Troubled Traveller - HELP

[Cougarlady]

Hi Everybody!
For starters i'd like to say that this is the first thing i have posted and i find everyones opinions interesting but i'd only really like constructive advice.
My horse Cougar (see my dp) had to be tranquillised twice last time she travelled a decent distance and i would like not to be put in the position where this has to happen again. Is there some way i can calm her before we travel obviously not to the point where she can't stand up in the trailer. I was thinking a twitch or...? so yeah i have no idea

Thank you :*

 

[be positive]

You do not give much information as to what she does, why she needs to travel or why she needs sedating.
You cannot use a twitch for more than about 10 mins so not the answer to travel problems.
A companion is the most likely solution, a mirror can help.
Desensitising by doing things in stages, loading her and feeding so the trailer becomes a "nice" place, then short uneventful journeys, there are calmers you can use but none that will work as well as a veterinary tranquiliser, you can try various calmers at home, valerian is fairly strong but the main thing is really to find out why she travels badly and address that before the next journey.

 

[Cougarlady]

Hi,

She needed sedating because she was kicking,bucking,rearing generally making her displeasure known. When she did this she was in a backwards facing trailer and i have travelled her in a frontwards facing trailer and she was okay. I'm just worried that something will happen when i take her to Kent from Hertfordshire. I am taking her on holiday for some training and competing. We are feeding her in the trailer, however last time she was fine until she decided to run out the front ramp (at this point the front ramp was down, she didn't have the front bar up and i was feeding her with the jockey door open. A bit of background she is a 5yr old Irish Sport Horse. Generally a super girl but sometimes she can be a bit of a mule Started her on oestres and it anything shes more grumpy but its nothing major just face pulling etc

 

[be positive]

Will this be in the forward trailer? if so she may be happier, a mirror is really good for some horses they think they have company and really relax. Try a short journey before you need to go on the long one and see how she is, try taking the partition out so she can stand on the diagonal, you could try cross tying, try different boots or bandages to see if they make any difference, some do not like the stiff boots.

Get a syringe of sedalin just in case you need it, a good net of haylage in front of her to keep her occupied on the journey and drive carefully without looking behind you too often.

 

[Cougarlady]

It will be in a forward trailer yes and we do have a camera in the trailer so we can watch her while we're on the go.I'll buy her a mirror asap and see how she lodes with that in place.
Thank you for your advice!!

 

[Ancient Hacker]

Cougarlady! I think our horses are twins separated at birth. One of mine, a TB, was so hysterical on his last trip that everyone said to me that I'll never get him in a trailer again.

This, of course, is a bit inconvenient as we are about to move to another part of the country.

So I've parked the trailer (it's forward-facing) in a paddock. Every day I go out there and sit on the ramp and read. On day one he circled and had a good look. Day two he realised I had snacks. He voluntarily put 2 feet on the ramp, very tentatively. We have carried on this routine for about a week - no bridle, head collar or anything. Today, while I sat in the trailer with some snacks, he loaded and unloaded himself independently just on voice command. I then jumped up and down a bit to start him getting used to the movement. (I think the neighbours have written me off as a lunatic by now!)

Tomorrow I'm going to try him with the engine running, and then the next time a head collar but no lead rein on. Slowly, gently is the only way.
I hope we're both successful .... I think the best route is slow but sure progress, lots of patience and lots of snacks. I'm trying to teach him that the trailer is a safe and desirable haven, where there are no tigers but lots of snacks and stroking. (Don't tell a soul, I'll be travelling in the trailer with him, which is illegal here.)

Please let me know how you get on, and share any tips! It's a bit of a nightmare having a bad traveller.

 

[Cougarlady]

Ancient Hacker!! Thank god other horses are the same!

Thank you so much for your advice, thats such a good idea. I've arranged for her to spent time in the field with a trailer, theres no time to waste! I'm going out to tomorrow to start the process of making friends with the trailer.
i'll keep you posted on her progress

 

[9tails]

Just make sure you attach a tow vehicle to the trailer. Good luck!

 

[Ancient Hacker]

Cougarlady, take a good book and some snacks for yourself. Sitting in the trailer for an hour or two can be a bit dull Best of luck!

 

[Tammytoo]

Just a little confused here! If you say she travels well in a box facing forwards and only kicks off when travelling backwards, don't travel her backwards!

 

[Cougarlady]

I just wanted to know if there was anything i could do to make her calm just incase anything did happen.

 

[Tammytoo]

Sorry, Cougarlady - I misunderstood what you were asking.

Global Herbs do Supercalm Instant sachets which you give before travelling which help them cope with stress. They worked well for our pony who used to sweat up badly when travelling.

 

[paulineh]

What have you tried so far. Any form of sedation is not good when traveling. Use a calmer such as Magic or Nupafeed. Horses that get themselves all in a tissuey and the muscles get tight. When muscles get tight they start to loss Magnesium, this then makes them feel unstable and panicky.

I have a mare that a few years ago started to throw herself around the trailer. She had travelled miles before with out any problem.

We did a few things to help her. I moved her to the inside and moved the back part of the partition over so she could spread her back legs, did not put any boots or bandage on and did not tie her up. I also started her on a magnesium supplement and then gave her an instant syringe an hour before travelling her. This combination worked for me.

We never had a problem loading her and she walked out of the trailer as if nothing had happened. We could not even start the engine before she started to throw herself around.

With the above combination I travelled her from Berkshire to Exmoor and also North Wales
. She was so relaxed about everything.

Hope things work out for you.