Trailer Terror, should I resort to a ''Horse Whisperer'' ? Please Help!

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QueenDee_

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Hello all :D

A while ago I posted about my arab, Fee, and how she had a panic attack in the trailer and mashed up her foot pretty bad, but finally (touch wood) we seem to have the all clear and its finally almost healed fully :D

However we now come the the major dilemma of how to overcome her fear of trailers. Prior to the incident she was never a great traveller, she always got a bit steamed up but never anything too major like banging about or anything, but one time when we were travelling her with tack on she somehow managed to rub the saddle so it slipped and ended up under her stomach (Big mistake, i'm never going to take a horse with tack on in a trailer again :o ) and after that she got worse in the trailer, and it built up over a while until she started having these panic attacks where her legs just seem to go and she ends up shooting sideways or trying to sit on her bum :confused: we have tried travelling without the partition in, having the front window open (it did help a bit) and travelling her with another horse (this was the time that she hurt her self) and now we are puzzling over how to get her settled and safe in the trailer again :(

To start with im using bandages and gamgee instead of boots because Im worried about the boots slipping and causation her to fret even more someone suggested to us that we use some form of sedation for the first few times but then this would also affect her balance which worries me. I suppose the best thing to do is little and often, but I really want to get her right in it and not make it worse (she is 17 so it isn't as though she is a young horse) so I have been considering getting a natural horsemanship person or 'horse whisperer' to see what they can do with her.

So basically im looking for any advice, options, tips, has this happened to any of you before and if so what did you do? Also some people suggested trying her in a horse box instead of a trailer, but unfortunatley my budget wont stretch that far :o Oh, and also our trailer is a ifor williams so she is travelling facing forwards ;)

Hot choccy and lots of marshmallows for whoever has gotten this far :D
 
Sounds like you've tried a lot of things already, there's a few other nuances you could try.

I know you've said you've tried taking the partition out... did you then have a breast bar going the whole way across? If not, you need a solid bar....

If that didn't work, try putting the partition back in and putting the horse in the other side to the one she's travelled in already.

That has worked fabulously for my own pony, who only likes the left hand side. She throws a wobbly if you put her on the right!

Finally, try travelling her minus any leg protection and rugs. Then she's got less to worry about that might slip.

Again here, a friend's pony was happy in those little short pad things, then bought the long shaped boots. Pony went nuts, didn't like them at all. So reverted to the little pads, but by then he was upset and couldn't stomach them either, so she's tried no boots/bandages, and he's absolutely fine.

I'm definately of the idea that loading them every day, feeding them in the trailer, taking them for a spin up the road and back several times is the way to go, and then extending the trip each time.

As for the 'Horse Whisperer' I don't know, never used one, don't see how they would help, but you never know!

Good luck
 
Ouch im sorry to hear that!! I hope you get your problem sorted soon
Alot of my friends with boxing problems go to a lady who specialises in Natural Horsemanship techniques. It is part of the course and can be helpful with boxing problems.

Hope thats of some assurance for you :) Good luck
 
madhossy: Yeah I had the full breast bar in with no partition, and also when we didn't put any boots on her she managed to catch her front leg with her back one (she kind of sat down in the trailer :o ) so I was thinking of maybe putting the bandages on her while she is in the stable so she gets used to them and doesn't worry about them?

Jenz: Thanks, I might look into that and ask around to see if there is anyone local :)
 
With M's I fed him in the trailer, started with no partition then put it back in, led him in and through, I bounced around and made noises, simulating a journey (he probably thought I was insane), then we started with small trips, even just moving across the car park then out on the road. It did work but took time. I have also used a horse communicator, I'll PM you the website.
 
I would go with Madhossy's advice, have a trailer with ramps down, feed in it, progress to feeding with ramps up, short trips of 10 mins or so, increasing the traveling times.
We used this system with a filly we had on loan, when loose on the yard this filly would pass through the trailer and was the only horse we knew that didn't want to come off a trailer, when she was returned to her breeder she travelled alone with no problems, a different animal to the one who arrived drenched in sweat, with a rope halter and stressed out of her mind
 
I know a horse whisperer who helps with problems like this. One time he helped with a horse who couldn't stay upright in a trailer. The issue turned out to be the lady's style of driving. Without wanting to be rude, have you tried a different driver? With a bit of modification to the lady's driving style, and some work convincing the horse that things had changed, that horse was fine travelling eventually.
 
Mine's a sweetie 99.9% of the time; the other fraction of the percentage is when he's loading (or isn't, if you see what I mean!).

We'd tried everything, from lunge lines along under his bum; to bribery and corruption, to loading backwards, etc etc. He'd load fine if another horse was put in first OR in a lorry, but trailers - nope! The whole thing was getting to be a battle and as he only needed to be loaded infrequently, and I don't have any transport, it was severely trying to patience of my long-suffering friends who'd lent their trailer as they were having to wait around for anything up to 2 hours while His Lordship danced, backed into the hedge, reared up, and finally got away from me and p!ssed off back to the yard.

So having been recommended someone, I got an Intelligent Horsemanship practitioner out. She did some groundwork with him, establishing the groundrules that he went back ONLY when she said so, and worked at getting him responsive and compliant; THEN after that she just walked into the trailer with him - and he followed like a lamb (grrrrr, the Toad!).

She's given me some groundwork exercises to do with him if we need to load again, and it was really all about setting out the groundrules for him rather than any "magic" cure methinks.

She explained that what you don't want to do is to force the horse into the trailer; some people think its OK to chase a horse in with lunging whips etc but the problem with that is that whilst it may be a quick fix for that particular occasion, the horse will remember it and won't load in future. Also not to stand on the ramp and pull the rope, at the same time looking back at the horse; that's a big no-no as its only creating a tug of war situation which you havent' a dogs chance of winning.

So if you can get hold of an Intelligent Horsemanship practitioner, I would highly recommend that and see how you get on.
 
depurple1 said:
I know a horse whisperer who helps with problems like this. One time he helped with a horse who couldn't stay upright in a trailer. The issue turned out to be the lady's style of driving. Without wanting to be rude, have you tried a different driver? With a bit of modification to the lady's driving style, and some work convincing the horse that things had changed, that horse was fine travelling eventually.
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Hey, thanks for the advice and I was also considering this, as even though my mum is very careful when driving the trailer she isn't very confident so she isnt the best :p
 
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