Staying in horsebox

[cavana13]

Hi I am getting a bit confused with the different types of training and I was wondering if somebody has had similar issue

horse was feral and never desensitised to a horsebox.

I was with a training livery who was also doing some ground work etc. The horsebox training was the horse will stand in the wagon. Which she did follow the lead and stood perfectly still and didn’t create going out to shows the pony was very well behaved, but as time when on I can see her she was getting more anxious at travelling in the wagon. But still loaded.

i left the training livery and now on a normal yard, when I moved I could see the horse got a bit anxious again, so I’ve stripped it back and did the feeding walking on and off etc, she will happily stand on the wagon with partition closed i spoke to a person who does the loading training they said just put ramp up, I think it was a bit too much and the pony exploded in the wagon, but on getting her out she would walk back in.
I am now at the Point where she will walk to wagon and load every time and stand and eat then she will get agitated and bit worried when I put partition over.

I feel I will never get to the point when I can put ramp up again, did anybody have this situation before.

i have had two professionals out and one told me to put the ramp up which did for three days the horse was just kicking all the time in there, so it did go a bit backwards again and the other is the interval training which I am trying to do.

pleas only put kind comments as this horse loads but just doesn’t want to stay in wagon

 

[be positive]

The obvious answer is to get a quiet companion on with her, if that is impossible for some reason try a mirror but having company should make a difference and generally once they have done a bit of traveling the companion will no longer be required.

 

[J&S]

Try giving her some Rescue Remedy. A few drops on a hollowed out carrot before loading, then another few drops before you close the ramp. We did try the above as recommended by our trainer but resulted in the companion acting as a distraction at the venue, but would work if you just both went for a hack and then reloaded and returned.

 

[AnShanDan]

I think it sounds like you are on the right track. Are you able to stand in with the horse when someone else puts the ramp up? The groundwork is a good idea as well, focusing on getting the horse to just stand quietly in all situations. Another thing you might do is put on acoustic ears, I have one horse that's v noise sensitive, she gets her ears on for travelling.

 

[LEC]

The big issue you are dealing with is when she reacts, you react. They are worried, they tell you very clearly they are worried and then you immediately remove them. You will not get any result because of this.

So this is your conundrum - how do you manage to solve the anxiety to get the result you want safely?

My preferred method is to ignore them but they need to be safe while you do this. You then need to wait for that window of them either being calm or stopping and then remove them, that way they learn that calm is a better result. Personally I would remove the partition while you do all this as its just another thing to potentially cause a huge issue and be a danger. You can then work on enclosing them safely with the ramp up but you must have a breach bar. I work on the front loader of the trainer being open so they have something to look out on and you can get them out safely if you need to and quickly. A routine really helps as well as they take comfort. I have a 5yo who has been very tricky as had some bad experiences. I had a professional help with the loading because I couldn't get them past the bolt upright rearing and flying out backwards and being dangerous (I am pretty good at loading tricky ones but this one was getting worse). That got solved and then we had a routine I followed for 2 weeks every single day and built it up step by step. I tend to use likits or the molasses ones as they promote the licking reflex which then sees more relaxation. It kind of went like this:
No bars - load and unload. Must be calm and follow me with very slow feet in and out of the ramp. Controlling every foot step.
No bars - load - wait (likit) - unload
Front bar - load - wait - unload being very strict about them waiting for the front bar.
Front bar - load - wait - move around the back pretending with the back bar - unload
Front bar - load - wait - back bar - unload
Front bar - load - wait - back bar - ramp - unload
Front bar - load - wait - back bar - ramp - front ramp - unload

You will need help which is always awkward. I am lucky as had a fair bit around. The horse will now travel but we need to move quickly for the travelling as will kick up a bit of a fuss when everything is shut up. I think this will get better with time and practice. She will need to learn to wait on the trailer at events but she hasnt needed to yet as only been doing lessons etc. I think that will also come with time.

Additional training we did was standing around training. She just had to stand in different places round the yard which she found hard. She is a naturally reactive horse so we just used to stand around until she could stand in places calmly and still. Sounds pretty easy but actually it requires a lot of discipline from the person on the ground. They move a foot and you correct it. They will find comfort in this and actually its an amazing tool when they are in anxious situations. Its the same principle I use with nappy/spooky horses under saddle. They have to stand still and then move a step forwards. As long as they go forwards then I remove the pressure. It will take a couple of weeks but eventually their thinking skills really improve and they can problem solve a lot quicker on things they are worried about without any friction.

 

[cavana13]

Thank you for your kind comments,

she does have a mirror
I cannot have another horse as horse area too small

I did purchase some infra red ears

I will try some extra calmer

she is a very clever pony as when I open partition she goes back to her net and happy stand eating
I discussed once she is happy standing with partition closed put somebody in the back with her with when ramp goes up and do short journeys a few meters and get her off and back on.

I just wondered what else people do in this situation, I was told about a soft horse in back so she thinks she not alone but she can see me while driving as I leave the door open

 

[J&S]

Please don't stay inside with her if she is going to kick off. We had a travelling incident with the coloured mare in the photo. She started to scrabble going down hills. My step daughter and I did travel with her a couple of times and it helped her, then we tried the companion which as I said was just a nuisance, then I found out about the Rescue Remedy. This did work. After the following Pony Club camp the mare had some time off and did not travel. When I loaded her again come Christmas time I suddenly realised she was quiet as a mouse. It seemed she had forgotten the bad times. Subsequently we travelled many, many miles both alone and with company to Trec venues.

 

[Xmasha]

The ideal solution is to get a bigger box and then have a companion for her until she learns that travelling is ok.
Other than that I’d load her up and drive around her around the yard / down the lane and back and increase the mount of time she’s on the lorry , over time .
I take my young ones out with a companion for the first couple of times , and then they have to get on with it.

 

[HazuraJane]

Thank you for posting this. FWIW, I have a mare who, like your pony, loads okay. Once the ramp goes up, it is an entirely different story. It sounds like you're working your way through the problem. Mare and I need to address her panic problem as it's getting to be 'stand-by for evacuation' season where we live due to wildfires. Best of luck to you!!