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carly.rebecca
Bronze Member
 Wales
72 Posts |
 Posted - 17 Apr 2007 : 12:11:15 PM
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I am writing regarding a friends horse. She has owned this mare for around seven years and has competed frequently and hunted twice a week through the winter and the mare has always been brilliant to load and brilliant on the box, often travelling alone.
However in the past year she started scrambling a bit in the box but only when turning to the left. My friend has always driven very slowly and carefully especially around corners and this has not changed.
Last month we went to a show and got there safely until turning to the left to park when the mare started scrambling frantically - so mch so that we were scared to look in the trailer as we thought she would have broken one of her legs or injured the pony travelling with her. She was dripping with sweat and still scrabbling around when we got the ramp down and took her off. Luckily she only had a small cut and swollen fetlock. However now she will not travel at all. She loads fine but panics as soon as the box moves. We are yet to try her without a petition or backwards but I think she just panics with any movement now anyway.
I have heard that horses that have problems when turning in one direction in the trailer may have an inner ear problem which means they cannot balance in this direction. Has anyone had any experience of this or got any other ideas.
Any suggestion welcome - please help!! 
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NatH
Platinum Member
England
2695 Posts |
Posted - 17 Apr 2007 : 12:19:52 PM
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Hi, yep, I have experienced this too.
Khasim used to do this if loaded in the left-hand side of the trailer when turning right.
He too had always travelled really well, loaded 'like a dream' and never had a bad experience when travelling.
He used to try and climb the wall with his hind legs, most strange.
All I did to correct it was to always travel him on the right-hand side of the trailer. It stopped it straight away.
Give it a go, see if it works for you, good luck |
Natalie
Chapel Lane Arabians
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Karon
Gold Member
England
1411 Posts |
Posted - 17 Apr 2007 : 12:40:56 PM
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It would be worth checking tyres, brakes and suspension on the trailer just to rule out a problem (oh, and floor). Then could your friend try loading and travelling her without the partition? She'd need a full width breast bar but it could be that the mare has had problems balancing, needs to spread her legs or move diagonally to balance herself better and can't because of the partition. I've had this with one of mine - she solved it herself by managing to move the partition over while travelling!
Also, the heaviest horse should travel on the right side of the trailer not the left - if she's bigger than the pony she travels with and she was put in on the left, she's going to get the worst of the road surface and the camber which won't help her.
Hope your friend finds out the problem and can sort it. It might also be worth her borrowing a different trailer, to see if it's that type of trailer the mare has taken a dislike to. One of mine flatly refuses to laod onto an Ifor Williams trailer but is fine with any others - I don't think she likes the IW suspension. |
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Sheena
Platinum Member
United Kingdom
1810 Posts |
Posted - 17 Apr 2007 : 12:57:29 PM
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Emily had exactly the same problem with Sheena. She had always travelled fine in a trailer before - and in fact travelled from mine to Emily's which is along drive absoloutley fine. However when they started travelling Sheena around to shows etc, she would always be on the right, but started to scramble - and this got worse. partly i think due to her scaring herself with scrabbling so much and because she managed to injure herself. She's not the greatest loader so we really didn't want anything to put her off getting on at all. The only way to solve it was for them to take the partition out all together, get the full breast bar and cross tie her so she has the whole trailer to herself - she just likes a bit of comfort I think
It's a bit of a pain as means effectively she can't travel in a trailer with anyone else - but has solved the scrambling and nine times out of ten i think she opts to travel diagonally.
Good Luck.
Alicia |
Alicia
     
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Edited by - Sheena on 17 Apr 2007 12:59:22 PM |
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anne
Gold Member
England
877 Posts |
Posted - 17 Apr 2007 : 1:08:36 PM
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My friends pony is well travelled in horse boxes but due to her truck being of the road briefly I had to transport him to some local events and he did not travel very good in my trailer I had to take all bends extremly slowly.
I find it a little odd that your friends horse has been tavelled in the same box with no problem so it would seem something has altered be it in the box, with the horse or maybe as silly as one tight corner that has spooked it |
    
..................................................................... Photo by David Evans |
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anne
Gold Member
England
877 Posts |
Posted - 17 Apr 2007 : 1:13:19 PM
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Just another thought has she gone some where that when she has turned left brushed against overhanging trees or hedge leaving the horse to think something is coming to get it.
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..................................................................... Photo by David Evans |
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carly.rebecca
Bronze Member
Wales
72 Posts |
Posted - 17 Apr 2007 : 3:04:22 PM
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Thanks very much for all your replies. I am going to print them off to give to my friend tonight. I do know of someone who has a full breast bar that we could borrow so we will definitely try that soon. will let you know how she goes. Really hope she improves as my friend is thinking of selling her and she is a really lovely mare  |
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carly.rebecca
Bronze Member
Wales
72 Posts |
Posted - 17 Apr 2007 : 3:10:28 PM
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This is the article I found on inner ear problems:
It is extremely important that you make sure your horse does not have a medical condition that makes him kick. Some horses will "scramble" in a trailer, especially when turning a corner and this should not be mistaken for kicking. To the driver they may sound the same. Scrambling is caused by an inner ear problem in the horse that interferes with his equilibrium or ability to properly balance himself. Usually these horses will not show any signs of a problem except when they are in an enclosed trailer. This is because when they are out in the open their eyes can see what is truly up and down and override the skewed signal coming from the inner ear. When a horse is enclosed in a trailer where he can't see out well enough to determine where the ground is, he must rely on his inner ear. Usually the ear will work fine until a corner is turned and then things go haywire and the horse will thrash violently as he tries to stand on the side of the trailer, thinking it is the floor. As their feet slip off the side wall back to the floor they will quickly and violently try to get their feet back on the wall. To them that "is" the floor and they feel like they are falling. Many of these horses only scramble when turned one direction and are fine if turned the other way. This problem unfortunately is not curable. These horses can still be hauled safely if they are hauled in open style trailers or trailers with large windows for good visibility.
I have also printed this off for my friend. This could be a reason why some horses seem to travel better without a partition as they can see more and use their eyes to see the floor and balance. Hope this works for her  |
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Edited by - carly.rebecca on 17 Apr 2007 3:11:29 PM |
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ella
Gold Member
United Kingdom
786 Posts |
Posted - 17 Apr 2007 : 9:40:33 PM
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Another reason why a horse can travel well for a time then start scrabbling is that they have been travelling "frozen" to the spot due to lack of confidence until a particular trailer movement caused them to lose balance and panic. These horses are usually labelled as good travellers because they "never moved an inch" on journeys prior to the panic attack.
If you need to keep the partition in, these horses can be helped by spending some time with them in a stationary trailer encouraging movement so they learn it's ok to reposition their feet to stay balanced. |
   
"If an 'alternative treatment' has reliable effect it becomes classified simply as MEDICINE" D.B. |
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Renee
Gold Member
539 Posts |
Posted - 17 Apr 2007 : 10:18:20 PM
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My mare actually sat down in the trailer and got stuck under the partition, she was also awful in a lorry. We gave her an extra half a horse width (either a mare & foal trailer or a wider lorry partition) and she's fine. We think, as she's quite a big mare, that she needed to spread her front legs wider to balance, and that extra bit of space just made her more comfortable, relaxed, etc.
Renee |
      
Jeago (Ludomino x Bahia) 1973-2007 & Khylie* (Nazdrowie x Kaminah) 1990-2010 ~ Fouad el Khyl (Lothar el Nyhl x Khylie) 2005- |
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Erica
Silver Member
England
456 Posts |
Posted - 17 Apr 2007 : 10:28:29 PM
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we used to have a horse that would loose his footing(scramble) as well when traveling round corners and bends no matter how slow we went!! We tryed alsorts in the trailer to help him but then turned to buy a lorry!!ever since we bought a lorry he travelled no problem bearing in mind he had a larger space to travel in and to find his footing as long as he had a large space he would travel as happy as larry |
XxXericaXxX
erica.mercer@hotail.co.
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Sarahw
Gold Member
England
746 Posts |
Posted - 18 Apr 2007 : 08:29:34 AM
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| Sounds like a balance problem with her to me - I would check her back and also how she bends to that side normally |
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Vera
Membership Moderator
United Kingdom
8652 Posts |
Posted - 18 Apr 2007 : 08:52:17 AM
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What does she travel like in a lorry?
What is the floor like in the trailer? A friend of mine's mare started to do this a few years back and trying to do the right thing was actually the wrong thing for them. They had a new wooden floor put in but kept it so clean and brushed that in effect they polished the floor making it very slippery. They roughed the floor off again and the mare went back to travelling fine.
Vera and Dennis |
    
Hampshire |
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carly.rebecca
Bronze Member
Wales
72 Posts |
Posted - 19 Apr 2007 : 12:29:30 PM
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The floor is rubber and they do put a bit of bedding down for grip. I don't think they want to start using a lorry as they already have the trailer and couldnt afford to buy a box or hire one each time they go anywhere!
I showed my friend the suggestions on here last night and she was very relieved that her horse isn't the only one that has had this problem. She is borrowing a full breast bar tomorrow and is just going to stand her on the trailer without moving and then gradually try to take her for short rides so fingers crossed!! Will let you know how it goes.
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carly.rebecca
Bronze Member
Wales
72 Posts |
Posted - 24 Apr 2007 : 11:37:31 AM
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Just to let you know my friend tried Dee in the trailer on Friday with the partition out and a full breast bar and just moved across the yard and she was fine. She took her on a 20 minute drive today and she didn't hear her move once. No crazy banging about!! She has also now taken the haynet out so that she can see out of the window at the front. So far so good!! Thanks for all your suggestions.
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