Travelling Problem

[Sam Roberts]

Hi can anyone help me?? I have a horse that loads perfectly!! But doesnt travell well at all and is getting progressively worse. He even sat down today so now i cant leave the yard at all!! I have just bought a trailer and customised it so that he had something to lean on ( as we thought that this was the probelm) but that has not worked either! He actually scrambles around kicking and falling down and generally looks unbalanced but this is at 5mph!! Yet when we load him he walks straight in!! Has anyone else had similar problems?? Please help im desperate!! ( and NO i wont sell him i've had him 8 years and this problem has just got worse over the last year and NO i cant pinpoint it on anything) Help help help!!

[Merlinz gal]

wow your lucky merlin wont go in a trailer although he does a horse box,

i have exactly the same problem and my answer would be sell the trailer and rent a horse box instead it made a b****y difference to merlin although he still struggled he was better (asfter a few thumps on the chest by the nurse :rolleyes: ) and found he had something very important called*BALANCE*.

my next step is getting merlin out as much as possible in a horsebox as advised by the driver. maybe you could try this , laying down and basically what you have described is very dangerous to both human and horse.


dont listen to anyone who says you should sell your horse with patience this can be resolved.

hope ive helped:D

[laz]

Try no partitions my horse is major scared of them. Ifeel they push them over to the side too much especially if they are big horses. When mine has no partition he stands with his left side exactly where the actual partiton would be for better balance

[Sam Roberts]

Try no partitions my horse is major scared of them. Ifeel they push them over to the side too much especially if they are big horses. When mine has no partition he stands with his left side exactly where the actual partiton would be for better balance
Ahh you see i've thought of that but the problem is me and my friend have bought the trailer between us therefore we have to travel 2!! The other horse (poppy) is an angle as she does just stand there while albert does his thing!! Maybe i'll give it a go for a few times to get his confidence!! We have done lots and lots of trips out before now which is why i feel its more habbit rather than fear!! Does anyone know of a monty roberts type guru to come and help me??

[shirley]

Not to scare anyone - just a cautionary tale.
We have a mare on our yard that does not travel with anything else, but the new owners did not know this until they tried to travel her out with another horse to show earlier this year. Within several hundred yards the mare had fallen over in the trailer and it took some time to get the other horse out, take internal panel and get mare standing up. Fortunately no major knocks etc, just some superficial scrapes and bruises - but a lesson learnt. She now travels on her own at all times and the new owners have gradually increased the distance they travel and no problem now. But could have been worse.
So perhaps try your horse on his own during the week etc and then see how he goes and then introduce your friends horse and see how they are then together. Much better get this sorted bit by bit knowing that when you did need them to load for show / outing etc there will be no problems and all go without a hitch or bother.
Good luck

[Sam Roberts]

Phew! After alot of experiments in a controlled environment (ie round and round the yard towing!) we have sorted my horses travelling problem! I put my friend in the trailer with a walkie talkie whilst i drove (she cant tow ) round and round our yard to see exactly what he was up to!! And we cracked it. We saw exactly how he was leaning etc and to cut a long story short we swapped him to the right hand side of the trailer, we cut away the bottom part of the partition so that he HAD to stand up and balance himself then we finally took to the road and did a mini test drive! All went well so today we have just come back from a lovely hack in the forest, with my friends horse also in the trailer with no incidents! Thanks to all those who replied!

[zola is gr8]

it could also be because a horse is scared of the light coming through the window. it sounds supid but that is the problem with 1 of our horses. heres what happened:

shy (the horse) was scared of something in the lorry. the yard owner took her to another yard for some reason she came back crying because shy had gone down got herself trapped UNDER the partition and they thought she had broken her leg!!!!!!1 :eek: :eek: :eek: Luckily it was not that serious, it was shock and major bruising and cuts! she is now fine and is back in work :cool: