Right. I can picture that there are deluxe stock trailers for horses and love the concept. Hopefully you can find someone with a stock and try it. I’d bet you’ll find him come around and relax.
I worked for someone who had this huge, custom built bumper pull stock trailer that horses loved. I think it was 7’6” tall, 8’ wide, no divider just a big, solidly built, airy box. Horses who refused anything else would hop happily into it.
My stock trailer is… not that nice. It’s a cheap brand, it rattles, it’s narrow. Yet everyone and everything loads into it without issue. I have this one horse who is super expressive and she makes sure I understand she doesn’t love it. But even she still loads right on without hesitation.
That doesn’t necessarily mean a stock trailer will solve the OP’s horse’s problem.
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Where I live, the traffic through the sale barns is cows, not pigs. And the cowboys that work the cows in the pens trailer their horses in stock trailers. In fact, one of the guys who occasionally works in the sale barn is a trainer/breeder with some expensive horses that have won big (world grand champion) in shows. When he has a horse learning to work cattle, he trailers the horse to the sale barn in his stock trailer and spends the day with the horse working cattle. He also hauls cattle in his stock trailer.
OP said she’d like to try a stock trailer, but doesn’t know anyone who has one. I don’t know how things are at sale barns in NC, or even if there are any sale barns near OP. All I know is that, where I live, if I was looking for a stock trailer and didn’t know anybody who had one, I’d ask at the sale barn.
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Has he possibly had some trauma from a previous owner? I have one who I knew went through some pretty bad stuff prior to me. He’s bad about loading. Doesn’t quite come off sweating and shaking but clearly uncomfortable. I’ve always been patient with loading him but he does seem to take advantage of the fact that he’s a 17.2 hand giraffe and my 5’7” 150 pound frame can’t move that.
I had an animal communicator speak with him. Think what you will, I’m a skeptic, but she came up with some very accurate info on him. She said he had been beaten on to trailers previously, that he’s terrified to be alone, and the door closing makes him feel claustrophobic. She relayed to him that we would be patient with him and asked that he give it his best try. After that appointment, I immediately took him out and he stepped right on to the trailer, first try.
Granted since then he has regressed a little, but he’s much easier to work through episodes where he simply says “no”. I work with him as often as I can (living 1200 miles away) and it usually takes about five minutes of negotiating before he’ll step on. But he is also very food/treat motivated.
Not sure if ANY of this is helpful. But he’s the first one I’ve had where I’ve wondered if he’ll ever be normal to trailer.
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I’ve had good success with shipping many horses in a stock type trailer, box stalls, not tied. Find it very easy to load just about any horse into this situation, first timers especially- but horses who have been “bad loaders” or “bad shippers”, or “nervous shippers” previously also tend to ship best in this situation.
Many years ago when I was a kid and most trailers were much smaller and cramped than they are now and “bad shippers” and “bad loaders” were a problem, a local fella used to be called to ship “the bad ones”. He had a one ton truck with an open box on it, and a big ramp. He’d put several in there, 3 or 4 sometimes, it musta had a long deck. No roof, it was open to the elements. All those horses just hung out in there together, after loading right up, and wandered around at will, heading down the highway with the wind in their forelocks. It was classic. They got wet if it rained. The horses liked it.
Good luck finding what you need to try to help your horse be happy with shipping.
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Have you ever tried hauling him with another horse on the trailer? Preferably an experienced traveler. Sometimes, they just get nervous being locked in a box by themselves.
If a buddy calms him down and you don’t usually travel with someone, you could look into getting him a mirror (unbreakable) to help.
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With the way he can move around I would not haul a horse loose in a stock trailer. What many horses like about a stock trailer ( mine do) is the ability to easily see out no matter what way they face ( which is the back).
Your horse is fine until you shut all the doors. Find a stock trailer and give it a try.
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Stock trailers are super. Our ranch horses would pile in facing forward, but were all facing backward by the time we got to our destination. Most horses like to face backwards. it’s more comfortable for them.
My Arab years ago would turn around in my Imperial two-horse with the center divider removed. Rode in it like his own personal box stall, untied. He wore a fly mask to protect from road debris when he stuck his head out the back. Startled drivers more than once!
I now haul a bumper-pull rear-facing Hawk two horse with a big enough space between the stalls and bulkhead to form an (almost) 2+1. Horses love this thing and even tough loaders get over their apprehension quickly. Two ramps – one to load from the side, another to offload from the rear – horse walks on and off no problems.
Got mine from Risa at Happy Trails in Traveler’s Rest, SC. But if that option is too pricey, a stock will likely make your horse happy.
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Sadly I doubt a buddy is in the cards. A mirror though - that I could do. Finding an acrylic mirror locally has been tough though!
He actually has been more willing to hop on big goosenecks without friends than with them. Thinking back, he rode best and hopped on the easiest in a big stock combo box stall gooseneck with no ramp. Specifically seems more willing to get on the big goosenecks but I usually had him riding loose or backwards in those.
I’d love a Balanced Ride, but that would be far down the road (would have to trade this one in and pay on top for a new one, not quite in the budget yet). Could probably try a stock combo and trade evenly for one if that was the key.
To Facebook! Hopefully someone will have something and be willing to help!
I do not have these types of experiences, mainly since I was never rich enough to own a trailer plus something big enough to pull it.
But you said you were considering some other stuff.
My riding teacher has an Arabian gelding who is not completely right in the brain department, for instance if he sees something in a particular little area of his eye he bolts without any warning, no matter how calm he seemed before. We cured that with the D’yon blinders, just big enough to block that part of the eye.
But he still freaked out at any rustle in a tree or bush, sudden bird movements, etc… I was trying to find something she could use that was not medicinal or particularly expensive. I searched the web, the Fenwick Face Mask came up, and I got him the one with ears since we live in the South and flies abound.
He had a major transformation. He is no longer dangerous to ride or handle when something new pops up. If she forgets his Face Mask it can be a harrowing ride. With the Face Mask with Ears and the blinkers he is pretty safe to ride.
The Fenwick Face Mask is a LOT cheaper than buying a different trailer.
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Have you tried loading him on the other side? Sounds unconventional and yes I know not advised due to road camber blah blah…my now 21yo started scrambling many years ago (absolutely trashed my kickboard!). That led to loading issues too. Solved the loading problem, and then we tried all sorts of configurations such as divider over, the whole stall etc, and what worked was simply loading her on the other side. I don’t know why or how, but she’s trailered perfectly ever since.
It’s tough, my 5yo had a loading incident that ended with her going down in the trailer (thank god for totally removable divider systems!) in March, and only now are we at a point where I’m considering trying a trip. We’ve spent hours and hours just working on loading, then coping with the bum bar, then the tailgate, and at points I’ve despaired a bit thinking she will never trailer!
Time, patience and probably most importantly, learning to recognise the signs of when she’s almost had enough stress and removing the pressure before she decides to remove it herself, and she’s pretty chilled out with being in the trailer.
I’m going to guess if it’s been 100 degrees that you are in southern NC? I’m in VA (with a 7’6" high stock trailer) and it’s 1.75 hrs to the Greensboro airport. Maybe if I head to an event in NC…?
@OTTBs that is such a sweet offer!
I have a 16’ GN stock trailer, that is 7’ tall and 7’ wide. It has a center cut gate, so I can make 2
7’ X 8’ stalls. It is a step up, and I have never had a horse refuse to get on it, including a kill pen horse I picked up for a friend, and a totally feral horse I hauled twice.
I usually tie on the driver’s side, unless it is a youngster or a horse I am unsure of. With my youngsters, who usually are not going far, I haul them untied and I remove their halters.
In 11 years of having this trailer, I have only had one horse that did not haul well on it, and he proved to just be one huge jerk, no matter what he was being hauled in.
The only thing I would change about the trailer is it does not have a dressing room, so tack and essentials are in the neck with a calf gate across it. I would also add a side ramp as it would be convenient if you needed to haul an injured horse etc.
I have seen horses have issues with trailers that we humans don’t think are too small, but the horses, sure as heck, feel differently. I’ve seen it mostly with older 2 horse straight loads. They also usually seem dark inside, basically claustrophobic!
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So I took my horse to the farrier today (to tack on a shoe he pulled and reset the one he wrenched. He’s smart like that), and I finally figured out my trailer camera so it was a very educational trip.
Loading was better, the nervousness definitely is still there when I close the trailer up, but no shaking or sweating. Some vocalizing and a little sketchy freak out moment going down the farrier’s driveway to leave - may have been a green head fly or horsefly that finally got blown out out when I got on the road.
Anyways, he’s still trying to crane his head around, but it looks like he’s actually just trying to see out the side window?? He’s definitely leaning on the swung over divider (especially around left turns), and sitting on the butt bar. But all of it MIGHT be an attempt to see out the bus windows which offer better visibility than the little one in the escape door.
I still might try someone’s stock trailer or try mine with the divider out and hauling him loose. I’m also tempted to try the divider in place and have him in a straight stall to see if less space to rattle around in might be better? He’s definitely not comfortable in there as is.
easy to get at any of the big box stores (at least around here, just did a Google search and there are plenty here)
Take the trailer in and get the ground checked. I’ve seen it more than a few times where there’s been an issue and the horse has been receiving a mild shock in the trailer. Humans don’t feel it but the horse does. Ground fixed and tada easier loading
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So I think the issues aren’t necessarily the trailer itself (though visibility might be a huge chunk of it).
I haven’t had a ton of time to practice since the last trip, and today we were headed to the farrier when he went back to flying off the trailer the moment he thinks he’s being closed in. It became a bit of a mess and it doesn’t help he’s got a suspensory strain I have to worry about.
So, I rescheduled the farrier and worked with him for a while to get him on and standing still. I closed him in to let him sit for a bit before unloading which is when he really lost his marbles. Bouncing off the bars and walls, calling, shaking the whole rig and generally making me worry about him getting himself hurt. I waited until he had four feet still for a second and unloaded him. Got him back on once but didn’t shut him in and called it a day.
The loading itself isn’t AS MUCH of an issue, but the being closed in the trailer sends him into a tailspin. As soon as he realizes he can’t back off he loses it. Claustrophobia? Separation anxiety? Incompetent owner? I don’t know. He had 3 cc’s of Ace on board. I don’t think changing trailers is going to cure him, and it’s just not in the cards at the moment.
I can’t practice trailer loading daily, not long term. I board, and I can’t leave the trailer hooked up. It seems that every time I leave it alone for a week we are back to square 1, and if we go somewhere? Next time I get the trailer out, back to square 1. It’s extremely frustrating and I’m trying to decide how to proceed.
Maybe you could hire a trainer to teach him?
Maybe. If I can find the right person. With the suspensory issue he can’t be made to work (no backing faster than a slow walk, no circles of any kind, certainly no trotting) so most groundwork methods are out for him for the moment. I may still ask around on Facebook though.
