# Horse freaks out in the trailer



## CNCfamily

We have a Thoroughbred that we got from a good friend of ours. He's a decent horse other than he flips out when we put him in a horse trailer. And i dont mean just stomping around and throwing a fit. I mean FLIPS OUT! He ended up upside down in a TWO HORSE trailer the last time we trailered him. And he's like, 16 hands. Not easy for a horse that tall to get that turned around in a two horse...

My husband is a great trainer, but we're both at a loss at what to do with this guy because when we got him he trailered just fine. And our friend never had any problems with him either. And it doesn't matter what type or size of trailer we put him in either. We're to the point that we're just going to get rid of him, because a horse that gets so crazy that he has no regard for his own safety is not safe around people either. 

In the past when i've had problems with horses not liking the trailer, i'd either feed and water them in a trailer so they HAD to go in one, or make them stand in a trailer for periods of time on a daily basis. But i just dont think that will work for this big guy.

Any suggestions?


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## fetch33

Send him to a polo pony trainer. My sister sent her horse to one after her horse ripped the end of my thumb off during one of his flip out episodes. He cured the horse for the most part, but my sister always loaded him with rock-climbing rope threaded through rings in the trailer. It prevented him from throwing himself backwards.


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## CNCfamily

Definitely not sending him to a trainer when i'm married to one that works miracles with any other horse....

And i'm pretty sure we've probably got a shortage of polo trainers here in Idaho anyways! Lol!

However, i WOULD be interested to know what said-Polo trainer may have done to help the horse. And i DO like that idea of threading rope through rings. I just see this horse finding a way to hurt himself anyways!


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## mountainwmn

Does he freak out as soon as he is on or after you close the doors? If he freaks as soon as he gets on you can do the whole one step on then back up thing for a while. I don't see why feeding him on it wouldn't work, maybe just sticking his head in at first. Some horses do better loose than tied, or better tied than loose. If its only a problem after you start moving, all I could suggest would be putting him loose in a stock trailer and starting by only moving him a few feet at time, then working up to longer trips.


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## levi1739

Maybe this would be a case that could be helped with a mild tranquilizer such as ace? Sounds like your horse has a pretty big problem to overcome. I wonder if some good experiences under the influence of a calming drug might help him.

Just thinking here, 


Have fun, be safe

Jack


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## mesa123

Something must have happened to this horse at some point in his life to make him act this way. He's scared of something...so try to understand his fear, even if it is irrational.

I am an advocate of using sedatives in cases like this. Don't take this wrong...I don't mean to say that sedatives should be used instead of training. But I do think that sedatives can help facilitate training in certain instances. Your TB's extreme reaction to the stressful situation prohibits him from being trained. He needs to learn that being in the trailer does not mean he's going to get killed and the only way he'll learn that is to be in the trailer for even just a few minutes in a calm state of mind. Get your vet involved and he/she would most likely be more than willing to help by providing an appropriate sedative. Get him good and sleepy and get him in that trailer calmly, pet him and then get him back out. Do that LOTS of times, using less and less sedatives each time. You'll take two steps forward and one step back (figuratively...not literally), but with LOTS of patience and LOTS of understanding and LOTS of sedatives, you'll be able to get past this.


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## CNCfamily

mountainwmn, he loads just fine, it's generally when he's been in there a few minutes. It doesn't matter if he's tied or not either. I kinda wondered that too, because he's not a huge fan of being tied anywhere, but that's not it either. We've tried both. 

Levi1739, that's actually not a bad idea. Maybe he just had a bad experience recently (although we do what we can to prevent that) and has a mental block that ace would help him get over.

I think when i move the horses over to winter pasture, i'll put him in a pasture with the trailer by himself and feed and water him in there. That way, he'll HAVE to stand in there, but it will be on his own free will.


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## CNCfamily

mesa123 said:


> Something must have happened to this horse at some point in his life to make him act this way. He's scared of something...so try to understand his fear, even if it is irrational.
> 
> I am an advocate of using sedatives in cases like this. Don't take this wrong...I don't mean to say that sedatives should be used instead of training. But I do think that sedatives can help facilitate training in certain instances. Your TB's extreme reaction to the stressful situation prohibits him from being trained. He needs to learn that being in the trailer does not mean he's going to get killed and the only way he'll learn that is to be in the trailer for even just a few minutes in a calm state of mind. Get your vet involved and he/she would most likely be more than willing to help by providing an appropriate sedative. Get him good and sleepy and get him in that trailer calmly, pet him and then get him back out. Do that LOTS of times, using less and less sedatives each time. You'll take two steps forward and one step back (figuratively...not literally), but with LOTS of patience and LOTS of understanding and LOTS of sedatives, you'll be able to get past this.


I'm with ya on this. Getting sedatives is no problem. My husband is a farrier, so the vet knows us well! lol!

What confuses us is, it seems like this started happening out of absolutely NOWHERE. Usually, you know when a horse is traumatized or scared to the point that they are going to have issues with something from that point on. But NOTHING out of the ordinary happened with him. He was fine for quite a while with us, even after a 12 hour drive from CA!


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## Lisa in WA

Does he flip out only if he's alone or have you tried trailering him with another horse? How about if he hauls loose with no divider?


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## farmgal

You said "when we got him he trailered just fine". Appearently he doesnt like your driving...lol I have seen this happen many times. Then I see how the person drives with the horse.. Maybe slow down when trailering him. My friend beats her horse up, who was an old race horse and trailered beautiful. Now she flips out. But following her with my trailer, I see why. I cant keep up with her. I see her horse bouncing off the sides..

They say you need to ride in the trailer and see how it is.


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## CNCfamily

LisaInN.Idaho said:


> Does he flip out only if he's alone or have you tried trailering him with another horse? How about if he hauls loose with no divider?


Doesn't matter either way. Alone, with another horse, with or without a divider.



farmgal said:


> You said "when we got him he trailered just fine". Appearently he doesnt like your driving...lol I have seen this happen many times. Then I see how the person drives with the horse.. Maybe slow down when trailering him. My friend beats her horse up, who was an old race horse and trailered beautiful. Now she flips out. But following her with my trailer, I see why. I cant keep up with her. I see her horse bouncing off the sides..
> 
> They say you need to ride in the trailer and see how it is.


Believe me, it's not how we drive with him. And the rest of the horses dont have a problem either. Thanks though.


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## Lisa in WA

We have a pony with trailering issues. He loads very well and our trailer is comfortable and roomy and we drive it very well. He just doesn't like to be hauled. Things got a lot better when we used an herbal calming supplement (I'd use Ace if I had it though) and hauled him with another horse or opened the divider and let him loose. Turns out he likes riding backwards.
If you've tried everything and nothing works and you're husband who is a trainer can't fix it, I'd get rid of him but I would guess that would be hard to...I can't imagine knowingly buying a horse that can't be hauled.


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## Lisa in WA

CNCfamily said:


> I'm with ya on this. Getting sedatives is no problem. My husband is a farrier, so the vet knows us well! lol!
> 
> What confuses us is, it seems like this started happening out of absolutely NOWHERE. Usually, you know when a horse is traumatized or scared to the point that they are going to have issues with something from that point on. But NOTHING out of the ordinary happened with him. He was fine for quite a while with us, even after a 12 hour drive from CA!


Maybe he was stung by something while hauling?


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## bergere

LisaInN.Idaho said:


> Maybe he was stung by something while hauling?


That's what I was thinking. ;O)


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## fetch33

CNCfamily said:


> Definitely not sending him to a trainer when i'm married to one that works miracles with any other horse....
> 
> And i'm pretty sure we've probably got a shortage of polo trainers here in Idaho anyways! Lol!
> 
> However, i WOULD be interested to know what said-Polo trainer may have done to help the horse. And i DO like that idea of threading rope through rings. I just see this horse finding a way to hurt himself anyways!


I believe he made the horse live in the stock trailer for a week or so, then crammed him in there with a bunch of other horses and took him for a ride. They like polo ponies to ride like a bunch of sardines in the trailer, LOL.


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## CNCfamily

Lisa, i've wondered about something like that. If something totally random freaked him out on a trip somewhere. I don't really have a problem getting rid of him, i just have a stubborn streak in me that likes to know i've done everything i can before i give up on him! And i know he is a decent rope horse too, so i'd like to try to make him work out!

fetch, i thought about that too, but he's hurt himself before in an open trailer...i'll try feeding him in there first, and the ace thing too, before i lock him in there!


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## CIW

I've loaded some horses backwards, that won't ride facing forward. Some just like to see out. Also some 2 horse trailer compartments can be a little short for some of those long bodied thoroughbreds. That coupled with a tendency to get a little high could be contributing to the situation.
Its not the first time that I've heard the comment about them finding a way to hurt themselves.


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## CNCfamily

I dont know that loading him backwards would make a difference, but it's worth a shot! I really dont blame him for the two-horse trailer incident, but he's done it in big 6 horse wide-open stock trailers too.


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## wr

It's odd he'll load fine and then blow, typically if they don't like trailers, they refuse to load. 

I heard of a guy having a similar problem a sweet old gelding in a homebuilt trailer and he finally found that he had a short in his wiring and one poor old gelding was getting random shocks.


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## mountainwmn

Since he goes on fine, I think your best bet is feeding him on there, then giving him a sedative the first few times you move him. You would have to talk to your vet, I don't think its safe to haul him sedated, but taking him for a slow trip up and down the driveway or a mile down the road should be fine. Wasps are always building nests in horse trailers, so it is a very good possibility he got attacked.


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## Lisa in WA

wr said:


> It's odd he'll load fine and then blow, typically if they don't like trailers, they refuse to load.
> 
> I heard of a guy having a similar problem a sweet old gelding in a homebuilt trailer and he finally found that he had a short in his wiring and one poor old gelding was getting random shocks.


Caroline's POA, TippyCanoe is the same way...loads like a dream and then gets upset. When we first got him, I was driving along and something caught my eye in the side mirror. It was a pony leg sticking out of the trailer window! He completely freaked out. He got a lot better and we can haul him but he'll never be an easy hauler. We thought we were going to have to rig a sound system back in the trailer because the number one thing that calms Tippy down is Caroline singing lullabies to him. He LOVES that.

No short in our wiring though. He does it in both of our trailers and the other horses are all fine.


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## levi1739

wr said:


> It's odd he'll load fine and then blow, typically if they don't like trailers, they refuse to load.
> 
> I heard of a guy having a similar problem a sweet old gelding in a homebuilt trailer and he finally found that he had a short in his wiring and one poor old gelding was getting random shocks.


That's an interesting thought wr. We have a mare that won't drink from a heated water tub due to electric shock. We had a poor ground wire and I noticed that any horse with shoes would react when the heater kicked on. The shoeless horses were fine. A short in the trailer could certainly cause some bad behavior.


Have fun, be safe

Jack


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## Jay27

I have a friend who had a horse that acted the same. She would get in the trailer fine, but after a few minutes would have a heck of a fit. She ended up putting hobbles on the mare for the horse's safety. The hobbles prevent her from kicking and thrashing until she is bloody. At first, we were not sure if the hobbles would make it better or worse, but the mare saw them as comforting for whatever reason. If you elect to try this, just make sure the horse learns to hobble outside of the trailer first.


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## jennigrey

12V DC wiring won't shock anybody. It doesn't work the same way as household AC current. The only way you could get a shock off 12V is directly off the battery by bridging the terminals, or off the starter. But all that is way up under the hood of your tow vehicle. So trying to track down wiring issues in your trailer as an explanation for unusual horse behavior would be a wild goose chase.


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## CNCfamily

Good point jennigrey....he's been in a few different trailers lately anyways, so it'd be hard to tell which trailer was the culprit to begin with! LOL!

Jay27, hobbles aren't a bad idea either....i may try that too!


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## jennigrey

Noooo, not hobbles. He needs to be able to spread his feet to keep his balance. I think that taking his feet away would just increase his anxiety. You have traction mats in there, right? Bare wood or metal is extremely slippery.


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## Jay27

jennigrey said:


> Noooo, not hobbles. He needs to be able to spread his feet to keep his balance. I think that taking his feet away would just increase his anxiety. You have traction mats in there, right? Bare wood or metal is extremely slippery.


Friend's mare spreads her legs and braces against the hobbles... she seems more comfortable that way. Friend just hobbles her back legs, not her front. She does have stall hobbles for the front, but rarely uses them in the trailer (stall hobbles go around above the knee and are held up by a surcingle). I've seen many people trailer with hobbles... I'm sure they would prefer not to, but if given a choice between hobbles and the horse hurting itself, they choose the hobbles.


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## wr

jennigrey, perhaps you misread my comment. I did not suggest going to check wiring, I said I'd seen a similar reaction once based on a wiring issue and interestingly enough, the homebuilt mentioned had a rather rudimentary living quarters that he ran off 2 batteries. I didn't go into incredible detail because I really didn't think that a half dozen members were going to go rushing off to have their trailer wiring redone because of something I said that related to a rather interesting old homebuilt.

The old boy uses the same batteries to run his electric fences when required.


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## jennigrey

He'd be converting the DC to AC in that instance (for the living quarters) so the little "Electricity 101" still stands for anyone who needs it. Not saying you, specifically, wr.


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## Jay27

jennigrey said:


> 12V DC wiring won't shock anybody. It doesn't work the same way as household AC current. The only way you could get a shock off 12V is directly off the battery by bridging the terminals, or off the starter. But all that is way up under the hood of your tow vehicle. So trying to track down wiring issues in your trailer as an explanation for unusual horse behavior would be a wild goose chase.


This isn't entirely correct... you certainly can get shocked off of 12V, but you'd have to stick your finger in one of the bulb sockets. In a trailer, the battery negative is tied to the chassis of the vehicle and trailer. So touching any 'hot' wire and the trailer at the same time will result in a shock. Unless you have a hot wire hanging down in the trailer, the horse probably isn't getting shocked.


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## CNCfamily

Well...i think we can safely conclude that my horse doesn't freak out in the trailer as a result of an electric shock! LOL! 

I'm actually kind of excited to start working with him and see which one of these techniques work for him! I'd like to at LEAST get him to the point where i can sell him and someone can actually trailer him home!


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## jennigrey

Jay27 said:


> This isn't entirely correct... you certainly can get shocked off of 12V, but you'd have to stick your finger in one of the bulb sockets. In a trailer, the battery negative is tied to the chassis of the vehicle and trailer. So touching any 'hot' wire and the trailer at the same time will result in a shock. Unless you have a hot wire hanging down in the trailer, the horse probably isn't getting shocked.



Nope, insufficient amperage. Won't be able to feel it. You'd have to be somewhere in the circuit where the amperage is whopped up to something feel-able. Like off the starter. The amount of DC that is fed through to, say, the lighting, won't register to the touch.


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## Jay27

jennigrey said:


> Nope, insufficient amperage. Won't be able to feel it. You'd have to be somewhere in the circuit where the amperage is whopped up to something feel-able. Like off the starter. The amount of DC that is fed through to, say, the lighting, won't register to the touch.


This is sooo off topic, but again, I disagree... first, you don't feel amperage, you feel voltage. Amperage is what kills you and it only take a little more than half an amp. Insufficient connection to ground (high resistance), I would buy as a reason... Power = Volts times Amps... Since the load is a light bulb, say 15W, and the voltage is that of the battery, 12V, so amps = 15/12 or 1.25A... that is sufficient to kill you... however, the resistance of skin and the long path back to the negative terminal of the battery make it such that you aren't likely to feel the effect.

I don't want people thinking the wiring in a trailer is safe to touch. It is unlikely that you would receive a serious shock from a trailer wiring, but it is entirely possible. Ever had the 15A fuse for your trailer wiring blow? I have... Just because it isn't probable doesn't mean it is isn't possible.


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## farmgal

sorry if my post sounded as if YOU were a bad driver..it wasnt my intention at all. 

The wiring issue does sound scary, never thought of that. 

I bought a horse 4 years ago. She loaded good but the guy who brought her home ( I was in between trucks and couldn't drive) bounced her around. I asked him to slow down and he would speed up. She ended up with a permanent knot on her knee. It took me 2 months of working with her everyday to get her back on. In the end she loads very nice, she hesitates a little. I do baby her once in the trailer. I go slow because I want to be able to haul her. I trail ride a lot. I also blanket her as it can get cold in the trailer. She loads (open trailer) and turns herself around. She likes to travel back words. I just let her. Whatever seems to make her comfortable. 

Maybe just keep loading him, lengthening the time he sits in it and dont drive anywhere. Give him a treat and let him off. 

My horses are funny. they see the trailer moving and they come running yelling, thinking they might be going for the weekend...lol


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## Poohb10454

I know this is REALLY old. I would love to know what the outcome was and if anything ever worked?

I have a 4 yr old TB gelding just off the track...and he does this same thing. Tonight he got himself up and over the divider. I thought he would be seriously injured when he got down, he fell to the floor, got up and was ok. He only does it when alone though. Would love some ideas.


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## wr

Poohb10454 said:


> I know this is REALLY old. I would love to know what the outcome was and if anything ever worked?
> 
> I have a 4 yr old TB gelding just off the track...and he does this same thing. Tonight he got himself up and over the divider. I thought he would be seriously injured when he got down, he fell to the floor, got up and was ok. He only does it when alone though. Would love some ideas.


That's a scary thing. Is it consistent behavior or sporadic?


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## aoconnor1

Poohb10454 said:


> I know this is REALLY old. I would love to know what the outcome was and if anything ever worked?
> 
> I have a 4 yr old TB gelding just off the track...and he does this same thing. Tonight he got himself up and over the divider. I thought he would be seriously injured when he got down, he fell to the floor, got up and was ok. He only does it when alone though. Would love some ideas.


I had trouble with my big horses when I put them on my smaller trailer. If the horse feels too cramped, it may panic. I bought a larger trailer with wider stalls, problem solved for me. I gave plenty of head room and space in my new trailer, went 7.6' height, 8' width. It's a big trailer but I love it, and my horses appreciate the room.


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## Rosepath

I'm not familiar with thoroughbreds "just off the track" but could it be possible, that they're used to being in a small space with a gate in front of them, that suddenly opens and they are to run like the wind? So in a confined space, they see the front of the trailer or the divider as the gate....except it's dark in front of them, no track to see, and the "gate" stays shut. Their training tells them they have to rush that gate and head out. 
In the trailer, they can't. Panic ensues.
Maybe.


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## Alder

Frankly, this is one of the reasons I like stock trailers for horses - especially BIG horses. They don't feel nearly so cramped, and they can usually see some daylight.

When I brought my OTT Standardbred home, he didn't know how to back out of a trailer. It took me a half-hour to talk him out and to get him to understand. I figure that he had always ridden in a trailer with a front walk-out door, so he just never learned. 

So many of the ex-racehorses really don't get much exposure to different environments and situations except for their particular training and racing routine. It's something to keep in the back of your head that these guys may not have the basic training in manners and acceptance of "the big wide world" that most of our pleasure horses get at an early age. Add in the fact that they are usually still pretty hot when we first see them, and well, it takes a lot of patience. If you can gain their trust from Day One, you've gone a long way toward getting them to accept new things.


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## Waiting Falcon

Is there a chance he is getting shocked somehow? A loose wire?


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## aoconnor1

Alder said:


> Frankly, this is one of the reasons I like stock trailers for horses - especially BIG horses. They don't feel nearly so cramped, and they can usually see some daylight.
> 
> When I brought my OTT Standardbred home, he didn't know how to back out of a trailer. It took me a half-hour to talk him out and to get him to understand. I figure that he had always ridden in a trailer with a front walk-out door, so he just never learned.
> 
> So many of the ex-racehorses really don't get much exposure to different environments and situations except for their particular training and racing routine. It's something to keep in the back of your head that these guys may not have the basic training in manners and acceptance of "the big wide world" that most of our pleasure horses get at an early age. Add in the fact that they are usually still pretty hot when we first see them, and well, it takes a lot of patience. If you can gain their trust from Day One, you've gone a long way toward getting them to accept new things.


I would have gone with a stock type trailer but we like to long haul to go camping and a stock trailer isn't what I want to haul long distance. Also, I ordered a special build for my guys, so the small, confined feeling would not be an issue at all. I also have front and rear drop down windows, ceiling vents that can be opened and closed as needed, a rear door sliding window, and I haul with everything open on nice days, but can close horses in without having to put up plexiglass slat covers every winter. I love my trailer, it is exactly what I wanted

Saying all that though, the stock trailers definitely have a much more open feeling to them. A LOT of folks where I live haul with stock trailers, and lots of cowboys use them when they are ranch hopping to do cow work, but most long haulers prefer a regular trailer.


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