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  Discussion on Mare goes crazy while trailering!
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Member:
Sheilab

Posted on Thursday, Sep 11, 2003 - 2:30 pm:

I have a 2 horse bumper pull Trail-et 7'4" high x 6' wide. My 12 yr. old mare loads and unloads OK but while she's trailering, she simply goes wild! Kicking, screaming and rocking the trailer unmercifully! Pedestrians and people in vehicles near us are horrified and quick to tell me (as if I didn't know!) that my horse is going bananas in the trailer! It's been 1 year and I've tried everything; taken the partitions out so she has plenty of room; turned her around so she's facing out; aced her; tied her head; left her head untied. All to no avail. I will not use chains on her legs because I know that will just exacerbate the problem, and I can't put another horse on the trailer with her for fear she will hurt them. Short of buying another trailer, does anyone have any suggestions?
Member:
Dres

Posted on Thursday, Sep 11, 2003 - 3:44 pm:

question, why do you think you need a new trailer..? is it too small.. ? what model of trail et do you have..? i have the eventor, and its plenty big for my horses... 17 hands..16'2'' hands.. i even hauled my big mare and foal to inspection in it.. plenty of room,.

i think you need to address the WHY she is misbehaving... does she do it in your friends trailers.? has she always done this or did it just begin... have you checked for bugs in the vents..??? just a few thoughts..

Ann
Member:
Leilani

Posted on Thursday, Sep 11, 2003 - 4:47 pm:

Do you think she could have been stung by a bee in the past? I have found wasp nests that were barely noticeable in my trailer.
Member:
Chrism

Posted on Thursday, Sep 11, 2003 - 4:57 pm:

Is she being hauled alone? If so, you may want to haul her with a well behaved buddy.

Also try having someone haul you around in the trailer (without her) - you may find something in there that is annoying her - wind, noise, driving skills, etc.

Also have the floor checked. Perhaps there is an unsteadiness that shows up when the trailer is under way.

Does she have something to nosh on while under way? Hay, grain or something special?

Have you experimented with shipping wraps? Adding them if you don't use them or leaving them off if you do?

How long do you haul for - can you do lots of mini-hauls for practice to desensitize her? Feed her on the trailer and go around the block each day?

Just some idle thoughts ...
Member:
Mrose

Posted on Thursday, Sep 11, 2003 - 10:34 pm:

No one has mentioned this yet-but, how is your driving? ( The way I see some people drive while hauling, I'd be kicking and screaming too!) Do you slow down on curves, ease into starts and stops, etc.? If you're a good hauler, was she previously trailered by someone who might not have been? And, does she act up the entire time, or only when you are stopped? ( Some horse think if you're stopped it's time to get out NOW.) You might try having a friend ride in the trailer while you drive to get their impression of your driving fr. the horse's point of view. Also, hauling on short jaunts with a quiet horse as a buddy (as I think some one else mentioned) might help.
Member:
Paul303

Posted on Friday, Sep 12, 2003 - 1:55 am:

All or any of the above could be the cause, so after you've checked them all out, if you still have a problem ( and your horse is in no discomfort ), there IS something....we discussed this a few years back. If you're SURE that your horse is calm, and comfortable, and the behaviour is just nervy, ornery boredom - try gas...break....gas...brake..gas..break..cha cha cha, gas..break..cha cha cha.
Member:
Westks

Posted on Friday, Sep 12, 2003 - 9:41 am:

I bought a mare once that did the same thing and the answer was removing the bottom of the divider so she could spread her feet out in back. If divider goes to floor either remove it completely or get it modified to be open at bottom and just have bar to seperate horses.
Member:
Sparky

Posted on Friday, Sep 12, 2003 - 7:49 pm:

Sheila - have you checked your wiring - she could be getting some sort of shock? I have heard of a horse doing something quite similar before and that was the cause. Good luck
Janet Schmidt
Member:
Tangoh

Posted on Monday, Sep 15, 2003 - 3:20 pm:

I'm with Elizabeth's idea. The old gas, brake, gas, brake gets their minds off of nonsense and back onto concentrating on standing still. Of course we're not talking about pedal to the metal, and then braking through the floor boards, but rather gentle braking and acceleration.
Member:
Srobert

Posted on Monday, Sep 15, 2003 - 7:53 pm:

I had an appoloosa that was involved in a trailer roll-over accident. He and his trailer-mate came out of the fiberglass roof and we were lucky he did not sustain any horrible injuries other than cuts and bruises. However, after that he began to have more and more problems in a trailer. He began to literally lose his balance on left turn, then right turns, then anytime the trailer was in motion he would literally end up on the floor. We finally removed the bottom portion of the divider so he could splay out his legs and he was fine. I never figured out if it was lingering psychological trauma from the accident (although it happened so fast he probably didn't even know what happened) or that maybe the inner ear semi-circular canals (that are used to maintain balance and equilibrium) sustained damage. Regardless, the removal of the bottom panel (or turning him around to face backwards when riding) did the trick.
Member:
Kckohles

Posted on Saturday, Oct 4, 2003 - 12:35 pm:

Sheila,

It is a good idea to check out all the physical possibilities first and eliminate them as the cause. Once you have done that, my approach would be to start helping her emotion. You said she loads OK, does that mean you have to shut her in or she comes out and how does she come out? Sometimes horses do not unload very well and that causes them to either not load at all or worry about the coming out part. Know that she is not misbehaving, she is sure that her life depends on getting out of that trailer and she is going to try and do what it takes to get out. How long have you left her in the trailer? Horses use behavior that has worked for them, if you put her in the trailer and she goes crazy and you take her out, imagine that she would do that again. The other thing is if you left her in just a little bit longer one time and she doubled her efforts then you let her out, now she knows what it REALLY takes to get out. As is usually the case we teach them a lot of things we don't especially want them to know. I would tie her up so she will stay safer, and if you can manage it take her on a really really really long ride, long enough that she can let down emotionally. You might need to feed and water her in there, it might take that long! Short trips, all though we think they would build her confidence they just re-enforce her experience of "be a nut till they let you out of this death trap." As humans we can go through a scary experience like bungee jumping and no matter how we felt before hand after we are done we feel relieved and a sense of accomplishment. In my experience horses are not like that, they need to be emotionally okay during the event, they don't go though, let's say trailering, get out after having been terrified and then think oh I made it, that wasn't so bad, I think I'll do that again. No they know they were in a life or death situation and they need to avoid it in the future, if you can get her to think and get into her body DURING the trailer ride then you will make progress.
I am not saying that it will be easy to leave her in there that long, but it is what I see that will make the change in her emotion. I do suggest you explore the other physical things first because horses don't misbehave they have expressions about what is going on for them. She is telling you something and you need to find out if it is something with your trailer first and then explore her emotion. I just thought of a way to know if it is your trailer, put her in another trailer and she if the reaction is the same then you will know. Another horse will definitely help her if it is an emotional issue. And when I say a long time in the trailer I mean a long time. But just long enough for her emotion to change. Unless you think she will kill or seriously injure herself this would be my suggestion.
By the way putting chains on her legs is a REALLY REALLY bad idea and I am glad to hear that you aren't willing to do it. Imagine if you kid was afraid of the dark do you think putting handcuffs on them and locking them in their room would help?
Good luck and keep your cool.

KIM
Member:
Sswiley

Posted on Tuesday, Dec 2, 2003 - 10:17 pm:

Sheila,
Its been two months and I thought I would relate my experience with nervouse trailering horses. I had a TB for 5 years that pawed in the trailer. He pawed so bad that his shoulder would be sore and there would be a pile of shredded rubber mat behind his foot. His shoe would be hot to the touch! Needless to say I did everything. The mats were getting expensive to replace. I was able to move things around to let him stand many ways. I taped the windows so he couldnt see the traffic. Tranquilizer (if we werent showing), hobbles etc. A companion helped but didnot stop it. It was finally time to sell him(for other reasons). I informed the new owner of his problem. She had this tiny little older style two horse, tiny manger area with saddle compartment under. He had to squish into this trailer. He also never pawed again. Moral of the story . . . . No matter how hard to try to figure it out your self, they have their own answer and they are not giving you any clues!
Member:
Cowgrl

Posted on Tuesday, Mar 30, 2004 - 11:17 am:

Here's my trailering story. I had an appy mare that at first was great riding in a two horse straight or a slant load. However, I went to a ride using my two horse and as it was very crowded, I had to park under the power lines. Well, for some reason, the power lines made everything metal charged with electricity. So if the horse or I touched the trailer, you'd get a shock. She got shocked a couple of times (poor kid) so of course I moved it to another position not under the lines. But since then, she thought she'd be shocked everytime she rode in the two horse. At first she just started blasting out the back like she was shot out of a cannon but it progressed to where she started to scramble. She'd load fine but when you closed her in she'd try to climb the wall. I thought she was going to fall down and get stuck under the divider. I even bought an extra tall and wide two horse hoping that would solve it but she would only ride in that trailer if the divider was removed and she could stand at a slant.

Never had a problem with the 4 horse slant load that I have. She preferred the back by the door and would lean on the door the whole way down the road. It was pretty funny when you'd open the door and she'd almost fall out. Of course she never did but she had a surprised look on her face!
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