Rearing while tied to trailer

[horse_lover0095]

At the last horse show that I went to I tried to tie my horse up to the trailer, but every so often, she would freak, and rear and try to sit down so she could try to get her head out of her halter! She did this about four times, and then she got my finger in the lead rope and she did it, and that is when I had had it, and I just held her leadrope the whole time, but it was really tiring standing there for hours and hours. It scares me soo bad when she does this! It would be greatly appreciated if anyone had any ideas on how to stop her from doing this, because I think that if she didn't do this anymore that it would be much less stressful for all of us! Thank you so much!

[aliw]

Did she have a haynet?

[galadriel]

Does she ever stand tied that long at home?

If it's boring for YOU to stand around holding her, think about how SHE's feeling. She's in an unfamiliar place, there are lots of strange things going on, lots of strange horses and people...and she's stuck tied to a big piece of metal for hours on end. That's a little much.

Perhaps you could lead her around with you; that's often what I've done when I had other things going on, and wasn't actively riding. When I was competing two horses, I usually had someone with me to help anyway. So they would hold one horse if it was going to be a long time, while I worked with the other.

I don't generally want to leave a horse tied to a trailer when I'm not there anyway. All sorts of ridiculous things can happen at a horse show. Siblings of competitors may take a liking to your horse and feed it the end of their hot dog...someone may come in with a horribly smelly emissions or tremendously noisy rig and freak out all the horses on the showgrounds...someone may pull up next to your trailer close enough to clip your horse's heels (happened to someone I know recently).

[horse_lover0095]

She wasn't really even standing there for hours. The longest she was tied up for was around 45 minutes, and I was right there brushing her and braiding her tail, and yes she did have a hay net. She had to share it with 2 other horses, so I an wondering if they were being mean to her. I did take her on walks, and when reared, I was standing right next to her.

[buster]

PLEASE don't tie your horse to a box as is not safe my friend got kicked in the head by a horse tied to a box.... and she was in a coma for ages after, your best just putting your horse in the box with a hey net or holding the lead rope!!!! :D

[CityGirl]

Sadly some horses just won't tolerate being tied - mine is one of them. When we're on the show grounds, he is attached to me at all times :rolleyes: He freaks out on a trailer & freaks out tied to the trailer so I have to hand walk him.

My only suggestion is try sitting by your trailer (on the ramp, etc) & having him hang out by you. If you do this over several shows, your horse may get more acclimated to spending time by the trailer. And when you try tieing him again, do it for short periods & gradually extend it (10 minutes, 15 minutes,etc). There are no quick fixes (if it can be fixed at all).

[Bay Mare]

Are you tying him up short? It might be worth tying him a bit longer or getting a longer lead rope so that he doesn't feel constricted (not too long so he can get tangled, though).

A lot of shows in the UK now are saying that you can't leave your horse tied to a trailer/lorry if you're not with it because of the numbers that escape and canter around the car park!

[SharlieJumper]

You might want to get your horse a hay net just to use for himself. You really don't want three horses tied that close together. If they get in a fight, your horse would not be able to escape and could get hurt. You might also try a bungee tie. My instructor has a horse that rears when she is tied to the trailer, and they use a bungee tie for her. That way she can't pull against the lead and hurt herself.

[Cheeky]

Hmm ... the only thing I can suggest, and what I try to live by, is to 'put your self in the horses' position.'

As odd and humiliating as it sounds, try it. Here, I will show you. Reverse everything - the horse now rides the human.

So here you are, sleeping in your comfy bed. You wake up and bang! Breaky is served! mmm, you eat up, have a drink, and go and lay down infront of the telly for a while and just relax. The horse comes in, takes you out, strips you (ok work with me here lol), gets you dressed up with layers and layers of pertective stuff and puts you into the trailer and toddles off to the show.

You are then unloaded, plaited, brushed, maybe washed at 7 am, then tacked up with a bit of hay to eat. The horse mounts (heaaavy lol), gives you a stab in the sides and off you trot. You work, and work ... you go into dressage and do your test, you go into the warm up arena and get ready for the next event. You then do your jumping courses, and a few hacking classes ... and now your puffed! And its only lunch. The horse dismounts you, losens the girth, throws a rug over you and ties you to the box.

Wow. Now you are standing there. Alone. Oh lookey, your horse has arrived with a burger ... oh not for you :( You must stand still patiently. Ooh now they are fiddling with your saddle. Hmm, still standing. Surely you want to move ... be free, take a nibble of grass, have some water, run! You begin to doze, then the next thing you know bam! Your in the show ring again. You work and work and work and work. This happens every weekend. Now your tied up again, to the box. You have nothing to do. Hey! Lets play! Pull on your lead to see how far the box tips ... rear up to see if you can touch the top. Buck - if you hit a child you get one point, parent is two, and you get fives points for a horse.

Ok - reality. so its not really that bad ... but the mane thing is BOREDOM. Horses will muck up if they are bored or dont understand. They cant say "excuse me good sir, would you mind losening my girth and passing me that squeeky toy near you left as so I could play for a while whilst waiting for my dear owner to come back so we may enter the dressage arena and kick butt in winning the comp?" ... uh doesnt work lyk that.

Your horse is talking to you - you just gotta learn to read :) If you take some time and sit in the yard with your horse and just watch them ... you will learn so much :)

Horses dont like being cooped up (this incl stalls, boxes, trailers, halls etc)... the are costraphobics and panicaholics (sp??) ... entertain and they will give :)

Lol I think I lost myself lol ... oops

[manfa1]

wat do you mean all three horse were sharing the haynet? even 45 mins is a long time to some horses

[bonesinmypocket]

my coach has always taught her students that you NEVER, under any circumstances, tie a horse to a trailer. it's an accident waiting to happen and all too often i hear of freak accidents and horses being destoyed because of this. my take on it is, if your horse has to stand around at a show all day, then why can't you? we always go with a groom for each horse so there is always someone to hold it. i mean, you don't have to stand the whole time, you can sit on a bucket or under a tree. but i totally disagree with tying a horse to a trailer.
now if you're squeamish don't read the following cause i'm gonna tell you a nasty story- my coach told me once at her old barn a horse was in a trailor waiting for his buddy to be done massage therapy. he freaked out and scrambled and got his hind leg over the partition- the next thing she saw was the horses whole leg go flying out the back of the trailor, completely severed from it's body. somehow they got the horse untied but couldn't control him, he ran around on three legs in panic for half an hour. no one could catch him and then he ran into a pond a swam for another half an hour and wouldn't go near the edge. finally someone caught him and they put him out of his misery immediately. now i know that this is slightly different cause this horse was inside the trailer, not outside, but i've also hear plenty of stories of horses tied outside and freaking out and pulling trailers over in terror and some having to be destroyed due to injuries. maybe you could find a solid post or tree to tie him to, but always use quick-release snaps. if you must tie him to a trailer, first tie it to some bailer twine or something that breaks without much pressure. better a loose horse than a scared one. just mo.