Do you have the option to let him ride backwards? If he’s having to work too hard to keep himself balanced while the trailer is moving (not saying it’s your driving, just physics in general), then he may be rethinking the idea of hopping back in immediately.
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Trailer is a bumper pull that I haul with a Tundra. After some conversation on a different thread, it doesn’t sound like a great idea to let him loose since we don’t have a ton of stability like we would with a gooseneck. I did have two other people I know personally tell me they would do it, but I am inclined to not.
He did have to do more balancing this time, I tied him but let him have the full space of the trailer and clipped the partition back. He wasn’t a fan of that confinement at first when I closed the partition and is another item on the trailer training plan so I didn’t want to panic him right off the bat. I am thinking that we will try it on a short trip and see if there are any signs thats better for him.
Another suggestion is to put a camera in your trailer (if it doesn’t have one already), so you can see what’s happening back there at all times. They are very useful and I won’t ever have another trailer without one.
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That is on my list! Do you have any recommendations by chance? I haven’t searched the forum yet but thats another thing on my to do list.
I bet if you put him in, let him turn around first, and then haul, that he’ll move very little. No need to worry about the degree of stability. Usually once they find their happy spot, they stay put until the trailer stops.
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not a hauling issue but we got one horse who had been through multiple owners in short period so many when he got here he just assumed this was another short term stop.
The way we got him to settle was to haul him daily around town only to bring him back to his paddock. Took about ten days or so for him to accept once he got on the trailer he was coming back Home (his most favorite part of this were the trips to doughnut shop drive through where the owners after a few trips were expecting him so they had a horse size special apple fritter ready for him)
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Im sure the apple fritter helped!! Especially a horse sized one!
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yeah he enjoyed those (later rather trailer him there since it was only a short distance daughter would ride him through the drive in window lane so he could get his treat )
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Because of his short stature (his head isn’t tall enough to hang in the manger,) the compartment that he is standing it may be too short.
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Hmm, my initial thought after reading the title is that there’s something about the trailer ride itself he doesn’t enjoy. You’re doing all the right things so I don’t have any suggestions, but that was my immediate thought. A camera is a great idea so you can see what he’s up to back there.
One small thought, that I’d only recently considered. You mentioned that you were able to haul with the windows down. Maybe he isn’t a fan of the wind in his face? I recently read that’s another reason horses like to ride facing backwards. Maybe you could try closing the window by his face but leaving all the other ones open?
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My new guy is not liking trailering and I have some thoughts. And maybe these ideas have already been addressed? Have you ridden in the back of the trailer to listen for loud, strange sounds? I just had my husband drive and it was good to confirm no awful squeaks/whistles/metal banging but I did find one spot clanging a little - the divider post and I put vet wrap under it and that quieted that noise.
Then, how about the next time you haul out you give a 1/4 tube of omeprazole in the event he gets a little acid kick up and slosh with trailering?
My third idea is the possibility of a muscle disorder? PSSM horses tend to hate trailering and my guy ended up being + for PSSM2.
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Our trip down to the clinic I had his window up because it was raining and the sliding windows open, the other trips I his personal window down so its hard to tell. That is a lot of wind right in your face though; maybe keeping a fly mask on would help some if I need to keep it down when it gets hotter out.
Camera is ordered and will be here Wednesday! I don’t plan to take him anywhere until that is installed.
There is no manger per say. He’s got a canvas feeder that I hang a hay bag above.
- I have not yet, but that will be the plan once we hitch up next.
- I have thought about pre treating with something for ulcers but haven’t yet; I don’t haul him on an empty stomach though so would that help much in that regard?
- Admittedly I am not über familiar with PSSM 1 or 2. Looking up symptoms, he has none. He gets body work done every 6 weeks or so and my body worker has been really happy with general lack of soreness/tightness/stiffness etc and when she does find something, its very mild and consistent with the work he’s been in. I don’t know how telling that is, but he has no obvious symptoms. She comes out next week to work on him and I was thinking of having her do it in the trailer
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I agree with the new car smell and it’s also not like your old trailer. Last year another boarder and I were going to a clinic together. She hooked up her brand new 4-star trailer and my previously loads with no issues horse refused to get on. We tried for a good 30min and gave up and used my trailer that he was used to. He jumped right on after a little encouragement with the whip. Going home, he didn’t even hesitate to get on. He is a creature of routine, so anything new melts his brain. So the new trailer was too worrisome - I’m sure if we weren’t on a time table he probably would have gotten on, but I was really surprised at his refusal and tried to think what it could have been. The only thing I could think of was the new smell. He had ridden on my trainer’s 4-star (same set up with ramp and straight load) with no hesitation, so the newness was the only thing different. I guess if I get a new trailer, I’ll have to make it smell like home first!
There’s your answer.
Get a friend to drive your truck while you ride in the trailer. Experience the motion, smells, noises, etc., yourself.
Outside, to you it’s a new, pretty trailer. Maybe to him, or inside, it feels like this –
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Horses do not reason. They will go back into a float after it has rolled.
Usually they will not go into a float if something is annoying them. Hay flying around their head, an annoying piece of wire or something like that.
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Is float Aussie slang for something else?
For OP, there is a possibility there is something about the trailer or tow vehicle that makes him uncomfortable or annoyed. The fact he’s balking at reloading is a concern. Do you check you tire air pressure often? In a brake dragging? Do you need a stabilizer on the hitch? Does it ride uphill as many bumper pulls do?
One thing that worked for me, after checking out the trailer and tow vehicle, was just hitching up every week and taking a short spin. If you load and haul frequently, like weekly, it becomes more routine. Ho, hum yawn another ride, where is the food?
Clanter’s point about not always unloading in a strange place and going to work is very valid. Little local drive with a snack then stepping off in a secure, familiar, comfy place for a good roll, pee and more food takes some time but can work wonders.
Speaking of pee, does he remember the trailer as the place he couldn’t pee? Don’t laugh, if they wont, it can get pretty uncomfortable for them.
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Float is not slang it is our word for a horse trailer that has a ramp for loading and unloading the horse at the back of the float.
So a horse goes into a float. A horse is floated from one place to another.
You can ask if a horse floats or if it is a good floater.
A horse also gets its teeth floated.
I have no idea if a horse floats in water!
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It is interesting that you’re saying that trailering wasn’t an issue until recently?
The idea on the omeprazole is just to rule it out - that his tummy is bothering him. You buy one tube and have four rides with it and if you don’t see a difference then you know it probably isn’t an acid issue.
He sure looks calm going into your trailer.
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He has always been more reluctant to load to go home. Usually leaving to go somewhere is up and on like that video with the new trailer. That is not new; it taking 20 mins to get him on was new this weekend with hauling the back to back days.
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Every time before I haul. I have a battery powered tire pressure thing so that is easy and I’m paranoid about it anyways.
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Brakes all seem good, I had to lesson the trailer brake on the new trailer quite a bit. I told SO he needs to take me for a ride so I’ll see how that is myself this week at some point.
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Not uphill at all.
He pees ANY and EVERYwhere . Peed in the new trailer already hahaha.
I’m guessing it’s a LOT of this and his age/inexperience. Once we get the camera ready to go, I’ll take my ride in the back and see if anything is obvious from that point of view, then the plan is to haul him to the park 5 mins down the road, let him eat and get groomed there for a bit, maybe hand walk and explore, work on loading then come back home. And get in the trailer a couple more times then call it a day. I have no problem doing that as much as it takes to get him comfortable.
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I have a 7yo Irish horse who is very obedient and tries really hard for me. Sims is good at practicing to load and unload. He is fine to haul with a buddy. He is stressed, sweating, shaking when I unload if he has trailered alone.
I’m lucky that I have my own rig and four horses. I plan to do lots of practice this summer, hauling around the block with one and two horses to see if I can get Simmy more comfortable.
If I had to work through this without a buddy for Sims, I’d just practice with very short trips and try to assess small changes to see if anything helps. I do feed Outlast before hauling to help buffer tummy issues.
It’s admirable that you are committed to helping your horse feel better about trailering.
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