Nightmare traveller, any hope?

PurplePickle

PurplePickle

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I knew my WB wasnt keen on going in a box, but until the other day ( weve never had need to box him anywhere since getting him 1.5 years ago) didnt realise what a traumatic experience he finds it

Getting him in a 7.5ton was a nightmare, hes not keen on enclosed spaces, it took me a while to get him used to being in a stable

We eventually got him in but, he shook, sweated, struggled to balance himself for the whole 10 mile journey I did feel the transporter wasnt the most careful of breakers! and now fear hes had a worse experience
On the way back from the vets he was heavily sedated took 5 of us getting one leg up at a time to get him in, transporter said he was better on the way home. But his fleece was soaking wet with sweat.

I dont have a box of my own, I worry he would demolish a trailer and at 17.2 its not the best thing for him I feel.

Any ideas on how to proceed? Vet just said they can come out and sedate him each time, but I think thats excessive and would like to be able to so something better for him
 
I'm guesing you don't own your own box/ trailer but to be honest it sounds like he needs A LOT of time spent around one.

It might be worth using mild sedative to help, acp tablets perhaps? At least you could get a job lot from your vet and ue them when you need to without having to worry about callout fees etc.

Is there any way you can borrow a box for a while to practise with?
 
What sort of partitions did the transporter have?

My horse went from being a nightmare to being totally fine when I cut down the partitions to half-height ones (i.e. nothing next to his legs).
 
try Crossgate Homeopathic AAA spray. Seeing is believing! I cant believe how good it is in these situations. Does he needs to spread his feet out to balance? My mare will only travel in a trailer with the partitions out as she goes ballistic without. I also have one that needs to be penned in as much as poss so she cant move about.
 
Agreed, I think the only way will be time, patience and practice. Probably a lorry is better than a trailer, but it might depend on the lorry, the steepness of the ramp etc. A trailer with it's low floor, all the partitions out and both ramps open might be better, at least for practicing.

You will have to start by just loading and walking in and out, until he's bored, then graduate to stopping in the box, then feeding him, then partitions etc etc. Then engine running, then slowly moving, and so on. I read somewhere that shorter journeys can be counter-productive as it takes 20 mins for the adrenaline to ease, but I don't know if that's true.

If you can't invest the time this way, then sedaline or acp for the journey to the vet should live in the tack room and they can sedate for the journey home.
 
I can only tell you what worked for my cob as she was bad to travel. She was nineteen when I got her and her previous owner had avoided putting her in any form of transport as a few years previous she had banged herself on partition and run out backwards while ramp was being lifted knocking the person under it, they where very lucky not to be seriously hurt.

I got over her fear by removing partition and feeding her in trailer everyday initially with me in there and then without gradually increasing time. We then started engine etc etc. I also made sure I had someone good driving and I drove behind when we did travel so I could watch her. She still wasn't great but removing the partition made the biggest difference as she was very claustrophobic.

Hope this helps, it sounds like genuine fear with your boy xx
 
[ QUOTE ]
What sort of partitions did the transporter have?

My horse went from being a nightmare to being totally fine when I cut down the partitions to half-height ones (i.e. nothing next to his legs).

[/ QUOTE ]

Oh that's true, I had one mare that would only travel in the very back section as it was the widest, she would really spread her legs to balance, she fell over in every other set-up.
 
my horse was a traveller from hell- wrote off 2 trailers and i was ready to give up completely then it was suggested that i hired a cattle style truck- large, airy and no partitions in all its 20' body. we got him on, shut the ramp and he went mental but there were no windows to climb out of, no partitions to trash. we set off,within 20 mins the kicking stopped and after half an hour he was indignantly standing still. Another 2 sessions and we established that he preferred to travel leaning on his right side so i got a herringbone lorry (half partitions) and never had another problem. This was a horse that 2 NH practitioners had told me to give up trying to travel due to his balance issues and claustrophobia. Funnily enough he loves the lorry but is still a freak in a stable!
 
I've got one too! Horrendous traveller and will break down or climb over the door on any strange stable. I needed days and days to teach him to load, and he had to have a chifney on or there was simply no way he would even go to the ramp. I kept on one day for over five hours until he consented to load.

Once in the lorry, he simply climbed onto the top of the tack locker and tried to smash out the windows. Yours insn't by Opan, is he, because mine's full brother, who I have never seen, does it too!!

The solution was completely the reverse of what you would expect - we put breast straps in to keep him back, a wither rope on to keep him down, and had the partitions as narrow as he can comfortably fit it. As long as we travel him like that, he is now an angel.

Good luck, it's a tough problem if you don't have a lorry to practise with.
 
thanks all,
to answer:

the partition was a full one so no gap underneath it was a side loader so I guess to him it looked shorter as he then had to move sideways.

Transporter put a chifney on , I just couldnt hold him, but i think it took us 30 mins to get him in, so that wasnt that bad i guess

Worse still he wouldnt bring his lorry down the drive as it was too narrow (had allsorts fit tbh) so we had to walk my horse 50 yards towards an open ramp on the main road which cant have helped.

When he travelled theres was a small open side window, filled in front with no rubber so when he breaked he fell into it, which I wasnt v happy about. For me I felt he drove too quick and breaked too suddenly, but he still sweated up, kept lifting a leg and trying to weave so a calmer might help but he fights it as best he can.

I dont know anyone with a trailer big enough to borrow or a box.

Cptrayes - no he isnt hes by Furioso no idea whether he travelled or not lol, I travelled my pony in a cattle truck once she didnt like trailers but loved the cattle trailer, wonder if you can get a 17.2 in a cattle trailer LOL
 
Doesn't that gave him the best experience really. The only way to get him better is to practice. If you know someone who has a wagon then tey use it as much as poss, just walking him in with fodd to tempt him, feed him in there, praise him and walk him out.

Build up the time he spends in there - do it first with it open (ie don't bring in the partitions - if you can hold him in there without anyway!) so he doesn't feel enclosed. Eventually move the partitions in.

In my experience horses travel better herringbone style or backwards and sympathetic driving is paramount with a bad traveller! I would also not want full length partitions - use one with half partitions so the horse ahs that bit mroe freedom to move his legs to balance himself.

Some horses never like travelling much but the nicer an experience you make it then he may just be able to cope.
 
My horse was horrendous in a trailer, forwards travelling. As he tried to make an escape through the jockey door, Hubby who is non horsey but very chilled, walked away saying that bloody thing will kill you, I cant watch anymore. My horse had always travelled herringbone in a wagon and was a dream but I couldnt afford a wagon. I practised almost every night in a trailer, getting to the point he would stand and eat a feed but we never got the ramp up as he just freaked and was dangerous. We finally managed to buy a wagon and it took over an hour to get him in, I was gutted as he was a perfect traveller before the trailer. He is now 90% better, loads first time but is still a bit apprehensive. I do think horses can be claustaphobic and also the direction of travel def makes a difference. Can you not try him in a normal herringbone 7.5t wagon, just to see.
 
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