the image, which is what he is doing but leaning to the right so going round left hsnd bends are fine. tpright is different as he is leaning in the wrong direction.
 
Did you see my reply above - this is exactly the problem I'm talking about. If he's just doing it on bends one way (or much worse in one direction), he's completely typical of all the other horses I've seen. Try moving partition and see how he travels, bet you anything he's better.
 
Dandini said:
he has been in rice trailers, ifor 506 511 505 510 equitrek lorries ranging from 3.5-13.5 tonne boxes, travelled forwards backwards sideways, in rain and storms, on his own on the left of the trailer and right.

he has been checked all over, the trailer he has been in most was a 2012 511 and had never ever has issues, in any ifor trailer, we had taken him out in our Brand New 2015 for 506 yesterday letting him walk on and off, standing both sides running the engine for 10 mintues whilst in the trailer, i sttod with him for 10 minuets, rversed back, he was fine. went forward and he started leaning on the box like this http://sarahwestonrecommendedassoci...26th-july-2013-travelling-woes-and-whoas.html but on the other side.
Click to expand...

Blimey that must be horrid to watch, poor horse and rider. cant help op but just wanted to say I hope you get it sorted. I'd get some expert help to see if they can spot what's going on, as it does sound pretty upsetting for all involved.
 
I used to have a 14.2 pony who started doing exactly what the horse in the photo is doing, ie leaning on the middle and galloping on the side of the ifor williams trailer after getting a fright while in the trailer from fire engines going past.
I took the back half of the partition out and this helped him 80%, also found he was totally fine in a lorry facing sideways with plenty of leg room.
Friends 14hh pony also started this a few weeks ago, they have done the same and he is v much improved as well.
Both of them were panicing due to a perceived lack of room to balance themselves.
 
Dandini - wasn't assuming it was your horse, but remarking on the floor conditions. When some rubber flooring gets wet, it becomes slippery, this can be from a pee or a dung that has been stepped in and liquid oozed. Once a horse has had this sort of fright he may anticipate losing his footing again.

For a horse to go from being a great traveller to losing its balance there has to be a trigger. Go through anything and everything you can to find out the problem.

Have back checked - your horse may have crashed in the paddock

Have ears checked

Have a ride around the block in the back of the new trailer - is it noisy, road noise or loose rivets. Search them out and fill gap with sealant

Have the tyre pressures checked, if pumped up too high it can make the ride very bouncy.

Does the new float have windows where the old float didn't. Some horses don't like the view of traffic coming towards them.

Does the trailer have doors above the ramp - has he been used to this being open or closed in the past.

Finally - but this is the one I have always done first with a bad traveller is the deep bed of straw.

Its not difficult to care for the trailer after travel, clean straw up front - dirty on the muck heap, I actually find my horses stay cleaner with straw as the droppings work their way under the straw so horse doesn't have green feet or legs on arrival. I have a clydesdale so you can imagine the amount of white to be cleaned up.

Try each thing one at a time so that you can pin point the problem, starting with the ear and back check.
 
One of our ponies had this problem, having previously travelled absolutely fine.
We had his back checked and it's fine, so removed the partition and used a full length bar instead, he has found a way to travel fine like this.
However, at Christmas time we discovered that he has negative rotation of pedal bones in both hinds, misaligning all the bones in his legs, and I can't help wondering if this was our first warning sign.
We also have a camera in our trailer so we can see if he is getting distressed.
 
Dandini said:
would anyone say that they would keep on trying him?
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Yes, but begin by putting straw down - deep, whole bale. Then have everything else checked. Be patient, initially put him in, close the ramp and give him a feed.

Then move a short distance, giving him a feed.

Seriously look into the law in regard to travelling with the horse as at one time I thought it was illegal but after some research found that it actually isn't illegal but safety wise its not sensible to travel with the horse.

Though taking out the middle partition works its not really solving the problem as the cause has not been found.
 
DONT KEEP TRYING HIM!!!

I did this and ended up with a horse whose legs were in tatters!!!! Thousands of pounds and some scarring later I just took out the partitions and travelled them alone with full width breaths bars.

Not worth the heartache trust me!!

My old boy was perfect then one day started being funny about jumping then it was balancing in the trailer and yep hocks xrayed and arthritis diagnosed. He also travels in the trailer himself perfectly without a peep.

Unless you are travelling two constantly to a show I would just get the breaths bars, they aren't too expensive. Better than a horse breaking a leg or blowing a tendon.
 
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Tnavas said:
Dandini - wasn't assuming it was your horse, but remarking on the floor conditions. When some rubber flooring gets wet, it becomes slippery, this can be from a pee or a dung that has been stepped in and liquid oozed. Once a horse has had this sort of fright he may anticipate losing his footing again.

For a horse to go from being a great traveller to losing its balance there has to be a trigger. Go through anything and everything you can to find out the problem.

Have back checked - your horse may have crashed in the paddock

Have ears checked

Have a ride around the block in the back of the new trailer - is it noisy, road noise or loose rivets. Search them out and fill gap with sealant

Have the tyre pressures checked, if pumped up too high it can make the ride very bouncy.

Does the new float have windows where the old float didn't. Some horses don't like the view of traffic coming towards them.

Does the trailer have doors above the ramp - has he been used to this being open or closed in the past.

Finally - but this is the one I have always done first with a bad traveller is the deep bed of straw.

Its not difficult to care for the trailer after travel, clean straw up front - dirty on the muck heap, I actually find my horses stay cleaner with straw as the droppings work their way under the straw so horse doesn't have green feet or legs on arrival. I have a clydesdale so you can imagine the amount of white to be cleaned up.

Try each thing one at a time so that you can pin point the problem, starting with the ear and back check.
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You've just hit a lightbulb in my head, very old post but my gelding has been crap at travelling for years and you saying about using a straw bedding or using a wooden sheet to cover the floor i actually think may help. Possibley even myself travelling in it and listing for noises may help too as he went from a great loader to a bad one and i've spend years trying to improve him with a million methods and made no improvement! Is there a reason why it may be roady when travelling? you can hear the road noise quite easily. aimee
 
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if he was mine id
- try him in a different trailer, just to see if its the 506 causing the issue (ive heard of other horses not liking the 506's, a friends turned out to have loose rivets the ramp, so the horse could feel it wasn't secure)
- try a thick footing like the straw
- is there a change in the amount of light/windows in the box?
-try a full breast bar so he can go diagonal if he likes
 
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