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Trailer Advice

I have a new horse that is not happy about my trailer. With time and patience, I can usually load him by myself in 15-20 minutes, and quicker if I have someone behind him. The balky loading might get better eventually. A bigger issue is the temper tantrums he throws on the trailer. Labor Day, he scrambled and got both front legs over the chest bar. That’s not something I want to deal with again. I’m not sure he’s going to get over that before he does some major damage to himself and/or my trailer.

The trailer is a 2-horse reverse-straight-load. The horses load via a side ramp at the front of the trailer, into a small loading area with enough room to turn and walk into their stalls, facing straight backwards. They unload out the back door. There’s a lengthwise divider between the horses, chest bars a couple feet inside the back door, and butt bars between the horse’s butts and the front loading area. So it’s basically a 2-horse straight-load turned around, with extra room behind the horses at the front.

I’ve considered removing the divider and chest/butt bars. That would turn the whole trailer, including loading area, into 1 big 14x7 stall with nothing for him to try to climb over. I’ve hauled horses loose in a stock trailer before, and I think they’re happy having the freedom to move around and find their balance. But that was with a center divider that cut the trailer into 2 8x7 stalls. I never hauled a single horse with the divider open to give him the whole trailer. 14x7 seems like it might be a lot of room for a horse to rattle around in.

Any thoughts on this?

My boy did the same thing with a straight load when travelling with another horse.

In the straight load we moved the divider and travelled alone he is fine. This means no back bar. His standing in the float has to be solid. Then you put up the ramp. Make sure anyone helping with the ramp know to drop it if he puts a hoof on the ramp. You don’t want them injured.

He travels okay with another horse in an angle float.

I’d start by getting the horse used to willingly going into the trailer. When he will easily load, every time with no hesitation, then get him used to standing inside untied with the door open while you stand there. When he’s comfortable with that, get him used to standing in the trailer while you walk away and come back. Then start closing things up and opening them back up again. Then start taking little trips, then longer trips.

I recently had a trailer loading problem with one of my horses. After a trip to the vet, he decided he was never going to get on a trailer again. He planted his feet and would. not. move. I decided to go back to the very beginning with trailer training. I worked with him 15-20 minutes 4-5 days a week, and all I asked was just a little bit more than the day before–one more foot in, one more second before backing out. Balky behavior got him work; doing what I asked got big rewards. It took about 3 weeks, but the results were well worth the time spent. Last time I worked with him, I took off the lead rope, pointed to the trailer, and he walked on, turned around, and stood still while I walked off and came back, shut the door, opened it again, and finally told him to get off. Then he wanted to turn around and get back on because the trailer is such a relaxing place to be!

Your horse is new, so he’s still getting used to his new life. Don’t underestimate how stressful this can be for him. He may not be comfortable with the trailer, he may be worried about being taken away from his herd, or it may be something else entirely. Whatever it is, it’s your job to help him overcome his anxiety. Just take it in baby steps, and remember patience is the secret sauce.

I think your idea to remove the divider and chest/butt bars is a good one. He might travel very quietly that way–you’ll never know until you try. My trailer is a 12 x 6 stock trailer, and both of my horses are very quiet even though they have room to rattle around.

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My concern with an open trailer is physics in case of a hard stop or accident: Things in motion tend to stay in motion. I have a 2 horse straightload and only have 1 horse. My BO asked why I attach the butt bar to the center divider vs. swinging center divider to the far side so horse can have most of the trailer to herself. First, no butt bar means only 1 line of defense - the back doors. Two, if I ever had to swerve or was hit while hauling, horse could slip/fall or get thrown to one side, possibly making a bad situation even worse. In a BAD crash, could a bent trailer frame allow the doors to open?? Maybe hauling horses loose in a larger heavy trailer has its benefits, but in a 2 horse, I wouldn’t be comfortable doing that.

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In a BAD crash, could a bent trailer frame allow the doors to open??

just a guess on my part but I would think the trailer box would fall apart as it is only sheet metal.

We had our two horse steel slant load get hit by a person who ran a stop sign… hit the trailer broadside just below the first horse … all sorts of pieces of the car were everywhere… the horse who was not phased just looked down on to the pile of junk that once was a car… trailer was not damaged…car was badly damaged if not totaled.

I think this would depend on the specifics of the crash.

Our LQ aluminum trailer got hit from the side just ahead of the horse section hard enough to bend the frame and snap the hinges off the top of the stud divider. Initially, that partition would not open, as it was not quite the same shape as the bent trailer… thank goodness my mare didn’t mind my crawling in with her to beat it open with a sledgehammer (she couldn’t go out the escape door due to the remains of the SUV that hit us being in the way, but I was able to crawl in).

@SimpsoMatt
I also have a reverse straight load trailer. Did the episode where the horse got legs over chest bar occur when the back doors were open, such that the horse felt it possible to leave if he could just get over the chest bar? I have found the true walk-through sometimes makes a panicky horse feel less committed to staying in the trailer since the exits are so inviting. If this is the case, consider practicing as described by @OzarksRider with back doors closed?

No, the doors were closed when he panicked and climbed over the chest bar. When thinking about ways to overcome this issue, I had considered the possibility of leaving him alone on the trailer with the door open to make him less claustrophobic. But I was afraid of just what you suggested: that the open door might invite him to climb over the chest bar to get out.

I’m really looking at two questions here. The first is to minimize the possibility of him hurting himself if he panics. That’s why I asked for opinions on the wisdom (or lack thereof) of removing the partition and bars so he has nothing to try to climb over. I’m still considering that, and I’ve had several people tell me that it should be OK to haul him in a big open 14x7 box, but I’m still a little hesitant.

Obvioiusly, the ideal solution is to get rid of the panic. So the next question is what causes the panic? Claustrophobia would be the most obvious answer, but I don’t think that’s it. So to consider that question, I’m going to get more long-winded and add some history that I didn’t think was relevant to my original immediate question of whether the totally open trailer was a good idea.

Horse is a 6-year-old OTTB. So he’s obviously hauled before. Raced as a 3-year-old, and then his trainer took him over as a personal horse, trail riding, cross-country jumping, pulling sleds, working cattle, etc. A been-there, done-that, steady Eddie kind of guy that you wouldn’t expect to flip out in a trailer.

When I picked him up, he was a little hesitant about my trailer, which didn’t surprise me since it was something new. He loaded with just a little encouragment and rode home (about 45 minutes) very calmly. In the next couple of weeks, I rode him around the farm a few times and he was an angel under saddle, walking through cattle, bushwacking rough territory, etc. But when I first brought him into the barn to tack him up, he was very pissed off about being taken away from his pasture buddies that he’s turned out with 24x7.

After a couple of weeks, I thought I should make sure I could load him by myself. It took me a few minutes, but he eventually loaded and stood quietly on the trailer, so I thought we were good. About a week later, I wanted to go on a trail ride, and it took me over an hour to get him loaded. So we didn’t go anywhere that day. I worked with him every day for about a week, and had him loading fairly well again. Next time I wanted to trail ride, it took a few minutes to load him, and then he rode calmly to/from the ride, about 30 minutes each way.

Then on Labor Day, I loaded him for a trail ride, and as I was closing up the trailer, he started throwing a fit. I thought he was just pissed about being separated and would get over it in a minute. When the banging continued, I opened the back door and saw his front legs over the chest bar.

Considering his history of riding well for me a couple of times, and doing all kinds of stuff with his former owners, I’m a little skeptical that he just suddenly decided he doesn’t like the confinement of a trailer.

One possibility is that he’s getting more unhappy about leaving his buddies. That would be a factor that wouldn’t have been an issue previously.

Another possiblity is that he might have been attacked in the trailer by one of those friggin bomber horseflies. I know that he especially doesn’t like them, because I’ve seen him explode before when they nail him. In fact, on one of our practice sessions, one got him just as he was walking up the ramp. Total chaos resulted, The friggin fly hung on, and he wouldn’t let me get close enough to him to knock it off. That could very well have been the cause of his panic attack on Labor Day. I’m not sure whether it was enough to convince him that this new trailer is a scary place where he gets eaten, but it might be.

I’m no help with the loading issues but just curious if you have a Balanced Ride trailer since you mentioned it is rear facing? Did the chest bars work as advertised, was it easy to pull the pin and get him down?

(I would not haul loose in a 14’ box. Physics are not in your favor if something happens and they are at the back of the trailer. 8-10’ is my preference. The box stall in a 2+1 trailer is usually about 10’. Checking how the commercial haulers are set up might also be a data point to consider.)

Yes, I agree that anxiety is the root of the problem. I think your suspicion that your horse worries about leaving his buddies is spot on. He’s new and he feels safe with them and when you take him away he has no idea if he’s coming back. Can you have another horse in the vicinity while you work with your horse? It’s also possible that he associates the trailer with flies, but he was showing some balky behavior before that happened.

I’m not a trainer, so you can take my suggestion with a grain of salt, but here’s what I would do–I would start by completely opening up the trailer and teaching him to stand quietly inside until you say leave. Open all the doors and remove the chest and butt bars so that he has a completely open space. Then go back to the very beginning to teach him that the trailer is a fine place to hang out. Don’t ask for everything all at once. At first it may be enough if he will approach the trailer willingly. When I was working with my balky horse at first I rewarded him if he even leaned toward the trailer. Make sure he’s solid with every step before you move on. If he gets on and decides he wants to leave, let him, but make him work a little (I made my horse yield his hindquarters) and then ask him to load again, reward him and let him rest. Find a high value reward to use when he’s on the trailer. My guys will do anything for peanuts and pretzels, but a reward could be scratches or anything he really values. Your goal is to get him to stand quietly in a completely open trailer. Once he will do that, then you can work on closing him in.

I think removing the partition and bars is a good idea, but it would be easy to find out for sure. After he’s good with loading, close the doors and take a very short trip around the pasture and see how he does. If he passes that test then take a slightly longer trip. You’ll have to decide if you want to tie him or leave him loose.

There are YouTube videos about trailer loading difficult horses. You might pick up some ideas by watching some of these. I particularly like this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLDrq0q8is4

I have an Equispirit 2+1. The majority of the time these days I am hauling only 1 or 2 horses and a horse I got five years ago was acting up in the trailer. I removed all the dividers between the two straight load stalls to make a 10’ x 7’ boxstall. All my horses love it. I do have a full length butt bar that keeps them from sitting on the rear doors, and double lever closure bars the full length of the door. Also full height box stall doors that separate the rear box stall from the front area.

I’m your case is there a way to use a full length bar just inside the rear doors? If the only placement would be where the rear-facing chest bars are, he could still get over the bar and be in trouble.

Are there any human escape doors or similar that a loose horse would have access to that don’t have the reinforcement of an internal bar if you removed the dividers? If those issues are all covered, by all means take out the partitions and make an inviting box stall and I expect your horse will be happier.

I am going to say this, though I am sure you have already done this - make sure there are not any bees living in your trailer.
They move in quickly so you should check before every use.

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He could be panicked because it is such a small space. When I haul mine in my 16 foot stock type trailer, they always position themselves sideways and face the back of the trailer, find their spot and never move again. Even though they have enough room to easily move around.

Thanks for all the advice. I’m pretty convinced that his problem is separation anxiety, and not a concern with the trailer space. I was thinking that if I turned the trailer into a big box with no bars or partitions to climb over, he couldn’t hurt himself even if he did get upset. Now I’m not so sure.

Last week, I loaded him onto the trailer with another horse already on. He didn’t seem totally calm, but didn’t behave badly. Then I unloaded him and put him in a 12x12 stall in the barn while I unloaded and turned out the other horse. He went apeshit in the stall, running in circles and striking at the door with his front feet. I’d be scared to leave him alone in a stall acting that way, much less risking that kind of explosion in a trailer on the road.

What baffles me is that he’s an angel under saddle away from his buddies. I can ride him around the farm alone for over an hour with perfect behavior. He might whinny a couple of times, but absolutely no fighting me about trying to go home before I want him to. So for some reason, it looks like solitary confinement upsets him more than solitary exploring.

I think I just need to keep working with him, riding alone and working with the trailer, to convince him that leaving his buddies doesn’t mean he’ll never see them again.

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Could it be ulcers?

This is an OTTB that lived in stalls for years?

Get into a routine of putting him in a stall with a lot of nice hay and another horse across the aisle for a couple of hours a day. Then start taking the other horse out while problem horse is eating. Let him get used to the idea of being inside and then inside alone and then going back out. Wellbroke horses can get a bit feral with a lot of pasture time but they do adapt soon enough. Just do it in stages. Don’t worry about trailering until he is OK indefinitely in a stall. When you start to trailer don’t have him alone on the trailer until he seems really comfortable riding with a buddy. He just has to relearn these life skills.

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