Rearing in lorry and getting stuck on tack locker!

[Ucostra]

I have a very bad tempered and argumentative warmblood, this morning we were leaving for a show and for 5 mins stopped half way down the drive to just run in the house, he could see his two mates in the field and just went bananas striking out- which he often does when he's angry, does it in the stable when he's left alone. He then reared up and got stuck up on the tack lockers- now i don't know whether he meant to get up there or if he just struck out high and then found himself up there. He was literally tap dancing on the ceiling and pummeling the hell out of the wall. I had to get in there and try and bend his legs to get him down, it was all quite terrifying!! He was up there for quite some time too. Does anyone have any suggestions on this as I'm buggered if I'm playing that game again! He did it at a show once when his friend went out of sight. He was on his own in there today. Someone at the show said if its anger hobble him but if its panic don't as he'll kill himself!? Not mad keen on hobbles to be honest. Ideas/comments please!

 

[moocow]

Probably would get more responses if this was in new lounge. I personally would have someone work on him to see why he doing what he is doing. Sounds like he is completely terrified - it might be angry trying to get back to his mates but the experience must have been terrifying for him when he got stuff (and you!!!!). My mare was a disaster in the box and I got someone in to work with her for 2 days and I have never looked back. She loads and travels like a dream nowl. you can load her with one person and thats her coming away from the field with her mates calling to her. PM me if you want the details of the person I used.

 

[lily1]

I've just bought a lorry with tack lockers I hope I dont have the same experience.
Hope you sort the problem out with your boy Ucostra

 

[Rollin]

How do you know it is anger and temper and not anxiety?

 

[henryhorn]

I would firstly buy him a travelling mirror so he doesn't feel alone, or find a mini shetland to take round with him.
The best way to restrain him is get a fieldguard elasticated tie rope and use that tied low down, so that it stretches a bit but not enough to get his legs high enough to reach the lockers, they have emergency quick release catches on.
Or look at ways of cross tying him so he's tied close enough to be unable to move back far enough to get the room to spring up..
The mirro should fix the anxiety, it's not normally temper more fear that turns into out of control behaviour when they scare themselves into a bit of a state.

 

[Rollin]

Well done HH for your nice advice. Hugs.

 

[Chrissy Gal]

I also have a lorry with tack locker in front of the horse and have had similar experiences with my horse who is not frightened of the lorry but very fit and keen to get out and do his job. I have put a sloping board on top of the tack box so that hooves slide down if he gets them up there. It is a dangerous and scary situation. If I could afford it I would change the lorry as I thibk this is a serious design flaw. My horse is fine travelling so I now make sure I get him off the lorry as soon as I arrive at a show. Fine at petrol stations etc as long as there are no other horses around. I am going to try cross tying and also on another occasion travelling in a standing martingale but because of the height of the tack box there is limited space for my horse to lowere his head.

 

[jon1210]

I had this experience when my boss and I took their horses to their first event... long story short one reared up and got on top of the tack lockers so my boss who is very experienced with horses opened up the partitions and let the horse come out... we then did plenty of box training at home so he was used to standing still and if he was trying to rear up we used strong words or a tap with the whip on his back soon stopped him after he realised we meant business.

I really feel for you as it is a daunting experience but just do plenty of practice at home and get a helping hand to be with you just in case things go pear shaped.

 

[Spellbound13]

not quite a lorry, but I was once moving my nor,ally quite calm horse in an ifor williams trailer, all was fine untill the back ramp went up and he reared up and got his front legs stuck over the front breast bar, because of the way the bars go into the holes we couldnt just lift them up, i had to encourage him to jump over it from standing... the problem being he was currently suffering from laminitis and liver diesease he was very poorly, whilst people scrambled around to find something to put under his dangling front legs, he somehow managed to scramble forwards and over the thing and came out.

we then removed the partition and he re boxed straight away.

i now never use thos breast bars that come with the trailers but instead use those tie thingys you can get that just clip on and off.

sounds like your horsey is a bit scared/needs some seriouse ground work beffore you try traveling him again. xxx good luck

 

[cptrayes]

Ha ha! you have one as well. Mine is a KWPN and the only way to control him is to tie him down with a wither rope and back with breast ropes/chains. Forget the mirrors, mine just smashed them. And the window bars. And the tack locker. Do this:

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_IaGqwoQlnmA/RYK-EA5dsRI/AAAAAAAAABI/oS4p2Yql47w/s320/Ties+&+Bolts+WR.jpg


He has been like this for 5 years now. He will be fine for 6 months and then suddenly something will upset him and away he will go trying to break out the windows. We now have a lorry with no tack locker and he is exactly the same in that. With the ropes on, he is mostly happy and travels well though he does still weave a bit.

 

[Chrissy Gal]

I am taking my horse to a show this weekend and will try the tying down method and report back after that. The idea is very appealing especially as it does not restrict the head. Thanks for the tip.

 

[jeeve]

My ISH panicked when in a float and leaving property, it was seperation anxiety, he did not like leaving the place he felt safe and his friends.

We worked for ages on getting him comfortable leaving the property and his friends by himself, taking him for walks, with approach and retreat this was achieved, he still loves going for walks, the floating was easy after that.

Mind you he was lame for 4 months after his accident in the float, it is not worth him getting injured. Get a IH or NH instructor to help you.

 

[rossiroo]

When I was parked at a show the alarm on a car next to me went off and my horse reared up in the lorry getting caught on the tack locker. The window was broken by her hoof and she was stuck with broken glass around. Luckily she had travel boots on and her legs were fine. We managed to realise her and she seemed none the worse. We went home and imeadiatly removed the tack lockers. Now I will not have a lorry with anything in the back except the horse. My advise would be remove the locker so that it can n't happen again.

 

[cptrayes]

When I was parked at a show the alarm on a car next to me went off and my horse reared up in the lorry getting caught on the tack locker. The window was broken by her hoof and she was stuck with broken glass around. Luckily she had travel boots on and her legs were fine. We managed to realise her and she seemed none the worse. We went home and imeadiatly removed the tack lockers. Now I will not have a lorry with anything in the back except the horse. My advise would be remove the locker so that it can n't happen again.

It may not be enough. Mine only climbs on tack lockers because he is, seriously, attempting to break out through the window of the lorry. With no tack locker, he just goes straight for the window.

OP your isn't a chestnut related to Opan by any chance is he? There is a family history of this behaviour, the full brother to mine does it too. I don't own him and I have never seen him, so it isn't my lack of ability to train horses !

 

[Chrissy Gal]

As I said earlier I have had similar problem with my horse getting his feet stuck on the tack locker until I placed a strong sloping board on top of it. The board runs all along the entire lenght of the tack locker with a angle of circa 45 degress away from the wall down towards the horse. When I first put the board in I was putting event horse leg grease it to ensure that my horses hooves simply slipped down. This got a little messy but was worth it for the benefit. I would never buy a lorry with internal lockers again but am loath to spend money on getting something removed which other buyers may find an asset. My horse's lorry conduct is improving. Now it's only occasional rearing which is the problem. I hope to sort the rearing out with a wither strap as kindly suggested. Horses are such beastly creatures at times. Has anyone tried blacking out the window directly in front of the offending creature ?

 

[cptrayes]

Yes, tried that and it has some benefits. I found that if I blank out one window to the side the does not weave as much. He used to look through the right window with his right eye and swing and look through the left window with the left eye. I now have a lorry with no window directly in front of him and I keep a plate of aluminium over the right hand one. Blanking out the one directly in front of him did not seem to help. Blindfolding him completely made him weave madly and smash his head into things Blindfolding one eye helped a lot but was less practical than blanking out a window.

Try it with cardboard and you can rip it off quickly if you need to. Likewise, rope him down at first (no chains) and carry a sharp knife in case you need to get it off in a hurry. Mine pawed a LOT for a couple of weeks and then packed it in. Make sure you rope him to something that will not give. First time he tried it, mine sprung the partitions, so now we have one partition permanently fixed to the floor and ceiling.

If it works, eBay sell 10cm carabiners that are great for fastening them in.


ps just want to repeat if someone is coming into this thread without reading the rest that this is a family trait in my horse and nothing whatsoever to do with my training of him. He has a scar around one pastern where he managed to get a foot out through the window when he was imported before I bought him. His full brother behaves the same and I have never even met him.

 

[Louby]

It seems Im in the minority but I like the fact I have tack lockers as it blocks another escape route! Lots of modern horseboxes have partitions that have a large gap under the head divider (where a person can fit through), I was speaking to a horse transporter who said he had had to have one of his boxes modified to fill this gap as some horses see this as an exit and try to squeeze through. I have seen lots of tack lockers that are too low when I was looking to buy, making it very easy for a horse to mount.
It maybe that your horse feels too confined if hes a big boy with no where to step forward for balance as the lockers in the way. It may help if you give him a bit more room by widenning the partition a bit.
Maybe worth a try.

 

[ajn1610]

Mine does this too. She definitely isn't scared or trying to get out. Its just temper with her. She doesn't panic at all but once she gets up there isn't room for her to get down so she just waits for you to come and rescue her. I tried tying high/low/cross tied. I wasn't keen to hobble for same reasons as you OP. I thought about building up the top of the locker but was worried she might end up punching through. Some one suggested hanging a tire or straw bale behind her (she is quite small) to stop her rocking back to give her the room to get up in the first place but again I was worried that adding anything else would exacerbate the problem by giving her something to get tangled in. She would do it when she first got on, before the ramp went up and when you arrived somewhere. I always travel her on the end and if she gets up just open the partition so she has room to slither down and then shut it again so the behaviour wasn't rewarded by her getting off. We just persevered and eventually she just grew up a bit and stopped bothering. Having had this experience I wouldn't have a locker again but it's actually quite hard to find a newer lorry without them!
Coincidentally mine is a KWPN too! Are they all stroppy difficult barstewards or what?

 

[pedilia]

My lorry has the same , really silly design!! My friends TB got stuck on my lockers, thankfully didn't injure himself but wrecked the box, it ended up being an insurance job and costing in excess of 5k, he had broken the seals, put his hoof through the tack locker and smashed a hole in the roof!!

 

[Pinkatc]

not quite a lorry, but I was once moving my nor,ally quite calm horse in an ifor williams trailer, all was fine untill the back ramp went up and he reared up and got his front legs stuck over the front breast bar, because of the way the bars go into the holes we couldnt just lift them up, i had to encourage him to jump over it from standing... the problem being he was currently suffering from laminitis and liver diesease he was very poorly, whilst people scrambled around to find something to put under his dangling front legs, he somehow managed to scramble forwards and over the thing and came out.

we then removed the partition and he re boxed straight away.

i now never use thos breast bars that come with the trailers but instead use those tie thingys you can get that just clip on and off.

I had the same issue with an Ifor Williams trailer, we now carry around an Allan key (or is it Allen?) to quickly undo the bracket holding the bar from the outside - you just bang in the key and it pops the bracket out quickly.

 

[Spellbound13]

I had the same issue with an Ifor Williams trailer, we now carry around an Allan key (or is it Allen?) to quickly undo the bracket holding the bar from the outside - you just bang in the key and it pops the bracket out quickly.

thats a good idea.

an absolutly terrifying experience though that i never want to repeat lol xx

 

[mil1212]

Coincidentally mine is a KWPN too! Are they all stroppy difficult barstewards or what?

YES! I have a KWPN who does it too! The thing that has mostly cured him is hobbles, but we can't ever really leave him unattended on the lorry. His main issue is that he is impatient. The best thing is that he's taught his 17hh ISH mate to do it too

Now on the hunt for a lorry without tack lockers in the back....

 

[Chrissy Gal]

I see the concern about the horse breaking through boards built up on top of locker. I used double thickness 3/4 inch ply with a white laminated board on top of that. The laminated board provides a slippery surface so actually the horses can't put much weight on the board as the hooves simply slip down due to the angle of the slope. Works well as it is now physically impossible for the horse to get stuck up there (which I found was the scary part) as my tack box had a ridged aluminium non slip surface. I wonder whether anyone has ever sucessfully sued a horsebox company for this design fault ?. I am disappointed to note that one horse with this problem has taught his companion to do the same. I was hoping that traveling a companion with the "offending creature" would help remedy the problem. Am kitting my lorry out with cardboard over the window and wither rope this weekend and will see how it goes. PS CP nice looking horse.

 

[Chrissy Gal]

I inspected the hoof marks on my tack locker sloping top and noted that they were directly in line with the window so rearing was not random. I therefore blacked out the window for today's show. I also sacrificed a lunge rein using one half as a chest rope (which I was not initially convinced about) and the other half as a wither strap. Combination worked brilliantly. I think Chest strap may have effect of making horse feel there is further barrier between him and desired great outdoors. There was an initial rearing attempt but nothing too vigorous. A bit more pawing then normal but I am not concerned about that. What I did find is that my horse was far less explosive arriving at show then usual. Thank you all for your very valuable advice and best of luck.

 

[cptrayes]

Oh good, glad it works for you as well

Oh yes, he's a flash g*t, I call him Jazz. 16.3 and a red ball of muscles from head to foot with four white legs. Immensely physically talented, with a brain of total mush. He is the most emotional horse I have ever come across, and I've had more than 30 in my time. He's taken five whole years to calm down!

This is a pic of him hunting:

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_IaGqwoQln.../xgkz-m9Vtcs/s1600-h/CFDH+26TH+DEC+08+116.jpg

 

[Shilston]

To revive this post. I have a KWPN who has started trying to 'escape' the lorry whilst we are in transit (on the M1 motorway today) rearing and throwing his legs over the weave bar within the lorry. We eventually had to stop in a service station and call the vet to sedate him in order to get him home safely.

This behaviour is entirely a temper tantrum and not fear of travelling, he loads and unloads fine and is calm within seconds of unloading.

I am planning to try the suggestion of visually blocking off all possible escape routes. However, I am interested in the tying techniques that people have mentioned, how exactly are you tying your horses and has this been successful ? Also, have you found that the horses eventually stopped this behaviour, or have you had to tie them down for travelling indefinitely?

Finally, do you find that it is better to wedge your horse in with the partition, or give him lots of space whilst cross tying him to prevent the rearing?

Thanks in advance.

 

[christine48]

Doesn't sound like he is terrified, just cross. We have had this ourselves. A rope on top of the wither should do the trick.

 

[BethanT]

This reminds me of something my TB mare did when in her stable. We have wooden summer bars that go across the doorway so that the stable door can be left open on warmer days, and one morning she had obviously reared in her stable and got her foot stuck above the bar and couldnt get it off again. I was laughing cause my friend was panicking and shouting around and my mare was just stood there like "well is someone going to help me??". Was made funnier by the fact she was normally so highly strung and freaked out at the smallest of things but thisdidnt bother her in the slightest.

But my advice to you would be similar to whats already been said, to find out what the root of the problem is and do lots of ground work with him.

Good luck

 

[Diggerjules]

This happened to me for the first time on Saturday. My 5yr old got stuck on top of a high tack locker & punched out a window.

I've read all the comments in this thread, we were thinking about a breast bar, but like the idea of a 'lunge rein' idea.

Can anyone give me something that has worked effectively please....

 

[FionaM12]

This happened to me for the first time on Saturday. My 5yr old got stuck on top of a high tack locker & punched out a window.

I've read all the comments in this thread, we were thinking about a breast bar, but like the idea of a 'lunge rein' idea.

Can anyone give me something that has worked effectively please....

I'd re-post your request in Tack Room (formerly known as New Lounge). Far more people will see it there.

Good luck.