youngster can't balance herself in Trailer! help!

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opinionuk

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I had a terrifying experience today and hoping somebody has some ideas!

We heard a noise which we thought was from our trailer when we took my younster out in the trailer everytime we turned right last week, as my mare had been in the trailer about 10 times before and it sounded like a problem with the trailer, had the trailer checked and there was a problem with the brush so all was fixed and all was ok.

Took her out today and 100ft down the road I could hear the noise again, i decided to travel with her to see if it was her and what was happening when she travelled, it was the most terrifying experience that I have ever had! When she travels she can barely stand up she scrambles about trying to get on her feet! she doesn't lean on the breast bar at all but just plants her feet trying to balance herself and leads her weight against the partition I really thought she was going to fall over, I was terrified!!! I ended unloading her halfway down the road.

Bless her she reloaded even though she had that terrifying experience I thought if i put the breast bar closer to her then she would learn to lean against that but if anything that made it even worse.

An instructor suggested trying a single breastbar without the partition which I definately won't be trying as the way she was scrambling around she would really hurt herself so please do suggest that.

Sorry about the waffle!
 
opinionuk said:
An instructor suggested trying a single breastbar without the partition which I definately won't be trying as the way she was scrambling around she would really hurt herself so please do suggest that.
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Although you don't want to hear it, I also think this may be the best approach. Some horses, particularly those unused to travelling, need to be able to spread their legs out to help them balance. They can do this much better with no partition. You'll probably find that once she gets used to it, she will be much better and you'll be able to put the partition back.

Make sure she's cross tied so she can't turn around and take her out for some short, slow journeys to get her used to it. :)
 
Also, try a bed of straw in there too- we had a pony who would flail and collapse when we took him anywhere in a trailer (he started doing it suddenly apropos of nothing) and it took several weeks of driving slowly round the block with no partition and the straw bed for him to stop panicking. He properly mashed himself up, but he was really good in the end. We think the straw stopped him hearing his every movement/ seeing his feet moving and therefore lessened his things to panic about?
 
Again I'm also going to suggest trying your youngster with just full breast bars. My mare is exactly the same, she just can't stand up with the partition! A few weeks ago we tried her on a short journey with the partition and I had to get in the back to help her stand up. Without the partition she spreads her legs and stands diagonally and we don't here a peep out of her! Even on a 3 hour journey last year!

I know how you feel though as it's so scary when they have lost their balance! I didn't really want to try kiwi with the fully breast bars as I thought she'd fall over too but I was surprised!
 
I would defo try with just a breast bar and cross tie. My pony had the same Problem. She used to be fine in a trailer and when we got our lorry she was a nightmare. She would put her entire weight on the partition and try and scabble up the wall! She stopped when we gave her a two
horse sized partition.
She did the same thing when we went back to a trailer, so we took the partition out and she has travelled fine ever since. When she gets in the trailer she stands diagonally and spreads her legs out really wide! It's just a shame that we can't travel anything else with her!
Good luck!
Ets- sorry if the spelling ect is bad, messaging on my phone!
 
Am I right in that cross tying is 2 leadropes one tied to the left hand ring of the trailer and one tied to the righthand ring of the trailer?
 
Another one who is suggesting taking the partition out and using a full breastbar at the front & cross tying, left and right :)
And please, please do not travel with her again, it is incredibly dangerous - a girl (very experienced, freak accident) was standing in the front of the trailer whilst travelling as horse was not standing well - she got kicked/struck with such force that it forced the jockey door open and she was half in half out, being dragged along the road. She ended up in a coma with serious injuries but was very lucky in that she recovered.
 
Horses don't lean on the breastbar to balance, that's just not how they're built. SOMETIMES they can sit on the tail gate but they balance by bracing their feet out to the side. The partition is NOT what's holding her up/keeping her safe, it's likely what's making her feel trapped and unbalanced.

I like trailers and have travelled many horses long distances in them BUT so many trailers here are SO narrow. Even with only a partial partition, some don't allow the horse enough room.

I don't generally use straw because I find it can get slippery when it's damp but have often used shavings. Much of a muchness though really - a covering on the floor can help some horses feel safe.

Also, please don't take this the wrong way but I presume the person doing the driving is very experienced and used to driving more than one horse? It's really important to drive carefully with a horse that's learning - one quick fishtail out of a roundabout for a horse with only a few positive miles to its name can make it anxious and more prone to scramble. I don't mean driving slowly, just being super smooth, not stopping fully when you can avoid it, not accelerating/turning sharply. Obviously this is just good trailer driving but even more important when you're trying to bank "good" miles.

The travelling in the trailer is illegal, is it not? I have seen horses go over/under the breast bar in a panic and have, in fact, been trapped by two in my life. Not fun and potentially lethal.

That said, when you were in the trailer, did you travel not hanging on to/leaning on anything? It's harder than it seems and give you some real insight into what it's like for the horse! Totally against the law ;), I was made to ride in a trailer (no horse) a few times before I was taught to drive one to get an idea of what it felt like to have the driver accelerate too fast, turn too sharply etc.
 
Bad travellers are best with as much room as possible. They need to be able to spread their legs and stand at an angle - if travelled loose in a horse box they don't stand facing forward but very often diagonally backwards.
 
Afraid I'm going to second everyone elso. My mare used to do this was scary. However I took out the partiton and all happy horse stands diagonally in box and is very balanced. If you have ever stood in a trailer (not with ahorse in) or quad bike trailer etc it is so much easier with your legs apart
 
I agree with the rest. The main reason a horse scrabbles or even falls in a trailer is they just havent enough room to balance. Taking out the partition allows them to spread there legs to balance and stand diagonal. Sounds daft but it works. Cross tying is great to stop horses turning but dont do it too restrictive otherwise she wont be able to stand at whatever angle she needs to balance. I used to tie my mare to the left of the trailer, looking in from the back which mimics herringbone in a horsebox with enough slack so she could move her head arround but not enough so she got tangled.
I also think straw can be slippy if wet and prefer shavings.
I appreciate how scary it is as my current horse freaked out in a trailer and scared me to death and made me save up for a wagon but your mare sounds much calmer as she is loading no problem.

Good luck, I would def give it atry without the partitions.
 
Yet another vote for taking the partition out, for all the reasons stated.

One thing I've noticed (out of about 9 horses over the years so not scientific) is that mares in particular seem to like more space, not sure why although it was suggested that their hip bones/pelvis is more sensitive to knocks from the partition or possibly they find it easier to 'spread'.

Also check that the travel boots aren't so bulky they restrict her movement, you could try using brushing boots and over reach boots all round.

If you use bedding make sure its not so thick she can't move and that its not slipping on the rubber.

Anyway good luck with it and def try without the partition.
 
definately take out partition!!! the horse needs room!! my horse was the same total loony with partition angel without! remember mares and foels travel well without xxx
 
Well bit of an update!

After the advice of all you guys I tried my mare in the trailer without the partition and cross tied her, she travelled better only took her around the block slowly to get her used to it, stopped to check her and was happy to see she was standing diagonally in the trailer to help her balance. I'm going to get CCTV in the trailer just to put my mind at rest, I think you can pick one up quite cheaply.

Thanks for all the advice this is how I will travel her from now on, I also changed from travelling boots to bandages to see if that helped she seem happier with the bandages.

Many Thanks
 
mine can only tavel on the wrong side, dont no if this helps but if she goes on the right she falls about all over but if shes on the left she can lean a bit on the trailer wall and is fine.

this only problem with this is its ok for me to do as i have a flat back lorry that pulls the trailer and we load it up with a couple of tonnes of feed so even tho she is tipping the trailer its fine but if u can borrow a pony you could try her on the other side xx
 
Well done, glad it worked. Someone else said what I was going to, which is that this is most common in mares. My 14.2 did the exact same thing. In the end we could travel her with the partition. But only on the left side, which we had to do even if just her. Once we went to a lorry we had the same scrabbling problem until we tried in the very back section which, due to the herringbone layout, had the most room at her rear end.

A word of caution on the CCTV- when you first use it, make sure the driver is watching the road and not the horse!
 
I am amazed how many people load up youngsters and expect them to just cope - and most of them do admirably

Horses are very capable of travelling with partitions in, but they need to have had the chance to balance first

I'm afraid I have seen far too many driver take corners, roundabouts and junctions far too fast, and sometimes even curbing the trailer as they do it! :eek:

I have cctv in all my vehicles, and this really helps to take note of when the horse needs to prop and balance. You can then adjust speed so they don't scrabble at all.

IMHO - horses panicking about partitions in trailers are caused by bad driving in the first place.
 
Or too small/narrow trailers, especially if the partitions go all the way to the floor.

It isn't pertinent to this thread, I don't think, but trailering problems, especially if they come up suddenly or are combined with other issues, can also be a sign of early discomfort. I've seen a fair number of horses for loading/trailering issues which later display obvious problems that have been brewing for ages. I've also, oddly, seen quite a few horses struggle with loading/travelling after corrective shoeing!

Sorry, I don't mean to panic anyone but horses rarely change their habits for no reason so it's always worth keeping an eye on the not so obvious things.
 
TarrSteps said:
Or too small/narrow trailers, especially if the partitions go all the way to the floor.

It isn't pertinent to this thread, I don't think, but trailering problems, especially if they come up suddenly or are combined with other issues, can also be a sign of early discomfort. I've seen a fair number of horses for loading/trailering issues which later display obvious problems that have been brewing for ages. I've also, oddly, seen quite a few horses struggle with loading/travelling after corrective shoeing!

Sorry, I don't mean to panic anyone but horses rarely change their habits for no reason so it's always worth keeping an eye on the not so obvious things.
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You are really right with this. I had a tb mare who was a witch to load but always travelled fine. One dry summer I had some issues with on/off lameness due to mild bruised soles. When she was better I went to go to a dressage competition, sure enough, she started scrambling out of the blue. After a few more attempts we switched to a lorry and she was much better.

The following summer the hard ground caused concussion damage again. When it didn't heal, we had investigations done. Turns out she was suffering from pedal ostiutus. The vet was pretty convinced that the dry summers had aggrevated the condition. I find it too strange that the first dry summer was the first summer we had travelling issues, whilst the wet summers before everything had been fine. I hadn't changed her travel gear, the trailer or the car!

OP, I'm very glad to hear you've found a solution! Good luck for the future.
 
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