Tricky traveller - thoughts/suggestions?

[JustKickOn]

K isn't the biggest fan of the lorry. Loading her when she is on her own can take a little while. We don't put any pressure on her, sometimes she walks straight up the ramp and other times she has a dance/rear/backwards. Schooling whip to the side of her (not used however) and she tends to go straight up. Loads herself on the way home or if the other horse is on the lorry first.

Once on the lorry she is quiet as a lamb and will stand good as gold for as long as you want her to. Start the engine and it's like a switch goes, and once moving she starts to be tricky. Give her her due, she does travel nicely for some of it, however she can be a right bag.

This is a video of her today, going through a bad spell... Taken going down a straight road at 30mph. Speed tends not to affect how bad she can be, she stands up more on a winding road. https://youtu.be/XFbLwqV6ysg

She has been worse. I've seen her bum touch the roof. I'm 5'4 and there are hoof marks on the wall at chin height. The rear bit of the lorry has been reinforced, and has a shock absorbing lining in it. At the end of the video she started what call rocking horse mode, where her bum comes up, down, front up, down, bum up, down...

On the outbound journey she hardly makes a sound, but does have a buck/kick out.
She does it with other horses on the lorry too, can be better, can be worse.
Usually travels in over reach boots and brushing boots, does the same thing.
Tried gently tapping the brakes to get her to stand up and keep her feet on the floor. Telling her off makes no difference. Mirrors make no difference. Music makes no difference. Haynet/no haynet makes no difference. Lots of space, no difference. Smaller space, no difference. She even managed a few bucks when she had been at the vets and still a bit sedated.

She went through the roof of her previous owner's lorry rearing up, so I am reluctant to hobble the hinds although the thought has crossed our minds. I don't actually think we would get them on her though.

She has an off the shelf calmer for competing (NAF Magic or Feedmark one) which she gets in a handful of chaff about 45 mins before loading.

I have thought about holding a licket for her, but she isn't overly interested in treats when travelling so not sure if she will be fussed over her licky. She is fine in all other aspects of her life, has the odd spooky moment and does fixate on things in the distance when stood on the yard (she likes watching the planes in the sky...) but other than that she's a gem.

Any questions, I will try my best to answer.

Suggestions and thoughts welcome, I'm aware this is a public forum though, so I might not like some

 

[Tern]

Have you tried travelling her forward / backwards (borrow a trailer?) or more herringbone - she seems quite "straight" so may at more of an angle.

With more room / less room?

 

[hibshobby]

Might sound daft, I know, but have you tried her in a trailer ? I know of a horse who is a nightmare in a lorry, but loads first time every time in a trailer and is as quiet as a lamb and never moves in a trailer. Also, almost the opposite idea, have you tried moving the partition closer so that she effectively has less room ? Some horses like to have the feeling of security from being either closed in, or something around them. My own likes space, but others may not.

 

[monkeymad]

Have you tried with no partition? My horse has to have the whole lorry (it was partitioned for 3!) to travel happily. Otherwise I would be getting a loading expert to come out (one of the intelligent horsemanship people) and see what they suggest.

 

[L&M]

That makes very scary watching and I would not feel comfortable travelling a horse with that level of stress, especially with her travelling history....what is she like if another horse is on board?

The only suggestion I could think of is getting some help from a natural horsemanship type trainer, who may be also able to help with the loading too.

 

[be positive]

A few ideas that you may not yet have tried, blocking the window so she cannot see directly in front of her she seems to be almost weaving at some points, gets more agitated and winds herself up, it may be seeing outside moving that sets her off.
A really deep bed under her feet, I have had the odd one that is really unhappy if it has none, if it is on the journey home she is worse could it be that she needs a pee and has been holding herself all day, have know some get anxious in this scenario, not to the extent she does but worth considering.
A mirror, probably not going to work if she is the same in company, cross tying and giving her more or less space but with the front end more restricted so she doesn't do the "weaving", I would probably be a bit harsher than gentle braking to get her to stand still but it is risking putting her into more of a mood.

 

[JustKickOn]

We don't have a trailer or vehicle to tow with. Tried loading her on a friends and although she was willing, she wouldn't stand on it. I find they are so vulnerable on a trailer too, and you can't really keep an eye on them.

Tried adjusting the partitions so she was more backwards facing, she still did it. Have tried with pretty much all of the lorry as her space, and making it so she could take a little side step and that's it, but again, she still did it.

She has done journeys before without a single peep from her. She doesn't do this for the whole journey, but there isn't a definitive thing that starts her off. When she isn't doing it, she stands like a rock with the wind rippling through her forelock and munching her net.

With another horse on board it can go either way. She can have a stress you moment, but if the other horse reassures her she settles for a little while. Other times she stands quiet as a little lamb.

In her previous home she was pretty much field > stable > arena > stable > lorry > stable > lorry > stable > arena... She was a competition horse so did a lot of travelling.

Once off the lorry, you wouldn't have known any difference, and the majority of her journey she is fine. I do however sit on the tack locker in the living and watch her over the partition door every journey, trying to spot a trend or trigger or something. It's not great to watch when she worries, usually I'm chatting away to her which does settle her to some extent.

I have looked into professionals, however some have come with good recommendations, others I've been told are a load of baloney. It's finding someone who is reputable, plus affordable.

 

[JustKickOn]

A few ideas that you may not yet have tried, blocking the window so she cannot see directly in front of her she seems to be almost weaving at some points, gets more agitated and winds herself up, it may be seeing outside moving that sets her off.
A really deep bed under her feet, I have had the odd one that is really unhappy if it has none, if it is on the journey home she is worse could it be that she needs a pee and has been holding herself all day, have know some get anxious in this scenario, not to the extent she does but worth considering.
A mirror, probably not going to work if she is the same in company, cross tying and giving her more or less space but with the front end more restricted so she doesn't do the "weaving", I would probably be a bit harsher than gentle braking to get her to stand still but it is risking putting her into more of a mood.

We did think about the window idea too. Putting news paper over so the light still comes through but she can't see out.

We put shavings at the back to catch any wee , but it's worth trying the whole lot with shavings in.

The taps on the brakes are short and quick and enough for her to stand up a bit and stop messing. I worry with this though that if it really throws her balance and she falls over. I would not forgive myself is she was seriously injured doing this.

The mirror works for about 5 minutes. We have arena mirrors and she now recognises herself. Sometimes too smart for her own good haha.

Space and cross tying could be another option.

Thank you all, lots to think about already. Sometimes I do wonder if it's just her. We think she has had a troubled past. It took me well over a year for her to trust me, and she will do almost anything for me now, just this seems a big trouble for her.

 

[Tern]

Probably the stupidest suggestion I have ever given..

But surely the duct tape method could be tried just this once?!


Contact previous owners?

 

[L&M]

What is the 'duct tape' method - intrigued?!

 

[Red-1]

I would try with no boots on at all. I would also cross tie. I like cross tying as they can lift and lower their head some, but not go too far back or from side to side.

I did have one that did this, bucking impossibly high, and including making a sun roof with his head, but he grew out of it.

I think being travelled twice a week minimum for a while, from 100 yards to a local arena, yep 100 yds, and building up from there helped. He also used to go on his box for a haynet in between times. He became happy and relaxed in the end.

I had a strong talk to him when he got a new lorry, but he was good, no new sun roofs!!! We travelled all over no problems once he was good.

 

[Tern]

What is the 'duct tape' method - intrigued?!

You put a piece of duct tape on there nose with some dangling down. Supposedly gives them something else to focus on. Has worked for some on here surprisingly.

 

[meesha]

Friends horse travelled very badly in overreach and brushing boots, have you tried no boots or standard travel boots?

 

[JustKickOn]

Well, duct tape would be worth a shot, as daft as it sounds!!

Have tried no boots and she is wearing standard ones in the video, doesn't make a difference. I'd rather have some boots on her than none though.

She stands on the lorry fine so that's not an issue.

Will start a process of elimination of new suggestions and take it from there!

 

[twiggy2]

I would try blocking the rear windows, in that video you can see the hedges whizzing past and most of her reactions are kicking out back or moving forward, so maybe blocking rear windows will help?

 

[JustKickOn]

I would try blocking the rear windows, in that video you can see the hedges whizzing past and most of her reactions are kicking out back or moving forward, so maybe blocking rear windows will help?

Hadn't thought of that, can understand that logic too, thank you.