New horse leaning on bum in lorry damaging it and tail

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kim75

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As above really have new horse when he arrive he had a haematoma on bottom from journey. Have had him out three times since and he is doing more and more damage. He has been travelled with lots of room , have tried really angling partitions . Have put big sponge pad on wall behind him .Sewed four padded leg pads on top of each other over whole area with tail bandage and guard on too , still no better.He moves a lot but when we took him to a local dressage last week he was standing in box leaning right back sitting on bum on wall , that was when we were there so obviously a habit. Was in friends equitrek with company and just as bad. Today took hair off tail and has bald ,red hot imflamed patch the size of your palm on bottom about hands width from tail . Next thought is something to discourage this perhaps spiky doormat , any ideas welcome as don't want to end up with permanent damage
 
Thanks but no nothing physically wrong been checked by vet and has regular physio just a developed habit , but very sore one
 
My gelding does this and has rubbed his tail completely raw and bleeding before (with tail bandage & tail guard on). I found it helped to wrap a brushing boot with a hard shiny striking pad around his tail. The shiny surface helped as it slides against the trailer/lorry surface.
You can also buy those bum cover things which might help - again they are slippy so might slip against the trailer lorry and reduce rubbing.
The only other thing I found with mine was he is much better in a rear facing lorry.

I'd be a bit wary of trying to attach something spiky as he might lean on it anyway and cause even more damage.
 
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My Boy did this in the 7.5Ton box I had. Id just pent a lot of money on it and took him to a show, he leant right back on the wall all of the way. He had a huge bald patch and blisters between the cheeks of his bum. He did this every time we went out, regardless of what I did. I sold the wagon, and got a 3.5ton rear facing. It gave him 7foot 2 inch, from bum to breast bar, and he loves it. I also tie the haynet a little further away so he has to stretch forward for it, but the only way you will stop it is to give him more space.
 
Thanks its a nightmare he even did it in rear facing equitrek , has tons of room in lorry partitions are really wide , company doesn't make a difference .Just hate to see him sore .Have thought about increasing padding on wall , have put about a foots worth of covered foam , but he rather likes it so sits even more
 
My mare leans a lot in the trailer. Nowhere near as bad as this case, we manage with a bandage and good tail guard. But with my mare, it is because she is stressed and tense in the box. She loads perfectly, but is tense on the journey. I'm supposed to be getting a camera to try and monitor whats happening. Do you think your horse is stressed? I was wondering if a calmer would help?
 
We have this problem with our mare. She used to end up bleeding on either side of her tail after even a short journey. We tried the tail guards that also protect this area (like alexedwards mentioned) but found they just bunched up and still rubbed. In the end my OH went to the local marina and bought four of these type of fenders: http://www.boatfendersdirect.co.uk/shop_G_fenders.php
He roped them together top and bottom and put clips at both the ends of the top ropes and we clip them between the partitions behind her. I can honestly say she has never had a rub since and if we watch her she "sits" back on them quite happily when travelling. They can simply be unclipped if we are travelling another horse and any dung on them hoses off easily. Although it seemed like an expensive experiment initially it was well worth the initial outlay.
 
Maybe he is finding it hard to balance in the vehicle when it's moving? Forgive me for asking, but are you definitely driving sympathetically enough? Also, are you sure he has enough space lengthways? It can be surprising how much they need, we have set up cameras to record this in the past and the horse needed loads of space, sideways and lengthways, much more than one might think. They spread their feet wide, then they sort of almost sit backwards to brace against the movement (sorry, that's not the best way to describe it, I've had a bad day).

I would not use anything spiky. If he's leaning because he needs to in order to balance he'll most likely lean anyway and rub his bum raw in the process.
 
Have you watched him while the box/trailer is in motion: do you think it is a balance thing?

You say the partitions are quite wide: have you tried narrower, and without partitions at all?
 
It seems a balance issue to me and the horse is unsure of itself as to how to travel, load him/her up take to a place of the road and have someone travel with him/her for 10 minutes forget the cameras, that's observation. Sometime's they just need a little reassurance on the headcollar and a few kind words to make them come forward and be able to have the confidence to balance their body weight.
 
Have you tried a trailer?
Are you travellin gin a small van type box? These are not very stable and I'd be trying a big stable lorry otherwise.
 
My TB used to do this - had to pop on a tail bandage for every journey, and found the best thing for her was to get an extra-long padded rug (or sew padding onto a lighter rug for summer, sewn together at the back so she was basically wearing a padded bit around her bottom, which was smooth on the inside. Over time she improved and is much better in our current box which is herring-boned and has a different balance to it due to size of chassis vs size of box.
 
My girl used to do this alot - and with Coconut matting on the ramp, was making a right mess of her tail!!!

Without partition she found it so much easier to balance and never had a problem since!

Does he 'bang' his feet about a lot as if moving about? Or stand stock still and lean back like the world is spinning too fast (think drunk hanging onto the bar)?

I would try the Boat bouy thingys - they sound like a great idea!
Oh and do check the space thing :)
Hope he comes right soon!
 
sounds like a balance issue. have you tried him in a different section of the box. we have a horse that cannot go on the end or she climbs the gates and ends up on her side! put her anywhere else and shes fine!
 
alexedwards said:
My gelding does this and has rubbed his tail completely raw and bleeding before (with tail bandage & tail guard on). I found it helped to wrap a brushing boot with a hard shiny striking pad around his tail. The shiny surface helped as it slides against the trailer/lorry surface.
You can also buy those bum cover things which might help - again they are slippy so might slip against the trailer lorry and reduce rubbing.
The only other thing I found with mine was he is much better in a rear facing lorry.

I'd be a bit wary of trying to attach something spiky as he might lean on it anyway and cause even more damage.
Click to expand...


I also have this problem. Do you know where I can get those bum covers from? Googled and can't find anything.
 
EventingMum said:
We have this problem with our mare. She used to end up bleeding on either side of her tail after even a short journey. We tried the tail guards that also protect this area (like alexedwards mentioned) but found they just bunched up and still rubbed. In the end my OH went to the local marina and bought four of these type of fenders: http://www.boatfendersdirect.co.uk/shop_G_fenders.php
He roped them together top and bottom and put clips at both the ends of the top ropes and we clip them between the partitions behind her. I can honestly say she has never had a rub since and if we watch her she "sits" back on them quite happily when travelling. They can simply be unclipped if we are travelling another horse and any dung on them hoses off easily. Although it seemed like an expensive experiment initially it was well worth the initial outlay.
Click to expand...

I also have this problem, this sounds like another great idea. What size boatfenders did you use? How high up where they behind the bum? I assume you had them slightly lower than the affected area? More info would be great, thanks
 
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