Traveling - anything else I could try?

I have some old mac boots, you are welcome to try for the cost of postage?

They have been used so are not what I would call clean!!!!

I can check the size if you want but were brought for a 16.1hh TB.
 
Just a thought, but what about punishing him when he does it? You could have somebody sat in the living with a super soaker and when he starts aim for his head?!!

Not easy of you are on your own but if you could borrow somebody to join you a couple of times it might work?!
 
How about turning round & heading back out again as soon as you get back home? You could rinse & repeat until he was never quite certain that he was home for good? You might also need to pull into a few random venues & not put the back down/deal with him at all, just let him crash about whilst you get yourself a cup of coffee and then head off again? At the moment he is being rewarded because the ramp is coming down & he is either being allowed to come off the lorry or he can see that it is all going to happen in due course.
 
LCH611 said:
How about turning round & heading back out again as soon as you get back home? You could rinse & repeat until he was never quite certain that he was home for good? You might also need to pull into a few random venues & not put the back down/deal with him at all, just let him crash about whilst you get yourself a cup of coffee and then head off again? At the moment he is being rewarded because the ramp is coming down & he is either being allowed to come off the lorry or he can see that it is all going to happen in due course.
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That actually could be worth a try. Once I have reinforced the lorry!! Good point that I am rewarding him. I mostly want to kill him at the time, so just drop the ramp to make it stop.....
 
lillie07 said:
Just a thought, but what about punishing him when he does it? You could have somebody sat in the living with a super soaker and when he starts aim for his head?!!

Not easy of you are on your own but if you could borrow somebody to join you a couple of times it might work?!
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Sorry, but this made me LOL :D :D

Hope you get it sorted OP
 
when my mare used to kick out in my ifor 510 I had a special very heavy duty rubber mat hung from the back bar, this had the duel effect of removing a lot of the force of the kick and as it swinging(it was very very heavy so wouldn't swing unless kicked) after the kick came back and hit her on the hocks. It certainly helped but never really stopped it!
 
You know its not the view or the noise how about smell? You could put something smelly in his nostrils like they do for stallions so he can't smell what is going on. Just don't let him snot on you!
 
A old chap (who was pretty old school/tough!) that I used to ride for had one that was a horrible traveller. She sounds exactly like your horse but did it most of the time. 1 day we were driving to a party and he said he had had enough and every time she went mad he braked the truck, not hard but hard enough for there to be a bit of a quick jolt in the back and for her to realise that standing would be a better option.

It would be important to make sure no one was behind you, although it wouldnt of been that noticable and was only for about 1 second. Just a quick blip. He did it a good few times and then she stood nicely. It happened a few times on subsequent journeys but the mare did improve, a lot.

Not an ideal solution and I'm not sure I'd try it with one of mine, but it did seem to work. Depends how desperate you are!!
 
ok here are my wild and wacky suggestions!

a mirror and try it with the windows open, and the windows blocked out, might give him some 'company' to keep him calm

what about putting both travel boots on one leg? eg both hinds on one hind leg, both fronts on one front leg. this might make the leg wide enough that he can't get the feet together?..

what about a MASSIVE straw bed in the lorry, 3ft high, might discourage him?...

you know those electric dog collars with remote controls?....well......there's also a water/scent version of those that sprays out water. could you rig up something that if you press a button in the cab it can squirt a spray of water at him?.... it might be distracting and enough of a shock to stop him?.....

parelli?....only saying that because my mother's horse was a beast until he did that and is now a lamb to load and travel

think that's all the odd things I can think of ;)
 
On phone so will reply more fully later, but have both dabbed the brakes and done a full on emergency stop complete with me leaping through the cut through screaming like a banshee. It had no effect other than to give me a sore throat.
 
An alternative (very cheap!) to a foam mattress or topper - we used strong plywood sheet with plenty of bubblewrap (anything will do - old towels, old plastic bags, but obviously bubble wrap is pretty shock absorbent) stuffed down between the ply and the lorry wall. Because it stopped us worrying she was going to kick the wall through and made it less noisy (and hence less satisfying) for her, Daisy stopped being quite such an idiot and finally all but gave up battering the lorry. She never managed to remove the partitions, but she gave it a good try - fortunately they were Oakley style H partitions and weren't going anywhere in a hurry.

For a foam mattress - I would try getting hold of one on freecycle or similar.
 
SpottedCat said:
On phone so will reply more fully later, but have both dabbed the brakes and done a full on emergency stop complete with me leaping through the cut through screaming like a banshee. It had no effect other than to give me a sore throat.
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I know it's not funny but that did make me LOL as that's the sort of thing I'd try in the end! ;)
 
SummerxStarsx said:
Sorry, but this made me LOL :D :D

Hope you get it sorted OP
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Ha, I wrote it really quickly so it didn't come across quite right! We did it to a mare that would climb on to the tack lockers when the lorry was stationary- it was enough to shock her into thinking rationally and which seemed to break the habit! She was very cold brained though so did not panic.
 
Have followed this posted for afew days, i will also be try as many of those suggestions as i can. My horse is a complete kn*b to travel, its so bad that most times i decide to leave him at home just because its easier. If i do take him out, my stomach is in knots the whole journey!

My horse travels like a lamb, unless another horse is with him. He will kick for no reason at all, he kicks on the motorway in a straight line at a constant speed, to kicking at traffic lights. He even kicks when hobbled. Well double barrels actually now!
We had a scary journey the other week, traveled really well (even with another horse) until we got to a roundabout, and we had to slam on to avoid a car that whizzed across the front of us. Said horse then decided he couldn't stand up, and was dramatically throwing himself around, we me terrified he would end up under the partition. I climbed in back and stood with him, we had to crawl home (thankfully we were virtually home anyway) So know i wont travel him next to the living wall either. However he doesn't seem to be kicking as much since this incident? But i'm def going to get some thick rubber, as i'm sure its the noise or the attention he likes. (me running though the living swearing and shouting at him!!)
Need to get my lad stopped, as im taking my HGV training and test end of this week, and im not looking forward to having to drive him about.
 
SpottedCat said:
On phone so will reply more fully later, but have both dabbed the brakes and done a full on emergency stop complete with me leaping through the cut through screaming like a banshee. It had no effect other than to give me a sore throat.
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I'm so sorry SC, I can't suggest anything useful beyond thinking the foam mattress sounds like a great idea, but this made me laugh!

I think you had better get the animal communicator out, he is clearly incredibly traumatised and probably had terrible birthing or something :rolleyes: ;) :D
 
dieseldog said:
I thought someone on HHO was going to cure him for you
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Ah, if only! The person who said they thought I was doing it all wrong, never actually gave me any useful suggestions about what I should do instead, or responded to my invitation to come and fix him. I can't imagine why they did not have the courage of their convictions, since they were so adamant I was wrong to hobble him in the first place..... I assumed they were pretty experienced and were going to tell me where I was going wrong - in return I would have probably paid them a handsome fee to prevent lorry destruction and ****ty hands from doing hobbles. Alas, it was not to be.
 
lillie07 said:
Just a thought, but what about punishing him when he does it? You could have somebody sat in the living with a super soaker and when he starts aim for his head?!!

Not easy of you are on your own but if you could borrow somebody to join you a couple of times it might work?!
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I am always on my own. The problem with that suggestion is really, it needs someone in the lorry who is spot on with timing. I did briefly consider an electric shock dog collar.....but only briefly you will all be pleased to hear!

burtie said:
when my mare used to kick out in my ifor 510 I had a special very heavy duty rubber mat hung from the back bar, this had the duel effect of removing a lot of the force of the kick and as it swinging(it was very very heavy so wouldn't swing unless kicked) after the kick came back and hit her on the hocks. It certainly helped but never really stopped it!
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This has come up a couple of times, I am discussing practicalities with OH. It needs to not be able to be ripped down, and he (horse, not OH!) is quite good at that!

dieseldog said:
You know its not the view or the noise how about smell? You could put something smelly in his nostrils like they do for stallions so he can't smell what is going on. Just don't let him snot on you!
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Like Vicks? That could work, though is perhaps not pleasant for the horse....worth a try though!

Chloe_GHE said:
ok here are my wild and wacky suggestions!

a mirror and try it with the windows open, and the windows blocked out, might give him some 'company' to keep him calm
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Done this - have plywood inserts for the windows to completely block them out - makes no difference. Used to have a mirror - made no difference (then again neither does being in company, so god knows why I thought a mirror would help!!).

what about putting both travel boots on one leg? eg both hinds on one hind leg, both fronts on one front leg. this might make the leg wide enough that he can't get the feet together?..
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I have a spare set of travel boots - that could actually work, thanks!

what about a MASSIVE straw bed in the lorry, 3ft high, might discourage him?...
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Bedding (or not) makes no difference, but hmmm, liking the idea of lots of straw behind him, wonder if it would help.....prefer that to a bale, which I am worried about him rolling. Cheap to try at least!

you know those electric dog collars with remote controls?....well......there's also a water/scent version of those that sprays out water. could you rig up something that if you press a button in the cab it can squirt a spray of water at him?.... it might be distracting and enough of a shock to stop him?.....
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Did not know you could get water spray ones - off to google now!

parelli?....only saying that because my mother's horse was a beast until he did that and is now a lamb to load and travel

think that's all the odd things I can think of ;)
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Probably for the best ;)


daisycrazy said:
An alternative (very cheap!) to a foam mattress or topper - we used strong plywood sheet with plenty of bubblewrap (anything will do - old towels, old plastic bags, but obviously bubble wrap is pretty shock absorbent) stuffed down between the ply and the lorry wall. Because it stopped us worrying she was going to kick the wall through and made it less noisy (and hence less satisfying) for her, Daisy stopped being quite such an idiot and finally all but gave up battering the lorry. She never managed to remove the partitions, but she gave it a good try - fortunately they were Oakley style H partitions and weren't going anywhere in a hurry.

For a foam mattress - I would try getting hold of one on freecycle or similar.
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Yes, good plan - do feel better that a horse as useful as Daisy is also prone to this.

Saratoga said:
I know it's not funny but that did make me LOL as that's the sort of thing I'd try in the end! ;)
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I just lost patience one day. It didn't make any difference, he looked at me in a mildly bewildered fashion. Goes to show they are perfectly capable of standing upright in an emergency stop situation!
 
Sorry, I just read this in one go - and have been howling with laughter:(

FWIW I'd try a hefty sheet of rubber at the back end and the rapidly discarded electric collar idea - I'd reinstate that, especially after having had to listen to the antics for any length of time. However it would be kinder with a squirt . . . but had you considered training him with a wireless doorbell and a squirter. If you teach him that he gets the bell and then in a few seconds a big squirt he should learn to anticipate the squirt from the bell . . . I guess you'd need a doorbell that played a tune though:D Then you could fit the chime in the back of the lorry and keep the button in the front.

I'm still having visions of lorry turning up with heavy rock blaring out of the back and driver hopping out of the front with ear plugs in, frantically sucking throat sweets and boasting several bruises from the speed at which she propelled herself though the cutout.
 
I think the memory foam wall, lots of straw and hoof boots for the shoe ripping sound the most sensible set of things to try.

Does he have a breast bar?
 
ihatework said:
I think the memory foam wall, lots of straw and hoof boots for the shoe ripping sound the most sensible set of things to try.

Does he have a breast bar?
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I do too, and that's the route I think I'll have to go down. He already has a fair amount of shavings in there, so it's not like I travel with no bedding.

No breast bar - but as the lorry is going to have to return to the builder for some repair work at some stage due to his destructive tendencies, I will discuss this with him. Honestly - I go with no tack locker in the horse area as seen too many accidents with feet through them, and it turns out I just give the horrible creature enough space to get up some real force with his back feet. You cannot win!

I now do not dare travel him between two partitions as he can get them out (and they are decent spring loaded ones), so will have to discuss how exactly to attache a breast bar.
 
Dee O'Dorant said:
Sorry, I just read this in one go - and have been howling with laughter:(

FWIW I'd try a hefty sheet of rubber at the back end and the rapidly discarded electric collar idea - I'd reinstate that, especially after having had to listen to the antics for any length of time. However it would be kinder with a squirt . . . but had you considered training him with a wireless doorbell and a squirter. If you teach him that he gets the bell and then in a few seconds a big squirt he should learn to anticipate the squirt from the bell . . . I guess you'd need a doorbell that played a tune though:D Then you could fit the chime in the back of the lorry and keep the button in the front.

I'm still having visions of lorry turning up with heavy rock blaring out of the back and driver hopping out of the front with ear plugs in, frantically sucking throat sweets and boasting several bruises from the speed at which she propelled herself though the cutout.
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At least I am providing some entertainment I guess?! The last paragraph is surprisingly accurate on some days. The worst is when the gate people at events want to be super-helpful and point everything out....I just need to keep moving and drop the ramp, and have had to cut them short on occasion!

I don't think the shock collar is terribly fair really. I know I am probably being a softy, and he is out with electric fencing etc, but like hobbling front to back, it just doesn't sit comfortably with me in a confined space like that - I don't want to put him off traveling/getting in the box entirely!
 
I was only meaning thinking about it when he was being an utter arse! Training him with a chime and a squirter would be much kinder:D

Just one thought that I can't remember whether anyone's suggested - is he better with a friend?
 
Dee O'Dorant said:
I was only meaning thinking about it when he was being an utter arse! Training him with a chime and a squirter would be much kinder:D

Just one thought that I can't remember whether anyone's suggested - is he better with a friend?
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Nope, no better with a friend. If only life were that simple hey? Then I'd just *have* to get a second eventer.... ;)

Oh believe me, I think about many and varied horrible things to do to him when he does it. I sometimes have to go and have a little sit before dealing with him to get my bloodpressure back down!
 
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