Trailering Woes

[fledermaus]

My horse has had trouble trailering ever since I got her nine years ago. She doesn’t like to load, and once in there, paws and paws and paws. When she gets out she can be in a panic sweat.

She traveled across the country when I moved from the west to east coasts, driven by a couple of pros in a slant load, but she had her personal pony with her. Who is now deceased. A pony companion is not really an option for hauling out to trail rides. I have no one nearby to trailer with.

Nevertheless, I trailered her around locally, until she FELL OUT of her trailer onto the road, luckily not at any speed. This happened because she had previously pawed off the safety latch on the outside while tied to the trailer – she does not like to be tied alone either – and that had not registered with me. A month at Tufts, since she had perforated two joint capsules in the fall. After that, I was just as scared of trailering as she was.

After two years of trying to make myself, I decided I was never going to not be afraid of that particular trailer, a slant load semi-livestock type, so I sold it and got a more conventional straight load with a lot more safety built into it. Then I set about gradually convincing her to get into it without force. I fed her breakfast and dinner in there for more than a month, at first with the whole trailer open wide, no divider, and finally being able to put up the divider, the butt bar, the ramp door … and then she panicked and wouldn’t go in at all. So I started all over, got to the point of putting up the butt bar, and she once again reverted to not going in at all.

I am now at a complete loss.
Advice I have followed in the past include all the regular semi-forceful things – longeing outside the trailer and the trailer is the only peaceful place. “Guiding” in with a flag. Everything anyone ever suggested, including several trainers, and internet armchair trainers. What I cannot seem to change is her mind. She has never been comfortable confined. Was raised in pastures and has only been enclosed in stalls occasionally (Tufts aside, when she was sedated). Operative word is “enclosed”. Her stall here is a run-in, and she is happy to take naps in there, take refuge from summer bugs, etc., but close the doors and you have an unhappy horse.

Should I give up? I can no longer find a trainer to come to my place, and almost no one to come out and ride trails with me (there are many miles of trails I can access from here). So it is quite lonely. But not untenable. I trail ride about 20 miles a week, alone.

Thoughts from people who have actually solved this kind of problem? Because I just don’t know what to do.

By the way, she likes slant loads better but it doesn’t solve the problem. It’s confinement, alone, that’s the problem.

[Texarkana]

Does she do better in an open box without dividers?

Dividers + horses who have trailer trauma are usually a bad mix.

I also think step ups with swinging doors are better options for horses with trauma than dealing with a ramp.

[fledermaus]

She had a step up with a swinging door, that’s what she fell out of.

I can take out the divider of my straight load. Or just tie the bar to one side. But I need a path to alleviate her general anxiety – I tried the slant and she did better but not so much better that she wasn’t scary.

[NaturallyHappy]

I’m so sorry that happened. Could you give her something like Trazadone for this? We use it for horses in turnout after stall rest. They aren’t drunk on low doses like they can be on ace or dormosom….just less anxious.

[fledermaus]

@NaturallyHappy

I’m so sorry that happened. Could you give her something like Trazadone for this? We use it for horses in turnout after stall rest. They aren’t drunk on low doses like they can be on ace or dormosom….just less anxious.

Trazodone takes a long time – like a week or more – to take effect. It’s for long-term confinement, not a hour. And tranquilizers in general are kind of blunt instruments; I’d use one to get a horse to a hospital, but not to a trail ride.

[Texarkana]

@fledermaus

She had a step up with a swinging door, that’s what she fell out of.

I can take out the divider of my straight load. Or just tie the bar to one side. But I need a path to alleviate her general anxiety – I tried the slant and she did better but not so much better that she wasn’t scary.

I’ve never had a horse fall out of the trailer. But I have dealt with many with pretty severe anxiety. And I’ve never had success with it with a divider and ramp, at least not initially. They usually aren’t ready for that until they can get over their fear of trailers in a less claustrophobic space.

[fledermaus]

Maybe I should buy a 24’ livestock trailer …

joke.

[LCDR]

I’d give up. Sounds as if you have been doing all the right things for nine years with limited to no success. You have a lot of time and money poured into trying to solve the problem.

I know how hard it can be to move on from something with that kind of personal investment. Just try to enjoy her for what she is. Would you be willing to share some of the positive things about her?

[NaturallyHappy]

Actually, I wasn’t suggesting that you ride on it- I was suggesting it to ease anxiety while you help her get used to safely hauling again. You must have it mixed up w some other drug.

Check w your vet regarding using it, or look it up. There is quite a bit of information easily available. We use twelve 150 mg pills for an 1100 pound horse who needs to stay quiet while others go out. Works in about 45 minutes. It is not a tranquilizer like ace. Our vet did say some people ride on it. I hope this helps.

[fledermaus]

@LCDR

I know how hard it can be to move on from something with that kind of personal investment. Just try to enjoy her for what she is. Would you be willing to share some of the positive things about her?

Oh, she’s a wonderful horse. Awesome trail horse. She’s forward, brave, a blast to ride on trails, even our rocky, steep, ‘technical’ trails. Can out-walk and out-trot most other horses. She is also beautiful, in that strong, elegant, compact Morgan style. Admired by everyone. I love her to bits. Not mareish, is gentle and careful with the goats and dogs, even the chickens. She changed my life. She could, indeed, stay here for the rest of her life, I have lots of riding right here, and a small dressage arena. I just wish I could go places with her again.

[SonnysMom]

I would speak to your vet about something like Sedivet or Trazodone. I am currently riding my horse on both of those- rehab. He gets the Trazodone for turn-out and topped of with Sedivet for riding. Lower dose for the Trazodone than NaturallyHappy is using but twice a day since it is a different use.

My vet sometimes uses Sedivet for young horses foxhunting. It takes the edge of but doesn’t make them clumsy or stupid or unsafe to ride. It can be given IV or IM about half an hour before you need it to be effective.

[fledermaus]

@SonnysMom

would speak to your vet about something like Sedivet or Trazodone. I am currently riding my horse on both of those- rehab. He gets the Trazodone for turn-out and topped of with Sedivet for riding. Lower dose for the Trazodone than NaturallyHappy is using but twice a day since it is a different use.

My vet sometimes uses Sedivet for young horses foxhunting. It takes the edge of but doesn’t make them clumsy or stupid or unsafe to ride. It can be given IV or IM about half an hour before you need it to be effective.

I will do this. Thanks.

[NaturallyHappy]

@SonnysMom

I would speak to your vet about something like Sedivet or Trazodone. I am currently riding my horse on both of those- rehab. He gets the Trazodone for turn-out and topped of with Sedivet for riding. Lower dose for the Trazodone than NaturallyHappy is using but twice a day since it is a different use.

And, actually, he’s now on turn out w a significantly lower dose. He needed more when he was in.

[Lusoluv]

Maybe you can look at some Steve Young Horsemanship videos on YouTube. His main expertise is working with trailer loading troubled horses - ones that were injured, forced, traumatized on trailers. He is English, so most of the trailers he trains horses to load on are much smaller than ours. His approach is quiet and methodical, no punishment, drugs or force involved. Also not coaxing forever. He works horse on ground manners and expectations before ever taking them near a trailer. Some horses learn pretty quickly, but most take longer and he shows it warts and all. The longest is about 1 1/2 hours. But the horses aren’t sweated into submission. It’s all about consistency, timing and calmness. Watching helped me a lot when teaching my “easy to lead onto any trailer mare, but self-load alone on a 2 horse, no way”! Gave me a lot of new tools, even after training 5 others over the years.

[fledermaus]

She will load, but once she realizes she can’t get back out, that’s when her adrenalin goes up. The loading is directly related to the trailer getting closed up and then moving down the road. That is the part I can’t make be a happy thing.

[RedHorses]

Maybe that’s the part you need to start with? At home in a closed stall. Looking for help with that issue might bring up a few things to try that haven’t come up for trailer training.

[atr]

I would have someone who is careful and patient and kind and not me come and work with her if she were mine.

My own anxiety if I had gone through what you have gone through would make me a complete non-starter as the trainer in this situation.

[SillyHorse]

Most horses, given the choice, prefer to ride facing backwards in a trailer. Is there any way you could experiment with that?

[quietann]

I was wondering about riding bavkwards, too. Feronia didn’t like trailering much, though she was usually willing until late in her riding career, when I flubbed unloading a couple of times, and I think her hocks were fusing so backing out of a straight load was just hard.

The best she ever did was early on, on a friend’s stock trailer, not tied. She turned around and rode backwards and was very comfortable. It was a step up, but fairly low. If I hadn’t been so insistent about having a “nice” trailer, we both would have been much happier with a stock trailer. It was the kind with a divider in the middle, so room for hay, tack etc in the front if traveling with a single horse.

Note if the horse is going to be loose in a straight load with the divider out, a full length butt bar and some way of securely latching the escape doors would be essential.

[fledermaus]

@quietann

Note if the horse is going to be loose in a straight load with the divider out, a full length butt bar and some way of securely latching the escape doors would be essential.

Yeah, that already occurred to me. Sigh.