Travelling Trouble........

[PetalPower]

For the past 6 years my mare has travelled in a trailer with no problems whatsoever. The last year has been in a Bateson Ascot and the 5 years before that in an Ifor Williams 510.
She has always worn travel boots.

For some reason, on my last 2 outings there has been a lot of banging in the box and on our last arrival she had pulled down and shredded the rear travel boots, not to mention putting herself in a soaking state. Nothing has changed regarding how she travels, etc. and I am a very careful and steady driver whilst towing.

Last night she cut herself quite nastily, and I am very concerned that this has just started happening after years of happy travelling.

Has anyone else had this happen or can offer any advice (it would be much appreciated). Sorry for the lengthy post and thanks in advance!

 

[MagicMelon]

Yep, take the back section of your partition out completely. Sounds weird but I've had 2 horses begin doing this after years of normal travelling - dont know why they started, but it progressively gets worse. One of my horses got to the point where he'd hurl himself to the floor (as if losing balance) as soon as I closed the door! Its like they get claustraphobic, if you remove the back section they can spread their hind legs out which sorts the problem immediately.

 

[somethingorother]

And use bandages instead of boots? Maybe they slipped and caused the problems? Are they the same boots as always?

 

[Cuppatea]

are you driving slower than you used to? A lot of horses cant handle being driven slowly and as wierd as it sounds are far better when travelling faster....

 

[mcnaughty]

I used to have a pony that started trying to go down in the trailer following a very bad journey in windy weather. My dad did all my towing and he was and is a fantastic dowing driver.

In the end we drilled an extra hole in the floor at the rear of the trailer to enable the partition to be positioned in such a way (wider) as to enable him to spread his back legs. No worries then.

 

[D66]

Was it very cold. The only possible reason we found for our old pony to panic in the trailer could have been condensation dripping off the roof onto his back! Partition out worked eventually.
Check the floor.

 

[PetalPower]

Thanks MagicMelon, I'll definitely try that! The travel boots were quite new but the exact same brand as the ones before - I deliberately bought the same as they had been so reliable. Many thanks for your time, everyone!