Trailering post scramble incident

[sweetsalute]

I mentioned in a thread in OT that my young horse went on her first outing yesterday, where we got caught in a storm and had to try and load her in the dark, while it was pelting, cars were tearing past etc. Unsurprisingly, it was too much for a very trailer inexperienced young horse and we couldn’t get her on. A kind stranger offered a paddock for the night.

Went back this morning and slowly, painstakingly worked with her to get her on. We did it, she was reasonably relaxed and eating hay, then the tailgate went up and she panicked. Scrambled bad and ended up going down. Luckily once on the floor she settled, and we were able to dismantle the divider system to give her room to get up. She actually stayed on the trailer of her own accord once up, but I decided there was no way I was taking the risk of that happening while on the move.

Luckily we weren’t TOO far from home (15 minute drive)…so we walked. Took 4 hours to do nearly 9 miles.

So. I have ALOT of work to do with her. Probably my fault for asking too much too soon, we’d been practicing loading at home and she was doing great, and she has previously trailered without an issue. I am confident in my ability to work on the loading issues. It’s the scrambling that has me concerned.

My current thinking, once I feel she’s ready for it, is to take some slow, very short trips around the local streets (even just up the driveway if that’s all we can do), without the divider and I’ll be in the trailer with her. I’ve successfully used this method in the past, albeit for a horse who’s scramble was nowhere near as bad.

So please, suggestions? I’m not interested in forcing her on. I’m more than willing to put in the work to get a horse who is calm, safe and happy in a trailer.

[moonlitoaksranch]

That sounds like a bad day.

You have a good plan. Just go back a few steps and start over. Check the flooring in your trailer as well. What was it that caused her to feel like she was slipping and scramble in an effort to stay on her feet? The load noise startled her, but what made her slip? Was it the rain making the mats too wet? If so, is there a way to protect the inside from getting rained on? Other than that, you can go back to basic loading training. Be sure to have her near the trailer while getting her used to the sounds of the trailer opening and closing.

[Feathered_Feet]

Is there a old, quiet friend that can stand in the trailer munching hay while she does all her trailer loading and initial trailering? Someone patient who won’t bat an eye at her antics? I have a pretty independent mare but even she is 100% happier when she has a friend in nervous situations.

Edit: I also agree with using tactfully administered ace for training. A little pharmaceutical help can help her get settled without the nerves/anxiety. Just be careful not to overdo it if you’re going to be actively trailering lest she lose her balance from the sedation. But it can be a great tool.

[findeight]

There are times when a little pharmaceutical help can help horses with anxiety from a bad experience relax and learn without the risk of panic and causing further damage, this is such a time.

Ask your vet.

[RedHorses]

Second @Feathered_Feet

[NancyM]

Some atravet (acepromzine) is your friend. Remove the trailer divider, and ship in a box stall. They can’t/won’t scramble when they can’t brace against a divider or wall. It’s the confinement that makes them panic. If they can move and don’t feel trapped, it makes all the difference. Horses who are TRUE, long term scramblers (some are) must have either a box stall or extra wide stall in a trailer… always. You find out if you own one of those when they scramble. Sometimes a divider that does not go right down to the floor will help- they can spread their feet better if it is more open down low. Not boxed into a narrow space.
And yes, you will have to spend some time and effort in rebuilding your mare’s confidence and trust to get back into the trailer after an experience like that. Good luck!

[sweetsalute]

I think what happened was when the tailgate went up, she took a half step back, hit it, felt trapped and panicked. She was scrambling backwards more than up the walls (trailer is totally unscathed! Horse got one slightly nasty cut and then just a couple scrapes, very lucky).

Trailer is brand spanking new from one of the most reputable manufacturers in the country. I’ll check the floor anyway but I don’t think it’s that! Mats were definitely slippery in the wet (including the ramp, not much you can do about that!) so that wouldn’t have helped. I might go grab some shavings to put down. Centre divider is only goes about a foot towards the floor and then it’s open so plenty of room to spread feet out.

My other mare is a super reliable self loader so yes I’ll see about using her to help provided j don’t feel she’s being put at risk! Vet needs to come back next week to check the other one’s eye ulcer (when it rains it pours!) so I’ll ask about pharmaceutical options to just take a the edge off as well.

She actually stayed standing in the trailer of her own accord when she got up and was quite calm, so that gives me some hope that she isn’t totally terrified of it! She’s generally a pretty sensible, level headed horse.

[sweetsalute]

Round 1 of training went pretty well today, she walked nearly all the way in of her own accord. That tells me she isn’t scared of the float and likely just needs to build up confidence!

[Joyrider]

Re: slippery mats and ramps…you can have your ramp surface resurfaced with a non-slip surface. I did that with my trailer. The regular mat would get slick with rain and especially manure and horses would slip coming off it. My local trailer dealer installed a different mat for me…it was like a short, stiff, compact stiff rubbery spikey surface (not at all sharp though!). It made sweeping the manure off of it more difficult to clean but no horse ever slipped again on that thing! I could have installed the interior matts also but chose not too. Shavings can actually be more slippery inside sometimes too so be careful. Sounds like you are on a good plan to give your horse confidence with trailering though - scrambling is scary! Just one more thing I would suggest for you…please do not ride in the trailer with a scrambly horse. That could go south very quickly for your safety. Good luck.

[eightpondfarm]

One thing i’m careful of is to secure…with vetwrap and bungies and duct tape…and shims of old socks…every rattling door or brace in the trailer. They don’t need a cacophony of scary sounds for their maiden voyage. Also, when i first trailer them, i load them, drive them up the driveway…down the rickety gravel road turn around and come back. When back i open the door and let them have a nice flake of alfalfa …right there beside the trailer. So…they know that they go and come back home. And there is food in it for them at the end.

[sweetsalute]

Loading is going well, she is now self loading about 3/4 of the way on. The hard part now is talking her into staying on! I’ve not tried closing her in again yet, we’re just starting to work on accepting some pressure from the bum bar (not latched, just getting use to the feel of it. She’s very evidently not scared of the trailer itself so that’s great.

We’ve also been doing a fair bit of groundwork in between loading, the whole thing showed there were some definite holes there, in particular with regards to moving away from pressure.

Once she is ok with being closed in there, yes my plan is tiny trips up the street and back to start so she learns that she goes in the float and comes home! Then we will start unloading up the street, going for a little walk and back on.

[sweetsalute]

So a little update two months on.

We had weeks of rain here so trailer training got interrupted for a bit, but she is doing so well. She now loads perfectly first go, and can have the bum bar shut. She’s also figured out that if she steps back and hits the bar, all she has to do is step forwards again and she doesn’t feel trapped.

Today she chose to hang out on the trailer by herself, without me in there, not tied or shut in. She was just happy to chill which is SUCH a big step, and goes to show she’s getting super comfortable in there. Next step is the tailgate!

[Kyrabee]

What a good girl. Sometimes it just takes time (with the training of course). I had one that took the better part of 6-8 months with weekly trailer sessions but it did happen. She was just the claustrophobic type and it took a long time to gain her trust in all things trailering…and she never had a bad experience like your girl. You are doing well.

My current one took an hour of trailer work and has been point and shoot (self load without hesitation) ever since.

Susan

[Hunter_Mom]

My daughter’s SS mare was a scrambler. For some reason, she went down in the trailer on way home one evening. Thankfully, she was not hurt. Angels were on that ride. Anyhow, after that she could NOT be hauled in a trailer with a divider that went to the floor, or next to a wall. Thankfully, our trainer had a 5 horse, so she always rode in the middle slots. She also could not be tied - we figured out that when she felt pressure on her poll, it freaked her out. So, we just hauled her in center slots, untied the rest of her life.

[stargzng386]

You can add a coco mat to the ramp. We bought it on Amazon and screwed it into the current rubber ramp with self tappers. It helps with grip so much. I had a standard rubber ramp mat and it had rained and my horse slid onto his knees super scary. With the added coco mat no slipping and horses feel super secure on it.

[goodhors]

I absolutely recommend putting shavings or sawdust under the horses for hauling. Mats get slippery if horse pees, explosive wet pooping from fear, so bedding is ESSENTIAL for good grip under the horse, young or old. And I am talking a couple inches, not just a sprinkle of 10 flakes.

Being so close to home, horse probably won’t even get them very dirty, so you can clean them out and put them into a clean stall.

Go back to just loading, standing, feed snack, unload quietly. You may want to remove dividers for a while, nothing to bang into when you get to closing the tailgate again.

On the ramp, add cleats. Cleats are strips of wood across the ramp that hoof will catch on instead of slipping on down off the ramp. Our cleats are about 15 inches apart, centered on the ramp. They do not go completely across the ramp because we push carriages on using the ramp. Our cleats are 1" x 2" diameter. If horse splinters pieces off, wears cleat out, you just unscrew the wood and put a new cleat on. Even with wet mats cleats only allow a little slippage before stopping hoof. Horse can learn to trust their feet, go on into the trailer.

We always bed the trailer, not worth hurting a horse on wet mats, splashing poop or urine on them. That stuff can burn, horse quits going potty when they need to.

• List item

[sweetsalute]

Thought I’d update this again, on the weekend she went for a little trip in the trailer around the local streets and did so well! She was a little stressed at first but figured out the whole balancing thing and was happily munching on hay by the end.

Once we got home, I let her graze for a few mins then asked her to load again and she did it with no hesitation. Four months of work, patience and letting her get comfortable in there appears to be paying off!

[Kyrabee]

. Patience wins in the end. Jingles for continued success.
Susan

[sweetsalute]

And a final update on this, last week we went down to some local trails. She travelled well, we went for a half hour hand walk and then she happily hopped straight back on the trailer to go home! Onwards and upwards from here.