So I’m trailering a horse that got pneumonia while we were away at a clinic (so been gone awhile at this point!).
Anyhow, the vet didn’t want him fed on the ride home, so I gave him some perfect prep (the gold stuff) early this am (as no food + trailer = VERY annoyed kicker). It should be working at this point.
Gave his buddy who we are working w on trailer anxiety some as well. Just checked on everybody at a stop and the poor lil’ guy w trailer anxiety is standing there trembling.
Granted this whole trip has been a bit of a setback for us. He was fine on the way down, then absolutely panicked when we picked his bud up at the vet clinic. Rearing and plunging in the trailer (fortunately not stupid enough to hurt himself). He apparently thot he was going back to rehab or something.
We’ve done more “get in, hang awhile, get out” while we were waiting on clearance from the vet to travel…but I hoped he’d be less scared than this…
Just checked
I am not a fan of PP for anything, especially not trailering. This poor guy can’t even have a hay net that has been soaked? Is the worry about particulate in the trailer? Are there shavings or something for him to pee on? I would be asking the vet for dorm gel instead of speculating with PP. Honestly…if I had an anxious trailering horse…I would make sure my trailer is working (brakes not locking up, etc.), stuff a flake of hay full of his fave treats like peppermints or german muffins and bed it pretty deeply so he feels cushy all around. And take corners very slowly as well as modify acceleration/deccelerations. JMO
The anxious one got hay. But ate very little and wouldn’t eat apples or molasses cookies at stops.
The guy who couldn’t have hay is the one who is quite rude when he doesn’t get hay, which is why I was trying the PP in the first place. Vet said no hay in the trailer yet because she didn’t want him aspirating anything as his lungs wouldn’t be able to tolerate it. He just got released from the hospital for pneumonia a bit over a week ago and we finally got an OK to travel home in relatively short hauls.
We just had the whole trailer checked out, and the husband drives conservatively. Might try deeper bedding….
Was planning on talking to the vet, but was wondering if the PP might have made the anxious one worse.
I doubt it was the PP that made him shake. He was either nervous or excited. Did you check the trailer over for bees/wasps? They can move in so quickly that if you checked the day before but did not check the day of the trucking there could be a small hive.
Some horses just find the whole trailer thing to be stressful.
Time to experiment. Does this horse like a box stall better? Does this horse like a slant load better? Does this horse like a tight space with full height partition for good leaning?
What kind of trailer do you use? So many horse people are opposed to the " stock type" of horse trailer but I have never had a horse be filled with anxiety or scramble or haul badly in mine ( yet) !!
Consider yourself lucky!
I frequently truck horses who do not get along so it is good to have a barrier between them. I have met several horses who do not like a step-up. Etc.
Lots of horses like different things.
I wonder if the horse coming from the vet was terrorizing him. Ears, striking, kicking, body language, etc. since he didn’t get any hay. Even with a head divider (assuming a 2H straight load), body language still comes through.
You created a scarcity of resources by giving only one horse hay and put them in a confined space. Perfect Prep didn’t help because one horse was being aggressive about hay and the other one was nervous over his companion.
Just another perspective to consider.
So anxious horse was given hay and perfect prep, loaded and then hauled to the clinic.
Sick, aggressive horse was given perfect prep and no hay, and both were hauled home.
Where anxious horse was trembling.
Guessing that aggressive horse was pretty pissed off he had no hay and made that clear, and anxious horse was trembling because he was locked in a box with an aggressive horse.
There was really no point in withholding hay, since anxious horse had hay and that was a massive source of particulates.
If aggressive horse needs to be hauled without hay again, you’ll want to do that alone.
Or, if you must haul with another horse, soaking nets for BOTH horses is probably a better plan.
Doubt the perfect prep contributed anything to this.
No.
Going to the clinic anxious horse was just loaded. When we got to the clinic and stopped he had a cow. Rearing and plunging.
Settled down when the other horse came out. Freaked if he got out of sight.
We were 2 states from home. Horse that has been sick was not allowed to have hay going home. Weren’t allowed to travel for a week. PP’d him, because he will kick and paw the whole time if he doesn’t have hay. Decided to try it on the other guy as well because he had been so freaked at the clinic.
Have you checked your trailed for noises and squeaky sounds? I have a horse that started acting up in the trailer. Rode in it fine but when we stopped would start kicking and dancing in place. I put my BF in the back and drove around the block. He said there were metal on metal noises coming from the (removable) center partition where it connects to the ceiling, the stud dividers, and the chest bar. I got some rubber strips from the hardware store and put them around all the joints that squeaked. Then I started trailering my horse in ear plugs (just to give an added layer of quiet). Horse is now fine in trailer.
PP is not a sedative. It’s a supplement that takes some time to be absorbed and have an effect, if any. If horse was already freaked out before he got it and then had to ride for a while with a pissed off horse who has no food, that’s probably your reason why he was still/again anxious/upset later.
