Travelling fear?

[Olliepoppy]

Hi, I've had my 7.5 year old cob for 18 months and in that time he's only been in a trailer once when I brought him home. I have recently been loading and unloading him which he does no problem at all. Once we'd done that a few times I took him for his first trip out - 15 mins. He was ok but stomped about a bit just before leaving in both directions. I then took him to a destination that was 30 mins away and he was a dripping mess when I got there, he also jumped about a lot in protest once we were stopped until the ramp was dropped and he stood good as gold waiting to come out, quietly steaming.. He loaded fine again and we made the trip home an hour later to arrive a sweaty mess again. The following day I loaded him and he was trembling before we set off. We went 15 mins and he was totally sweating. We offloaded no problem had a nice hack and reloaded a wee bit reluctantly but ok. Again he was sweaty when we got back.

My question is - is there anything I can do to ease his stress? He stress poops, shakes and sweats. Will this get easier for him the more he does it? Thanks in advance..

 

[milliepops]

My little cob was like this to start with. It will get better with practice. She used to sweat up and tremble whenever we went anywhere - now she loads well and stands quietly, travels nicely and arrives quite happy at the other end.

Lots of short journeys is probably going to help him to get used to it. Do you have an experienced horse who could travel with him? Perhaps if he had a really settled companion in the trailer it would help him to accept it more quickly. Also make sure you are driving him as gently as possible - some horses take several trips to find their sea legs.

You might also do some investigations around what your trailer is like when its on the move. Some are really noisy or have things that rattle loudly with every bump in the road - maybe there is something you coudl do to make it more comfortable in that respect. Perhaps experiment with travelling him with/without the partition in the middle - some horses like to have loads of room, others prefer to be snug between the partitions. It will get better though, you just have to give him time and good experieces to build his confidence.

 

[Merlod]

IMHO they don't have bad or fear reactions for no reason. Is the trailer serviced? Floor and tyre pressues checked? Unfortunately it's often a case of having to trial and error to find the way your horse prefers to travel.. bring a buddy, change sides, remove the partition entirely can often help. I would advise bedding the trailer if he is sweating up lots to save making the matting slippy.

I had to buy a herringbone trailer for my horse, he just couldn't travel facing forwards.. sweating, scrambling etc. Now travels like a dream.

 

[applecart14]

If you are towing with a large 4 x 4 you might not realise how fast you are actually travelling? Could it be that he is getting thrown around corners, or you are braking more sharply than you think? Even if you don't have a 4x 4 you still might be towing incorrectly.

To be a good 'trailer tower' (my own made up name there!) you have to anticipate the traffic ahead of you, change down gears slowly letting the engine brake for you and go slowly and widely round bends and roundabouts. Imagine a glass of water on your car bonnet. Would it still be there when you arrive at your destination?

The only other thing I wondered is are you shutting the horse in the trailer completely? Leave at least one (preferably both) of the back doors open unless it is torrential rain, or you are anticipating being on a wet motorway with lorries throwing up water as they overtake you. Your horse won't need loads of layers of rugs on, just a lightweight sweat sheet would be sufficient as it is warm in a trailer or lorry.

 

[Olliepoppy]

Thanks for replies so far. He wears nothing when travelling except his headcollar. I drive REALLY carefully, usually get told off by my OH for going too slow! He is in a single trailer, an Ifor HB401 which is fully serviced and very solid. I leave the back doors open but shut the side one.

 

[applecart14]

Thanks for replies so far. He wears nothing when travelling except his headcollar. I drive REALLY carefully, usually get told off by my OH for going too slow! He is in a single trailer, an Ifor HB401 which is fully serviced and very solid. I leave the back doors open but shut the side one.

Do you have rubber matting down on the floor? The reason I ask is because my trailer was kitted out with tongue and groove floor and no rubber matting when I first bought it and my first horse used to slip on it. In the winter the condensation from the roof fell on the floor, froze and made it the equivalent of a skating rink?

Just trying to cover all scenarios.

 

[Olliepoppy]

Yes there's rubber matting

 

[applecart14]

Yes there's rubber matting

I don't know then, I really don't.

I can only suggest leaving a radio on in the inside of the trailer, no belting out rock tunes. More a classical/talk show type of thing and a decent volume. This will reasure him that there is company. If you can make the partition as wide as possible so that he had room to stretch his legs to help him keep his balance, especially his back end, that would be helpful.

When we realised there was a problem with my first horse, all those years ago, Mum and Dad were watching me as they drove behind me. They could see the horses bum dissapearing behind the tailgate, he was slipping on the floor and it was obvious there was a problem. It might be worth someone following behind you and seeing exactly what the horse is doing in the trailer.

I assume that the horse is able to move his head on the lead rope when tied up. He needs his head for balance, and if he feels to restricted it may make him stress to the point he is sweating.

When my horse started being reluctant to load I inserted a bit of foam between the door frame and top door when I travel my horse to increase the ventilation inside the trailer. You could see if this makes a difference. I also added the radio and stopped putting travel boots on him. I know your issue isn't loading, only travelling but you could see if any of these suggestions makes a difference. Sometimes its a matter of trial and error and a lot of patience.

 

[Olliepoppy]

Thanks applecart14 I will try the radio. It is possible he is slipping on the matting so will add in some straw. His head is free enough for him to move in all directions. There is no partition with it being a single trailer and there is enough room between the front and rear bars that he can step forward and back a wee bit.

 

[The Fuzzy Furry]

FLF did this when I first got her - the sweating etc. Was also a stubborn baggage to load to start with.....
I ended up taking her out every day, sometimes twice a day in the box over nearly 3 weeks
Sometimes only 2 miles up the road, round the big roundabout and back, other times to hack with a friend 5-10 miles away.
Slowly built up the trips & in 3 months came off the box cool and calm, after a horrid (for me) motorway trip where she had been on the box for nearly 3 hours (should have been an under 2 hr journey!
She's been back with me for around 6 weeks now & we have done at least 3 trips a week after the first fortnight (she arrived dripping & shivering after a 40 min journey to my yard), back to reminding her its all fine, after the first 4 careful trips, she settled back into it

 

[Olliepoppy]

Thanks Xmas furry! Will be persevering with him, just don't like seeing the big lump a nervous wreck thinking of bringing him down to it tonight and giving him his tea in it, try and make it a positive place to be!

 

[Darbs]

Although this is getting more expensive, there are wireless battery powered cameras that can feed via Bluetooth to an iPad or Smartphone. This will give you a clear picture of what is happening.

 

[Olliepoppy]

Thanks, will consider that in the sales!

 

[Darbs]

Oh, and one thing about the wireless cameras I suggested, it may be stating the obvious, but please don't be tempted to look at what he's doing while driving! Give the screen to a passenger.

He won't be impressed in the slightest if you put the whole rig in a ditch because you were watching intently while driving.

I have spent the last 25 years investigating fatal accidents and the one common factor was every single one of them thought it would never happen to them.

I am interested to see if the wireless camera approach works.