Hi,
Just wondering on suggestions for horses that scramble around corners in straight load floats?
We have spoken to a couple of people and they reckoned that an angle load float would be more sutiable.
Experience on which one is better?
thanks ;)
Make sure your trailer is around the corner and going straight again BEFORE you speed up.
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I had a horse that scrambled in our 2-horse straight if limited to just one stall, but when we pulled out the divider and let him have the full trailer to himself, he hauled fine. I suspect the trailer was too small for him (this was back when I was a teen and he was a big horse in the land of tiny horses and trailers weren’t nearly as big as they are now). A slant might help - worth giving it a try if you can.
I’ve had two scramblers that were fixed simply by changing them from the left side of a two-horse straight load to the right side.
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I have one horse that was a great hauler. After a few years he started to scramble in turns in the same trailer with me driving the same way. The trailer was a 2000 model with rubber torsion axles. The rubber had hardened due to age and was no longer doing the shock absorbing it should have been doing. Replaced the axles and no more scrambling.
Also consider if you use bedding in the trailer or not. As most horses poop when the first get loaded he may be sliding on the manure if you don’t use bedding. Some trailer floors can get really slick if they get manure, urine or water on them. I find that shavings can help with that.
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Haul in a box stall or extra wide stall. This stops scrambling. Also, of course, check your driving… slow down through the turns.
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Same thing fixed the problem when my older horse started scrambling. I actually had a thread about it…here: https://www.chronofhorse.com/forum/f…ing-in-trailer. Some other good suggestions there.
I personally would look for a different solution than hauling on the right side with just one horse (in the USA). Roads are crowned in the middle, so the most weight should be to the inside of the lane.
I agree with those who suggested box stall, this was my fix for my gelding with neck arthritis who could no longer balance in a normal straight stall.
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I have never hauled with one horse on the right side. Both situations with scramblers (who were not my horses), were with two horses on board, and switching placed fixed the issue for both scramblers.
Lots of good ideas here.
The answer really depends on why your horse is scrambling, since we all know horses like to be unique and invent their own personal reasons for things.
Will start by assuming that the person driving is turning corners in a safe manner that should not be causing the horse to have issues. (If that is not the case then start there.)
Some horses do better when they stand in a stall that keeps them tight and sort of held in place. A spacious straight stall gives them nothing to lean on and they scramble.
Other horses are the opposite. A center divider that goes all the way down and a tight space has them scrambling to find a way to balance since they like to spread their legs out.
Some like the slant load, some like the box stall, etc.
Do you have access to other trailers, with different set-ups to see if your horse rides better in one set-up versus another?
The float that we are able to hire out, is unable to put him on the other side as there is no padding on that side. We are currently looking at buying a float, however, we are a bit unsure on whether to get an angle or straight load? We have had lots of people tell us that he would be better in an angle load.
Other things to investigate… hoof test, if he has sore hooves, he won’t be willing to bear extra weight through turns. Same with hocks. Sore hocks can cause a horse to scramble.
If either or both of those are the cause figure out why. Not a balanced trim, shoes not providing heel support, poor saddle fit, arthritis.
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Is there any way you can try him out in a slant load to see if that would make a difference? I would do that first before buying a trailer (float…LOL)
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If the trailer you are renting does not have padding on one side, my caution flags are waving. I would start with: How sound is that trailer???
Before doing anything, ride in the trailer with your horse. Observe what is happening. Is it the driver’s skill, a mechanical issue with trailer, poor slippery footing or something with the horse? No way of knowing what will help until you find out what is wrong.
on the float the side that we put him on does have padding? could it be something else?
Lack of padding in the unused horse area concerns me greatly. Padding is a simple and inexpensive repair. The message I take from it is that the owner is a poor caretaker. If they have not bother to repair essential padding, what else has been overlooked? Brakes? Axles? Frame? I would have grave reservations, and personally would look elsewhere to hire trailer services.
